What do you think of MEW as a magazine

Probably, although they aren't 100% reliable.

Neil

Well I did say that it had been a long time since I bought an ME. CNC, I vaguely remember a brief article where some one had added cnc to a dore westbury.

Frankly if it has gone entirely like that it just can't be good for model engineering. At times I have gained the impression that people come along wanting to get into model engineering and start off looking for a large lathe which might well be a clapped out colchester etc and bridgeport milling machine - which might also turn out to be clapped out. Some people haven't got the space or the money and it's a fact that lots can be done on a lathe along with some other bits and pieces.

One good thing though is gear of that sort is definitely still in use even if the mags don't cover it any more. A lot can be done with 3 jaw, 4 jaw, face plate, steadies and maybe a few collets. A vertical slide adds even more. A milling machine may add more capacity but lathe set ups can be surprisingly rigid. Add a tool post spindle, easy to make, not so easy to power, and maybe a slotting attachment and even more can be done. The only problem really is the prices of some items even used especially for myfords - £999 for an ML7 dividing attachment for instance - some one having wet dreams I suspect but there are other ways and mags have covered them. Or did at times once. A lot of this is all about set ups.

John

-