Modelmaking threatened in MEW in issue 189 :-(

[Sub MandrelParticipant @submandrel]

I'd like to see more home made 'gadgets' in MEW. the sort of thing you read, think "that's neat" and then go in the workshop and knock up your own version in a few hours.Nothing makes me glaze over more than 'drill 3mm and part off to 11mm" (other than g-code).

Neil

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Well said, Neil

Contrary to some recent proposals in "Scribe a Line", I don't want to do "Painting by Numbers".

MichaelG.

[Anonymous]

Personally I wouldn't want to see articles on models in MEW; I subscribe to ME for that. That's not to say that models can't be used to illustrate a technique or use of a tool, but that's not the same as a construction article.

Sadly the recent 'Scribe a Line' correspondence in MEW is rather naive. It is very difficult, if not impossible, to give a blow by blow account of how to make a part. Everybody has different equipment and tooling at their disposal, making it hard to cover all eventualities. For instance even making a simple bush is fraught with problems. Instructions to turn to diameter 'x' for distance 'y' are one thing, but should the speeds, feeds and number of passes be dictated? Arguably a beginner might have more problems with the latter than the former. But suppose a particular beginners lathe chatters at the stated speeds and feeds? What then?

Ultimately one has to try something, fail or suceed, experiment if needed, and learn from it. Engineering is an art, not a science, and cannot be achieved simply by following a 'recipe'.

Regards,

Andrew

[blowlampParticipant @blowlamp]

I just found this word today (Omphaloskepsis), and I think it's what we're all doing with this topic.

Martin.

[NJHParticipant @njh]

Thank you Martin – that's something I do regularly but I didn't know that there is a word for it !

N

[MetalhackerParticipant @metalhacker]

Firstly, I would hate to have your job David: keeping all of us happy with our varied experience and interests must be a nightmare. Some issues are of course more interesting than others but overall MEW knocks spots off HSM its major competitor.

I have almost no experience of engineering in an industrial environment. A day on a capstan lathe during a holiday job while at medical school is about it. Now as a psychiatrist the hobby is so far from the day job that it is great to unwind with it. I am always interested in how to do something better or differently and differently may be quite basic to you experienced chaps out there but not to the rest of us. So please carry on the beginners articles. I have had a Unimat, a 9×20 and a Boxford in the last 30 years but I am still very much beginning and he who is so confident that he has nothing to learn is likely to make mistakes. I am not going to be making a Stepperhead anytime soon but love the articles. So keep up the diversity. As to models, well thats what ME is for. The digital Sub is a great way to see if the latest edition is woth buying. Trains leave me cold but some of the other stuff is great. They are different and Vive la difference!

Andries

[Sub MandrelParticipant @submandrel]

Martin,

You can find some fascinating stuff in there – it isn't all fluff.

Thinks – perhaps I should write up my digital omphaloscope for MEW?

Neil

[David Clark 13Participant @davidclark13]

Hi Metalhacker

If they combined all 3 magazines and published 13 times a year, they would be a good competitor.

regards David

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