The Decline of Model Engeneering Workshop

[Nigel Graham 2Participant @nigelgraham2]

I have subscribed to ME for decades – I forget when I started and no longer have any but the last several months’ worth of magazines.

Since I was also receiving other glossy mags, for other interests, I was becoming snowed under with paper in a house already too cluttered, and had a rather ruthless clear-out; only just spotting in time two particular editions I wanted to keep!

…

So I do see this site as an extension to the printed magazine.

I think the two complement each other. Here, we can have rapid discussions such as advice on technical problems or showing progress on your own projects (or not, on mine!); but not long “how-to-build-a-…” series or detailed competition reports.

It can though, be a place for the unusual, such as informing everyone of some intriguing little museum or similar engineering delight we chanced upon on our hols; though that may be better as a potential magazine article. I am not sure where it would fit on the Forum –  the Tea Room perhaps, between decorating and horticulture!

…..

I am not sure if a reader-survey is entirely fair after only one edition of the new conjugated magazine; but I did complete it.

It asks what subjects you would like more of. Well, really, how do you answer that sensibly when you want a greater spread overall of all subjects under the “model-engineering” banner? Even though model-engineering is not entirely the right term for making tools, workshop machinery, clocks, ornamental-turning (we see little about that outside the exhibitions), telescopes, ….

Never mind really-off-the-wall things like mending altar crosses. They’d just come apart in ‘er ‘ands, vicar – those of an over-enthusiastic church brass-polishing lady.

Not sure the winch I made for a caving project would count… but some of its steel bar materials were scrap miniature-railway rails!

It is worth occasionally dipping into very early volumes of Model Engineer & Electrician, to see not only how the hobby has evolved considerably in the last 100 years, but also the wide and rather eclectic range of interests covered. I am sure that range still exists, albeit differently in some ways, but less sure the magazine has reflected that, for a long time.

 

[jimmy bParticipant @jimmyb]

I enjoy the forum and the mix of topics posted. If I don’t like the subject, I don’t look.

 

As for the new magazine, I’ll still read it.

 

Jimb

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

I took the opening post to be more about the decline of the forum not the magazine.

I can see where the OP is coming from as these days we seem to get very little in the way of what people are actually doing. Apart from mine when did you see a new detailed build thread of something on here, what little we do get may just be an odd progress photo? Even “What did you do today” has dried up and I did not even do a 2025 version of the “workshop progress thread” as there was hardly anything entered in 2024.

Compare that with other forums and social media and the majority of posts are what people are actually doing be that making a simple wobbler or stuart 10 at one end to a Porsche 917 engine, locomotive crane or 1/5th VW engine at the other. That is what will draw peoples interest and what they can learn from.

Any guest visiting here will jump to the conclusion that the forum IS representative of the contents of the associated magazine and depending on what they are after could well be put off. The “Home & Garden” comment in the OP may not be far off, if there is little interest in long running series then expect the mag to contain a bunch of small “weekend projects” as there is not going to be any way to cover more indepth subjects as even a small engine or reasonable bit of tooling could take 6-12months to describe.

[JasonB]

On JasonB Said:

Apart from mine when did you see a new detailed build thread of something on here, what little we do get may just be an odd progress photo? Even “What did you do today” has dried up and I did not even do a 2025 version of the “workshop progress thread” as there was hardly anything entered in 2024.

Compare that with other forums and social media and the majority of posts are what people are actually doing be that making a simple wobbler or stuart 10 at one end to a Porsche 917 engine, locomotive crane or 1/5th VW engine at the other. That is what will draw peoples interest and what they can learn from.

I try to post as and when I have done work on the Farm boy engine that I am building but due to the wife not in good health and trying to get the garden ready for summer (which I will not post here as I don’t want to bore people with).

Even then, I get the impression that the farm boy is of no interest to people. I am not after comments like that’s nice I do appreciate comments if they are constructive.

[WearyParticipant @weary]

JasonB & Dalboy,  and others,

I like to follow and greatly enjoy the build threads.  I would suggest that the lack of a ‘like’ button and ‘thread view count’ is an issue as I don’t like to comment in the forum which can distract from the thread and make it all-but unreadable if too-many do-so.  Unfortunately this can result in the posters getting the impression that their build-thread “is of no interest to people”, and they get little or no encouragement to post.

So….. my ‘following’ and interest doesn’t show-up.  I suspect this to be the case for many others too.

Regards,

Phil

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

A very good point, Phil … and well-put

MichaelG.

[duncan webster 1]

On duncan webster 1 Said:

I’ve been getting ME since the early 1970s and at one time had built up a collection going back to1950. There have always been highs and lows. Times change,in the 50s, 60s, 70s if you wanted a 5 inch gauge loco you had to assemble a workshop and make one. The chaps who did that are shuffling off this mortal coil so now if you want a loco, it makes sense to buy one. Repetitive multipart series by Don Young, Martin Evans et al are no longer going to attract the punter. That’s not to say that people are not interested in making things, the trick is to find out what that interest is.

I fear that Duncan is probably correct [my emphasis added to the quote] but that blunt statement came as shock to the system … all the more because it elicited no response from the ‘hard-core’ Model Engineers.

MichaelG.

[Peter Cook 6]

On Peter Cook 6 Said:

…I don’t agree with Dave (SOD) I don’t think hobby engineering is declining, in fact I would have said it is expanding – just not the making of steam engines from metal, although I suspect that has always been a minority hobby. If you consider the range of people using 3D printers, writing code for Arduinos and their ilk, building robots, making RC cars, boats, planes, drones etc. the numbers must be huge.

…

Poor choice of words on my part!  I specifically meant traditional Model Engineering as characterised by manual fitting methods, working from 2D-plans, building steam-locos or similar, with older Western tooling, maybe preferring HSS and Imperial measure. Repair work. The emphasis is on practical common-sense and experience rather than theory, and maths kept to a minimum.  Highly skilled. requires a well-equipped workshop and time-consuming.  Nothing wrong with traditional Model Engineering per se: it’s long been our core activity.  Problem is it doesn’t match what the youth are interested in.   For the reasons I stated above, ‘traditional Model Engineering’ is slowly waning.

Model Engineering in the broadest sense isn’t in trouble other than most of it’s practitioners don’t call what they do ‘Model Engineering’!  They’re ‘Makers’ or whatever.  They might even mistakenly dismiss what we do as old hat, especially if we bang on about the joys of turning Whitworth threads when they’re 3D-printing fantasy game figurines and building a quadcopter.

I think the answer is to present “Model Engineering” as a broad church.  As it was in the past.  So I’m as happy with questions about painting houses as questions about painting locomotives because they’re both engineering!  Also tolerant of the social side.   Bees, Blueberries, and whether or not a Greek spirit is really brandy, bring it on!

The danger of narrow content is it becomes deadly dull, only appealing to a few specialists.  Whatever we personally perceive ‘Model Engineering’ to be it has to stay fresh, relevant, and above all interesting.

Dave

 

[Weary]

On Weary Said:

…I would suggest that the lack of a ‘like’ button and ‘thread view count’ is an issue as I don’t like to comment in the forum which can distract from the thread and make it all-but unreadable if too-many do-so…

Yes, I think that would be a good idea. I haven’t contributed much on what I’ve been doing because I assumed no one would be that interested, but maybe they would – feedback like that would be an encouragement.

Which reminds me, I must post an update on a thread I started a while back, and which attracted a number of replies, I’ll try and do that this evening…

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

There is no like buttom on MEM but that does not seem to stop people posting about what they are doing. Screen shot of the 10 most recent posts. All actually about making things.

Even their “Chatterbox” section which is what they call the tea room is still very relvent.

Yes you can ignore what you don’t want here but as that content becomes greater you then start to ignore the forum and just don’t visit as much.

 

[Author]

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