Issue 218 will be a bit special…

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

The next issue of MEW, number 218, is coming together really nicely. We've got a great range of content, mixing plenty of short articles and simple builds with some longer or more advanced topics.

Just to whet your appetites – I hope you enjoy it when it hits the doormat/ipod/shelves etc!

Neil

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

You can now preview the contents of issue 218 here;

**LINK**

Neil

[Engine BuilderParticipant @enginebuilder]

Page 34 on the contents page: what's a cabinmet?

[Tony Pratt 1Participant @tonypratt1]

LOL

[Gray62Participant @gray62]

Neil,

Just an observation, is Alan Jackson's article on the locking topslide a re-run of what was in MEW 119 -121 or an update?

ALSO, looking at the preview index, their is a spelling mistake in the title for the cabinets article, CabinMets rather than cabinets

That said, I must commend you on what promises to be another excellent selection of articles, keep up the good work.

Graeme

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

Hi Graeme,

Just goes to show, you can read something half a dozen times or more and still miss the obvious

The Stepperhead series did not conclude in MEW 210. Although the lever locking topslide has been described, this is an update of the article from 2006 and needed to properly cover stepperhead. there is also a milling head to come and then Alan's experiences of using the machine. We will also put some additional support files on this website. I couldn't see the point of covering such a machine in detail and then leaving out two key elements of the build. We are printing the drawings at a reduced size so as to allow space for other content.

Neil

[Gray62Participant @gray62]

Thanks for the info Neil, I was wondering when stepper head was going to be continued, although a long and complex series, it is one I have thoroughly enjoyed and having seen the machine in the flesh, it needed comprehensive coverage. As the drawings are being printed at reduced size, could larger ones be made available as a download maybe?

Graeme

[Gone AwayParticipant @goneaway]

> Renowned expert Ken Sprayson gives advice on motorcycle frame building

Why?

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

Because I want to widen the range of workshop techniques we cover.

Neil

[Ian S CParticipant @iansc]

No one can proof read their own work. I think they tried it here with the news papers when they went electronic, spelling, grammar, and punctuation was all over the place. Things are not too bad these days with the papers.

Ian S C

[WALLACEParticipant @wallace]

Hi Neil.

Sounds like a very good idea to me !

W.

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Posted by OMG on 24/06/2014 22:53:39:

Why?

.

It's relevant, transferable information,

so … Why not ?

… Keep up the initiative, Neil.

MichaelG.

[BazyleParticipant @bazyle]

While I'm prepared to accept that motorbike frame building is related I think it is a bit of a waste of a cover picture opportunity. Is it an attempt to get bikers confused about the contents and buy the issue and see if they are then hooked?

Another issue recently had a car on the front – same reaction from me.

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

It is in the hope that more people who restore or modify vehicles will take a look at the magazine. The article was written in response to interest expressed by readers in this area before I became editor.

Though specific content will always be thin on the ground, the machining content of MEW appeals to such people. Restoration and motorcycle customisation are a significant interests in our readership, which extends beyond hobby engineers to commercial light engineers.

Covers have the job of attracting new and occasional readers – regular readers don't need a cover picture to tell them what is inside. I need to rove across the whole range our content.

Without wishing to be too provocative, very few of the photos I receive with articles make suitable cover material, just as ME has been looking at a much wider range of cover shots over the last year or so. I will always try and use one of the more attention-grabbing shots from within the contents.

Neil

[Gone AwayParticipant @goneaway]

Posted by Michael Gilligan on 25/06/2014 11:58:58:

It's relevant, transferable information,

And really fits the magazine title ….. yes, I see.

"Transferable information" seems to be the old self-serving chestnut that there may be the odd paragraph buried among the irrelevance that might be of some interest to some model engineers somewhere. That could be said about virtually any topic one can think of. Slippery slope seems to me.

What the hey. I've bailed anyway.

[IDPParticipant @idp]

Many members of my local model engineering clubs have motorbikes, some very old bikes, a friend of mine has a very old car and a very old motorbike, he now makes Stuart Turner engines for an interest. I think the bike frame photo is okay and I'm looking forward to reading the article. It's all engineering.

Regards

[keithmartParticipant @keithmart]

Hi

If the magazine is heading that way, perhaps we should drop the word MODEL!

Bending and welding is part of engineering, but relevant to model makers?

Best regards

Keith

Leeds UK

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

Posted by keithmart on 25/06/2014 16:22:46:

Bending and welding is part of engineering, but relevant to model makers?

Suppose it depends what models you make, This part for one of my beam engines needs similar bending and welding/brazing

[martin perman 1Participant @martinperman1]

Gentlemen,

Surely Abraham Lincoln's quote “You can please some of the people some of the time all of the people some of the time some of the people all of the time but you can never please all of the people all of the time.” comes into play here, whatever the Editor puts in the magazine will not please everyone, there are articles that I dont like but I read them to see if there is anything I could use but I dont complain as I know that there will be in other issues stuff that is of interest to me.

Martin P

[Rick Kirkland 1Participant @rickkirkland1]

I wonder how many bikers take the mag and never complain about anything that gets published? In addition I will support the premise that all of it is engineering like wot we do and if I find the odd paragraph containing usefull information somewhere in an article that on the whole holds no interest for me, then that is something else which I would not have had if the "uninteresting" article had not been published. Keep it up Neil! As for you lot moaning about an article thats not come from the printers yet, just wait and see. Some of you may find at least some of it useful. Those of you that take a blinkered view of what Neil should publish maybe should get a different mag. CSB (common sense brigade) 1. Luddites 0.

Rick

[Les Jones 1Participant @lesjones1]

Surely the aim of "MEW" is to give advice on techniques. As far as I see it the actual example used is not relevant. Some of the best examples of techniques have been given in "John Stevenson's" posts on this forum. Few of us would need to do the repairs on motors that John does but the techniques used are applicable in many situations.

Les.

[Mike PooleParticipant @mikepoole82104]

Ken Sprayson is a legend in the motorcycling world. I would be surprised if he has nothing useful or relavent to say to wide rangeing interests of the MEW readership. I am a motorcyclist as well as model builder (as many of us seem to be or have been), I went to the IOM TT 7 years running when Ken ran a frame repair service for the racers to fix the damage the TT course meted out to bikes. Looking forward to his article.

Mike

[Tim StevensParticipant @timstevens64731]

Posted by CoalBurner on 24/06/2014 17:03:54:

… ALSO, looking at the preview index, their is a spelling mistake in the title for the cabinets article …

Indeed 'their' is.

Pot, kettle, black?

Cheers, Tim

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

> What the hey. I've bailed anyway.

Well only a fool would amend his editorial policy to respond to criticism from someone who doesn't reading the magazine! You should take a look, there's plenty in 218 and hopefully something to interest any home engineer.

The real point here is that it takes time to find your feet. I think issue 218 is the first where I've been able to respond to all the voices asking for a greater variety of content and more shorter articles. One obvious side effect fo more articles is that I can experiment with a greater range of topics. I can understand that a long series on anything will have some people who don't like it. I am publishing two very contrasting articles on the practicalities of home motorbike construction, confident they will interest 90% of readers who have no interest in building bikes.

Expect to see more brief articles on 'special interest' subjects within the scope of 'hobby engineering' – as long as people are willing to write them!

Neil

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