Member postings for Steve Farthing

Hi Roy,

I did actually drop you a PM but I guess I am too dumb to figure out where your replies are. Anyway I have the mags for you, I guess there are a few hundred. Can you drop me an email at [email protected] and we can make an arrangement for you to get them.

Regards,

Steve

Gentlefolk, I have a large quantity of magazines to dispose of which belonged to my late father. They are just south of Norwich/Norfolk. Is anyone interested? If no one is I am afraid that they will go for recycling

Regards,

Steve

I would not classify myself as a model engineer. I guess I am more of an amateur engineer (and a radio amateur - but that's another story). There is nothing wrong with lego and meccano. A lot of professional engineers use both to try out ideas.

What i find a little worrying about a lot of the Model Engineering community is that it has very fixed ideas about what it is. Like a lot of traditional "craft" hobbies such as vintage motorcycle restoration, amateur radio and aeromodelling it is mostly done by people in their 50s and older many of who are very set in their ways. Before anyone asks I am 60, my father is a keen model engineer and he is in his 80s. I have a huge regard for the skills people have in building, say, a working scale model steam loco. But the average person will not have the time, money or workshop to do this. And for those that do there seems to be an inbuilt resistance to using "new technology" in their projects or any change to the hobby. The belief that "if it isn't made of metal and isn't mechanical it ain't engineering" persists.

This really is a golden age for the amateur engineer. The advent of microcontrollers and inexpensive sensors along with plastics and other modern materials has revolutionised what is possible. If you want to try out 3D printing you can build a printer from plans and parts available over the Internet. If you want to make a robot you can build one for less than £100, You can build a robot model aircraft for less than £300. Yes, it can fly itself. But to do all of these things you are going to have to learn some electronics and computer programming. Which after all are the backbone of modern engineering. And to be honest it's not that hard with modern systems and the setup costs for an modest workshop are small.

If you want to see what is happening in modern amateur engineering take a look at this link http://makeprojects.com . Notice the number of young people involved, the simplicity of some of the projects, the creativity and the use of recycled materials. I think these activities are the future for "model engineering". I fear that if the hobby does not change it will dissappear.

Thats enough ranting from me, I am now going to duck

Regards,

Steve