A Dieing hobby - Hardly

With all the negative comments over the last couple of years about the future of home machining, the loss of traditional skills and the end of an era etc; together with the moaning about the current lack of good ME press,. I thought it might be worth posting a link to this site, it goes someway to show where all those secondhand and new import lathes go these days:

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This is a car site albeit a practical one where people actually build cars from bits of tube, scrap etc, I thought it was interesting how many lathes "appeared" in just two days. I've no doubt that a model IC engine or RC model site would show the same level of interest and activity in machining.

Rather than a reducing fraternity, my feeling is that we have a changing one. Steam engines might well be giving way to other types of constructive activity and manual machines might be showing the very first signs of eventually giving way to CNC even in the home shop, but home engineering on the way out - I think not. It is just changing as it always has. I can't believe that there has ever been a stronger market for small lathes and mills than now. No wonder one has to wait a few weeks for that new Chinese machine to dock these days.

My question then, with all of this in mind why are the ME press getting narrower and narrower in the scope of their articles and appearing to pander more and more to a specialized and reducing interest. I understand that they see this as their "core" market but to me, there is a vast untapped mass of potential new customers out there. Perhaps we need a new "Practical Mechanics" together with a "Practical Digital Mechanics".

Just a few thoughts, not trying to start a "range war"

Best regards

Keith

Reply to
jontom_1uk
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--What a fantastic forum! Wish there was a usenet equivalent, heh. What *are* those cars they're building? Looked like a couple of common designs; anyone got links to further data? My own efforts pale by comparison..

Reply to
steamer

Hi, they are "Locost" which are based on a design published in the book "Build Your Own Sports Car for less than =A3250". The book published by Haynes has just been updated and has been written by the guy running the forum.

The cars are really replicas of the old Lotus Seven design that was taken over by Caterham and is still available if you can afford one. There are many, many kit cars of similar types, Westfield, Dax, Tiger, GTS, MNR etc, etc, they are very popular on this side of the pond. One of the pictures shows a Grass Track race car which is fairly specialized even in that group. For me the popularity is that I can afford to insure my own Westfield for my two children to drive, even at 20 (son) and 23 (daughter). Wind in the hair motoring for the whole family; I pay less than =A3400 a year which allows them to have some fun in a real performance car without having to sell ones soul.

Regards

Keith

Reply to
jontom_1uk

The titles narrow it down. Model Engineer and Model Engineers workshop.

I've never built a model in my life, most of my friends have workshops and they haven't either. Many are into vintage cars and bikes.

I feel the Yanks have a better title with Home Shop Machinist.

Dave Fenner the just left editor of MEW told me that the two copies with a motor cycle and a Morgan on the cover sold better than the normal ones.

Lest face it a steam train looks like a bloody steam train on the front of ME and a dividing head on the front of MEW can only be recognised by 5 anoraks in the whole of the UK.

It definitely need a kick up the arse....

-- Regards,

John Stevenson Nottingham, England.

Visit the new Model Engineering adverts page at:-

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Reply to
John Stevenson

Sounds to like a new magazine is almost born, ( Pat.Pending !!!) just needs an entranapeur. I can see it now..... a regular "how to section", like a Haynes car manual, on how to recon an old Briddgy, Colchester or whatever. A section on how to repair a........ Boxford/Adcock/Meddings, for example( These could be write ups from readers who have done the recon/repair jobs. A regular "tricks of the trade", nicked from the "ingenious mechanisms" book or similar. A newbie section detailing lathe tools, tips, what a morse taper actually is, etc.An electrical project section, common topics seem to be about inverters etc. Or is this what the Model engineers workshop series was supposed to be about? Bob

Reply to
Emimec

And it needs to be web based in this day and age. Time and time again I have seen references to past issues on CD etc Forget copywrite, it can be done, many have done it but read any of the current mags readers subscriptions and nowhere does it mention first electronic rights.

You wouldn't believe it was the 21st century would you.

hang on a minute, just gotta run to the beer off on the corner, the bob's running out...................................................

.

-- Regards,

John Stevenson Nottingham, England.

Visit the new Model Engineering adverts page at:-

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Reply to
John Stevenson

I own a lathe and soon (hopefully) a milling machine. I use them t produce drive systems for model powerboats. However, as time goes by I'm increasingly attracted to the idea of building a steam engine!

With regard to printed publications, forums (fora?) like this have to large extent displaced the need for them. For example, who today woul write to a magazine with a question which they may or may not publis an answer to several months later, when you can come here and usuall get help immediately?

I find that I am in a minority in the male population in this countr (UK) nowadays, in that I can wire a plug and decorate a room, and like to spend my spare time making things from metal and wood, no lounging in front of the telly or p*ssing my wages up the wall.

In my father and grandfather's day, people took great pride in makin something instead of buying it. My grandfather made his own furniture and my dad got into a lot of trouble for shooting a hole in the bac door with a homemade gun when he was about 12! In many cases, previou generations made things out of necessity - items they simply could no afford to buy they made from whatever was to hand. Unfortunately, th use of what is effectively slave labour abroad to flood the markets o western countries with cheap throwaway commodities is to a large exten killing the need for people to "make do and mend".

Us "Morlocks" are increasingly rare - most people today seem content t be "Eloi". Who's for learning Mandarin

-- Mr Cran

----------------------------------------------------------------------- Mr Crane's Profile:

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this thread:
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Reply to
Mr Crane

motor cycle and

whole of the

There used to be an extra E in all the club's names, which stood for experimental. We still see the same attitude in some places like the guys building small engines with electronic valve actuation. If they want to build cars or bikes, then brilliant!

I don't but any modelling magazines, but I might buy Home Shop Machinist - and John, I reckon you ought to get a feature article - maybe you could be the UK correspondent.

Steve (the one in Cheshire)

Reply to
Cheshire Steve

--Well put! ;-) OTOH I'm finding a *lot* of fun things are going on at a variety of "art" enclaves in my neck of the woods. These new co-ops are producing some genuinely unique stuff. Not exactly 'model engineering' but it's keeping the workshop spirit alive and flourishing. F'rinstance have you seen theNeverwas Haul yet? ;-)

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Reply to
steamer

Or an entrepanner, perhaps.

Reply to
Charles Lamont

Snip

Keith;

I think the wife would have it, you never posted the article!

I have one of the books now and already planning on the project, old sierra needed.

It is what hobby engineering is all about to me, I am not a model maker, I do not seem to have the patience to build on the smaller scale, but do seem to appreciate what is being done on the web site detailed above.

I will be clearing out some areas of the garage so a welding rod oven will be going as will some ac servo motor's and other bits of junk, err, useful stuff when i come across it.

Thanks from me for the web page.

Adrian

Reply to
Adrian

Not UK based, but how about:

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Reply to
Geoff

I built my own Locost7 after seeing one of the original 'Peterborough pupils' cars in a pub carpark. Took me 3yrs to build it & cost me approx £5k (I never met ANYONE who ever built one for less than £1500). Sold it shortly after I built it, it was intended to replace my passion for fast bikes which, to some extent it did.

The Locost community is fantastic, thoroughly able & willing to restore anyone's faith in society in general, the object is to tackle the problems yourself, then reach out & ask if you get stuck. On the occasions I reached out the response was phenomenal, an F1 technician sorted my brake balance, a senior Boeing designer drew me a dxf for the wishbones. The build community is worldwide but thanx partly to the internet, very very compact.

As with most hobbies, building it was more fun than the end product. I worked (very hard) in an office environment at the time, I remember it being one of the few things able to drag me away from the desk. I'm happy to say it was such an enjoyable period of my life that I turned my career towards a more 'hands on' vocation. Still lovin' every minute of it.

Reply to
Fury

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