Member postings for Mike Millar

Hi Thomas

It's not a structured course but it's perfectly suitable for beginners and there have been one or two in the last couple of years. You don't have to have a project, the course tutor has suitable beginners projects and will give hands on tuition. If you're not sure, give the course administration a ring and they should be able to put you in contact with Richard Rigney to discuss it.

Mike

Thanks Neil. To repeat my original post, Northbrook College, Worthing, runs an Engineering Open Access evening class **LINK** starting Tuesday 7th October for 30 weeks. The cost is £345, not cheap, but there is access to a wide variety of medium to heavy engineering equipment including Harrison, Colchester and bigger lathes, several Bridgeports, an Ajax and other mills, surface and cylindrical grinding equipment, a grit blasting cabinet (great for motor cycle restorers!), a digital electric furnace for precision heat treating etc. The course fee includes materials of which there is a large stock, and there is a variety of large indexable industrial cutters, mills etc for heavy metal removal, which would individually cost hundreds of pounds to buy. There is also a large collection of precision measuring equipment.

The course is run by a highly experienced tutor and there are other experts around for advice. It is suitable for anyone from a beginner wanting to learn workshop practices to experienced engineers who need access to equipment. At present the 2014-15 year is one short of the minimum number of course members to run. Anyone interested within reach of Worthing will be welcome.

Thanks

Mike

Thanks Robo. I'm sure it's not a unique situation. I wonder how many evening engineering classes are still running in the UK.

Many have bemoaned the withdrawal of college evening engineering classes over the years and I thought there were none in the south of England. So I was overjoyed, 2 years ago, to find that Northbrook College, Worthing, runs an Engineering Open Access class on Tuesday evenings. I have been able to use Bridgeport and Ajax mills, large lathes, surface and cylindrical grinding equipment, digital electric furnace .... the list is endless. We have a first class tutor with a lifetime's engineering experience.

You would have thought that the course would be over-subscribed. However, I understand that we are still one short of the number required for it to run this autumn. There must be people within reach of Worthing who, like me, didn't realise that such a course exists and would find it useful - **LINK**

I hope a few more will join us and help preserve this vital course.

Mike