Member postings for John Coates

Should have kept my trap shut

I've been neo'd

Having never built a model (do motorbikes) I quite enjoyed reading this Allan so thanks

That being the case then I think it would finally decide for me that MEW would no longer be the magazine I need. I'd go over to one of the Home Workshop/Machinist kind of mags

Sounds great and probably something I would build

I would expect it in MEW as that is why I subscribed to this in the first place

Having found that recent a shaper series is in ME has made me think that maybe MEW is not the magazine I thought it would be

If this goes in ME then I fail to see the future relevance of MEW

My 2p worth

John

Harold

I think given previous comments about the lack of information about whether, when and how articles are going to end up in MEW you may not be in much control of how your original work ends up anyway

I have enjoyed reading and following your "Complete Course" books for lathe work and milling and your articles during your editorialship of MEW. These two books will be lent to a new member (Rick) to get him started when he comes to visit on Friday and I am sure they will be enjoyed as much as I did and he will quickly feel the euphoria of turning out some tooling that looks good and is highly functional, as I did. As you said upon standing down you had pages to fill and a magazine to get out and many of those unattributed articles were yours.

Your contribution to MEW and the wider world of home engineering is undoubted and take pride in the many hours you have given me reading the back issues of MEW or your books.

I still don't understand electrics/electronics and it all seems voodoo to me but I have managed to convert two machines to 3 phase using inverters and got my 3 phase Elliott 10M working without blowing myself up!

Thank you very sincerely for your contributions over the past 20+ years

John

Personally I think there are a lot of tensions on here

- those who make models and those who don't (me)

- those who use CNC and those who don't (me)

- those who hail from God's own country (me) and those who don't

I've already expressed my opinion that the early MEWs feel fatter because they are full of short "make do and mend" articles whereas it is easier nowadays to buy that tool or little extra. The first VFD articles look antiquated to the small inverters we all use these days.

BUT I don't feel the argument currently underway is about opposing the march of technology but rather whether it is worth paying a subscription for a magazine that some feel has less relevance to the hobby or interests they enjoy. That is a decision for each individual's conscience.

I would feel more hope for the future if the model aspects were covered in "the other place" and MEW changed to be more of a home workshop magazine covering using machines of the size we have for any and all aspects of home engineering, not just model sized projects. If you look through the back issues there was a good series on all the different welding techniques (arc, MIG, oxy) which gave a good overview.

John

Which is a perfect example as to why this country is in the mess it is in when honest opinion is nullified by corporate greed i.e. the need to cover up failings or failures

What has happened to good products backed up by good customer service? If you can muscle out any criticism of your products you will never improve them as you will become blind to their failings and the woes of your customers

Please note greedy companies, I have not mentioned any of you by name but shamed you by the principles you do business by

This is making me think long and hard about who I will be spending my money with in future

John

My road bike is now an Africa Twin but I still have the 1999 ZX7R I stopped road riding last year plus a chinese GY200. The ZX7R will be getting a ZX14 front end (triple tree, forks, brakes) and ZX10R swingarm which is why I need the engineering machines.

I'll PM you my details so we can sort something out

John

Hi Richard

You're about 44 miles south of me (Scunthorpe) but the same age (well I will be next Wednesday) with the same interest (motorbikes)

I started on the same path in 2009 buying a 1947 Barker lathe followed by a Chester Champion mill/drill and then an Elliott shaper

If you like I could ride over and have a chat over a cuppa and I'll run you through the basics that I have learnt

I bought the two "Complete Course" Harold Hall books for Lathework and Milling which are really good for getting you started

You would be welcome to borrow them

John

The quality of the content of the articles in MEW is a question that keeps recurring on here.

I became interested in home engineering (lathe, mill, welding) in 2009 as a way of making adaptive spacers and brackets for my motorcycles. Where to go to begin learning was my first hurdle and I found this website and began my subscription to MEW at issue 160. I have since bought all the back issues to #1. I also bought lots of the workshop practice books.

So four year's later what's my position? The magazine feels 'thin' now with little of personal interest. The article on improving milling vices was like deja vue as I'd only recently been reading the back issues which contained the originals. When I want to know how to do something I search my MEW index and on here. On the web there's usually several articles or YouTube videos.

But you can't beat sitting in your favourite armchair with a magazine learning and being stimulated. Unfortunately for me this is my pile of back issues which were much more fatter (as opposed to 'thin' with more numerous articles on a wider variety of subjects. I always feel more satisfied after reading one of those than recent ones. I know a lot of the early content was making tooling that is now so much cheaper to buy and that's maybe where the volume of content came from.

Maybe this will be my last subscription, I don't know. If I look back when it comes up and there has been nothing to interest me for the previous year that will probably be a good indicator it's time to stop.

I don't envy anyone trying to run a paper magazine in this immediate online digital age.

John

The Shaper group seems the same as when I went on holiday 3 weeks ago and last accessed it

Welcome Allan

I can only echo Peter's comments as I have asked loads of questions (some dumb) since becoming a newbie and joining here in 2009 and folk have been so helpful

John

Ha ha me too! But I find more enjoyment reading the older issues than the newer ones as more in 'em

What he said

I think the page count issue is related to the number of them devoted to articles and to advertising

There can be 150 of 'em but if only 50% are devoted to articles it can feel a bit "thin". And then multi page series articles you aren't interested in just add to the "waste" count

It must be hard to please a demanding audience

John

Edited By John Coates on 01/08/2013 18:38:09

Just found and read MEW 43 and that's the one I recalled with the wiggler set in silicone sealant inside some box section

John

Alan

I don't change/set many parameters - the ramp up/down time, max Hz (100 or 120), motor rating in Amps or Kw, internal or external control (from memory)

Can't comment on the foot brake. Everything I have read says to use the inverter to start/stop the machine and not on/off switches

I find that the inverter runs at the Hz I last set it to when I used it

Good luck

John

Hi Neil

I bought a custom made control box from Drives Direct and they were very helpful wiring it into my lathe inverter. The one on the mill was a second hand from ebay Omron V1000 which came with a wired in control pod with stop/start/pot controls

I've always been able to find a manual in PDF on the web for all three of my inverters and found one for Alan's as well

John

I've bought one of these

**LINK**

the table up against the disc is useful

Oops just find I disagree with Neil about their "out of the box" reliability

The fine tuning is in setting the paramaters correctly