Closed thread

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Damn slippery ball

How about we delete this entire thread? It serves no useful purpose

Or start a scrapbox forum where the useless threads can be chucked?

Edited By Ady1 on 13/05/2014 14:49:27

This is all very depressing. All of us divided by a common interest.

This is supposed to be a hobby that all can enjoy. I hoped a new thread could start a positive debate on how and what encourages new folk to join us.

I doubt this thread will encourage anyone to join the hobby.

I am not going to pull or lock a thread because the poster doesn't like the opinions or attitude of another poster, be they moderator or no. It doesn't matter if someone thinks they were rude or ill-judged.

I also try to be a friend to all, and seek to make enemies of no-one. This means I will probably get along with people on this forum who some of you dislike. I'm sure no-one here has a 'you can't be my friend if you're his friend' attitude.

It beggars my belief that those who cannot tolerate some fellow forum members don't simply make use of the 'ignore member' button. That is what it is there for.

Over this time I have become aware of the ailments, bereavements and other misfortunes of a surprising number of contributors and forum members. My hope is that being active in the workshop or participating in this forum can be a way for them to forget their troubles, if only for a while.

I will reiterate the forum code of conduct:

• Swearing It can be offensive and it can also mean that some members can't use the site from work. If you really must use swear words please use asterisks.
• Being abusive or making personal attacks If you wouldn't say something to someone's face then it doesn't belong on the forum.
• Impersonating other members
• Hijacking and wilfully destroying threads The forum's a big place and thread titles and descriptions are there to help you filter what you're interested in, so please let more serious threads run broadly on topic.

This is not a detailed or onerous set of rules, and I do not intend that they should be applied with a rod of iron.

Members may not be aware that there is a three-step process for disciplining members. It does not involve locking threads.

I am sorely tempted to lock this thread, as I don't feel it has anywhere to go, other than deeper into the mire.

Please prove me wrong.

Neil

I'm just a nobody that found and subscribed to MEW and this forum about 5 months ago, and a complete newbie at model engineering - haven't even started my first project yet, just use the mill and lathe for making odd-job things that are fundamentally square and round respectively.

I thought the that my first few copies of MEW were poor, but they are getting better - thank you Neil.

I think the forum is not to bad...Allan.'s Stuart-build threads are perfect for what I'm after at the moment, Ketan's posts useful in terms of commercial insights, JS's posts generally excellent in terms of real world experience from a seasoned engineer and Gray's "straight down the line good solid, bordering on precision, engineering" extremely enlightening.

But the end of the drilling jig thread and this thread itself, provide me with no great incentive to hang around. Unfortunately.

Gray,

A sad day indeed for the hobby if you don't continue writing up your doings. Without the likes of you, our hobby would suffer.

I have two of those drill sharpeners lying in one of the drawers I've just finished organising, and your improvement has encouraged me to haul them out to see which to use, Spiralux in a fetching bright red, or the no name brand in common grey.

General:

Just as an aside and my philosophy with regards the Wild West that the Internet is, and my method of dealing with it.

I post what I hope will help/encourage others whenever I can, here as well as on other sites, and totally ignore brickbats and/or comments from the morons/idiots/*holes that inhabit every forum on the 'net.

I do, however, take onboard positive suggestions and comments.

In the past, when I ran Esswex Development, I spoke with and advised many newcomers to the hobby, and soon learned that they where only too happy to be pointed in the right direction and even discouraged from doing something that would not suite them, or was beyond their ability.

I went as far one day, of threatening to throw a customer friend out of the shop when he started to slag off another customer, not present at the time, who he had fallen out with.

I'm proud to say that I never got one negative feedback. Delays in delivery accepted

All the above may sound as if I'm conceited, but the truth is the truth, and I'm proud of what I achieved.

Politicians and newspapers seem to differ on the definition of Truth from us mortals.

Can we just imagine what out hobby would be like now, if all those past masters had been put off writing articles?

When I view a near perfect miniature, I'm inspired to try harder. Don't always succeed of course, but that's life.

Geoff - A Romford geezer.

Edit.

Martin,

Welcome, and please stick around. You WILL get excellent advise and all the help you need here.

Like that politician said;

"Don't let the bastards get you down"

Geoff - Rooibos agin Neil!

Edited By OuBallie on 13/05/2014 16:42:13

I must admit that this thread and the drilling jig thread are being to leave me feeling a bit depressed. As Wallace said earlier "C'mon boys, can't we all be friends ?

There's too many unfinished projects in the shed and life's too short to waste time being mean to people on a website. ...." I totally agree. We're big boys and girls here, there is no need to harp on like a load of kids at primary school with no play time allowed.

As an engineer of some 50 years I find the more I learn the less I find I know and so find this forum, and other model engineering/ home workshop forums, invaluable with the information and experience that is displayed; 50 years an engineer yes, but not 50 years a machinist, hence the quest for knowledge!

The sad bit is that the people we info seekers value most for their input and experience are those that seem to be bitching the most. Come on guys, kiss and make up. Life really is too short.

Time for a quiet beer and then a lie down in a darkened room methinks.

Chris. Away from home and so not able to escape to the shed unfortunately.

Nil Illigitimus Carborundum

Buggar. Out of beer.

Edited By ChrisH on 13/05/2014 16:55:05

Edited By ChrisH on 13/05/2014 16:55:35

Edited By ChrisH on 13/05/2014 16:57:20

Things seem fine and pretty much normal for an internet forum to me.

A great forum with very helpful people. I did something stupid and asked for help in my first post and all I got was helpful advice.

Show and tells are great. Lots of pictures.

The Drill sharpening thread was excellent - I appreciated all the early comments from all contributors, read other sites as a result http://www.homews.co.uk/, got a flavour of some people's personality. Things went a bit odd on the 12th. I don't think this can be avoided if you also want to allow personality into discussions.

I'd say no need to change anything.

In general posts about how great a forum is and how wonderful every one is are the ones I tend to like the least. Like this one.

Edited By jaCK Hobson on 13/05/2014 17:15:46

As the author of the "good enough" comment, I have no idea who's done or said what to who but just to reiterate, since we're talking about out of context, it was merely the observation that people shouldn't build stuff or be intimidated to post because of what other people expect but build to a quality that suits the builder and the items intention. For example, when I first started, I was pleased as punch with some of the tooling I produced. Never would it win a model engineering medal but it was "good enough" for me. Now I can produce much better stuff and if I made new versions, I would set myself higher standards but they would be MY standards and I wouldn't be put off by someone saying it looks like a bag of nails. We do these things because we enjoy them and get pleasure from producing something of quality. Where there is no commercial interest, we have time to fine tune and make the best we can. There has been a long running article about modifying a Unimat SL lathe in the mag and I've been looking at it thinking "Seriously?". All that work based around a springy old Unimat when you could buy a better lathe with a bigger capacity and all the same bells and whistles for a fraction of the labour hours that must go into that conversion? Commercially it makes no sense but that's not why the author has done it and in that respect, I completely get that people are getting their fix of enjoyment from the making of. Gray doesn't strike me like someone looking at the bottom line. His stuff is superb and well engineered/designed. They look into the theory and solutions of popular engineering problems which is what most of us (presumably) are here for. Gray, just ignore the whiners mate. Life's too short and you have an appreciative audience here.

Edited By Chris Trice on 13/05/2014 18:04:39

Gray and Bogs,

Speaking as one of the (relatively in my case) silent majority, I can honestly say that you have each in your own way had an enormous influence in the various forums that you have contributed to. I personally have learnt a tremendous amount from both of you.

So I am sure that the majority, like myself, are saddened to see people of your calibre throw in the towel as result of personality clashes with a minority of the forum members, especially as these clashes are more often an indictment of online forums as an imperfect communications media, rather than from any actual malice.

So Gray (if your health issues allows) please keep up the good work and unique solutions, and Bogs, please go back to posting your tutorials that have been so invaluable.

Clive

Edited By clivel on 13/05/2014 18:12:17

I wouldn't worry too much Clive, they haven't left yet.

Some time ago, Bogs ran a really interesting article to which I had a very personal interest, but when I asked a quite pertinent question I was virtually accused of taking the P***, and I was negative and out to destroy all creedence etc etc.

Net result the entire thread was deleted and I never did get an answer even if it was only an apology for not knowing.

With Grays article, it didn't hold a lot for me as it was mainly MEW related and I'm fortunate enough to have access to commercial drill cutter grinders but it was good to read through to see what could be done with the little bench grinder attachments.

Even more interest was generated when John S commented about the piano side of things, something I'd never encountered but found it highly enlightening.

So, having used the commercial grinder at work, which I can set to about the nearest degree, I was also interested about the 10' comment.

Did we get an answer, no, and for me it was almost a repeat performance of the earlier deleted thread.

What happened next was just unbelievable and unnecessary. Again.

I wonder if Neil can tell us how many members we have on here? how many are active and how many just sit and view from afar, or even for that matter if they even log in at all.

I am about to lock this thread, before we descend entirely into personal abuse.

I think everyone who has posted in this thread should reflect before revisiting this topic.

The purpose of this forum is to add to our hobby, not turn it into a school playground.

Any complaints direct to ME please.

[email protected]

Neil