Are Model Engineering Exhibitions The Same

Is Balkan Sobranie still around?

To be serious, I no longer need model engineer exhibitions but I clearly remember the excitement of entering a large hall clutching a thin wallet and a list of assorted drills, B.A. taps etc.

Lots of the stalls seemed to be run by man and wife or family teams whom I admired for putting in the work and expense of travelling to and fro and setting up their displays. I do hope that later generations will not lose this human contact, good and slightly bad.

Never been to a model engineering exhibition yet. Yes, I'm that new...

I wonder if there are any up north? (being a resident of Durham County as I am). Perhaps I should keep the money I have put aside for a lathe until I attend such a show with the hope of getting a reasonable discount?

Living in Bavaria my local model engineering exhibition is "Faszination Modellbau" held in Friedrichshafen (end October/ beginning if November) down at Bodensee (Lake Constance). The exhibition is held over 3 days in about 8 large halls. Apart from the stench of IC racing cars in a confined space and the sulphurous smell of coal fired miniature steam engines running on trackes spread over 2-3 halls and traction engines chugging around, I have nothing to complain about.

My partner would have told me if something was wrong or didn´t smell right She humours me by coming along. She seemed quite happy to look at the model railways whilst I looked around at the various stalls and exhibits.

This place is big with high ceilings and large display halls (almost aircraft hanger size). ( Perhaps that is the deciding factor).

Just in case you think this was a purely German event there was a group of Welsh steam enthusiasts running their engines there last year and in the trade display with a Myford lathe. All the usual scale model firms were also there together with all sorts of specialist firms.

Slow fliers, all sorts of vehicle models and aircraft models were on display. A bit of anarchy.

Apart from that a good cafeteria and a beer garden. In the middle of all this we sat in the beer garden whilst the Zeppelin based there took off low over the the exhibition area on a tourist jolly and proud model owners circled the area on riding on miniature traction engines (picture if you will a guy in bavarian dress with a ZZ top style beard riding a miniature traction engine).

One problem for me, no clocks.

No BO problems but we arrived fairly late , just as the early birds were departing clutching their RC helicopters etc.

The show at Doncaster in May is widely regarded as one of the best, from my perspective in Oxford that is up north but from Durham it’s south but not too far south. It would be quite a lot of driving time for me so I stop at the Castleford Snowdome leisure and shopping complex which allows my wife some retail therapy while I pop down the road to Doncaster for the show. Show offers are available and it is nice to have a hands on at the show, there has been a decline in traders attending the shows in recent years for various reasons but it seems that costs and disruption to normal trading are the main reasons. Show costs seem to be so high that making a profit for a show attendance is marginal no matter what you sell, I was talking to a friend who runs a stall selling sausages at Glastonbury and the costs are so high that they break even if they are lucky, the value of the promotion is more difficult to quantify though. When I was in the market for a milling machine I looked at the machines at the shows and read up on the internet and a shortlist evolved. I suppose that I am fortunate that many of the suppliers are not an unreasonable drive away for what I would regard as a major purchase and so I visited and made my order in a calm atmosphere with a one to one discussion. It may be worth doing your research and visits before a show and trying to get a deal at a show but I think the show deals are not as keen as they they might have been, as the internet makes price comparison so easy there is often not much difference so other factors like service and reputation can be the decider.

Mike

Edited By Mike Poole on 16/08/2018 00:23:58

The whole subject of whether people circulate a venue/room whatever in a left to right or right to left fashion is covered in a most elegant experiment in Parkinson's Law. A brilliant book, available in Penguin which just about everyone has heard of but few have actually read. Certain to be worth the effort of chasing down.

Chas

Just about my position but would add I find many of the clientelle are generally rude, discourteous, selfish and arrogant, usually trying to show their superior knowledge by criticising the efforts of others. I think many club stands seem to have grumpy old men trying to hide behind, drinking tea and not connect with the punters. My experience of many of the traders is they are nowhere near hungry enough and more interested in chewing the fat about old times than giving you details you want. It must take a lot of BO to affect a whole area!

Really since the internet boomed show discounts have become rare.
I have done a lot of club stand duty and we do try to be friendly and helpful to the visitors but I expect for some of the 70+ age group a long day may reduce their amenability at the end.
Most people don't want to talk just look and are a bit put off by anyone from the stand trying to engage in conversation. However a few do really benefit from the chance to talk to someone especially if they are a long way from a club or are a missing the opportunity to join one. Many people are looking for some advice on a wide range of topics but of course not all the stand personnel can be experts on everything so it might pay to come back later and see if someone else is available.

From my own sparse visits to exhibitions I think that's at least partially true. I've only ever visited them in the hope of a few small tool bargains. They're still there, but I think thinner on the ground the last few years.

I've never seen any dealers reducing prices of anything substantial at a show, so the incentive is limited.

It's a long wait until May for the Doncaster show, and by the time I've driven there and back it's probably going to have negated any small discount. I'm no fan of crowds, and I've yet to join a club, as I'm unsure if it would suit me. I'm an old-fashioned kind of chap, and I won't use a word when a grunt or silence will do. This internet forum lark is me being very outgoing and communicative. Way outside my comfort zone.

Perhaps my way forward is to remain a 'lone hand,' but I really do need a teacher or mentor of some description as I know so little about forming lumps of metal into pleasing works.

RevStew,

Remaining a lone hand will be OK until you hit a problem.

Yes, you will gets LOTS of helpful advice (some conflicting) on here. But if you need someone to come and sort out a particular problem (machine wiring or adjustment) it won't happen, unless you are lucky, and someone who happens to be near you and is prepared to come round, or says "bring it round, we'll sort it" . But, if you need to borrow a Tap or a Die or a cutter for a once in a lifetime job that may be more difficult. No one in Tasmania is likely to loan the tap to you in, say, Nuneaton.

But a member of your local club, who lives five miles away, will.

My advice, for what its worth, is join a local club. You will gain other's experience, if only from conversations, and demonstrations., as well as immediate practical help if you should need it. (Plus, seeing a problem close up is far better than relying on words and pictures, good as they are. Plus, often seeing someone else's work close up may inspire you either for a solution, or for the next project.

You may well benefit from someone saying, "You don't HAVE to use bronze; I've got some cast iron that you have, to do the job just as well"

And if you are prepared to tolerate the crowds, an Exhibition will show you other's work, how they did a part of the whole task, and you could find the widget that you need for a specific operation, or the material that you need for this or the next project. (Two days ago, in a town a few miles away, I found a shop that stocks, among ALL sorts of things, steel, brass and aluminium in 1 metre lengths, sadly only in a small selection of sizes).

Come and join the club circuit, and see what others do at Shows.

Howard

Having had my first taste of a model engineering club 58 years ago, and experiencing model engineers behaviour at shows for the last 40 years, I would not go near a club, but put up with exhibitions.

Don’t think the behaviour is restricted to model engineers exclusively though, you only have to use public transport or frequent public spaces to appreciate the downturn in manners.

Having said that there are still some old fashioned ladies and gentlemen on this site who give freely of there help, I think they know who they are and are appreciated.

Howard/Chaps.

I guess I'm old fashioned in that I consider my current hobby of building free flight and vintage RC model aircraft 'Model Engineering.' I have a hankering to build a model boat too, as well as a live steam loco. I just like to potter in my modelling room or garage. Sometimes I'm in a frenzy of creativity, sometimes I do nothing but sit there and think.

I've always been around people who made things. Backstreet mechanics, tinkerers, inventors, modellers, people who can make something out of nothing. My earliest toys were a set of miniature cannons that I later learned were made in the trenches, and some V1 'Doodlebug' models that were made out of the wood from an old air raid shelter. My Grandfather made his own battery charger for his car, a huge (to my young eyes) bakelite thing. They were of a generation I love to read about in my old ME magazines. I'm in a similar situation, as I have very little spare income, but a big list of models I want to make.

I can just about stretch to a mini lathe, but to buy the tooling and the other bits and bobs would mean selling my existing gear, model diesel engines, RC gear etc, and starting from scratch. I am willing to do that, because at the moment, I'm machining stuff in my sleep. I spend the 'blue hour' between awake and asleep going over in my mind the stages of certain machining operations.

I'm quite a shy chap really, and not one for conversation or noisy groups of people, but I do think I would enjoy the right club. Maybe I just need to get out there.

One advantage of clubs is you can often pick up tools and material bargains and they may also have a workshop. Some of the members might like advice from you on aircraft stuff too.

Bazyle. You are lucky to be a member of such a broad minded club. My local club is the opposite unless you run loco,s and have an interest in railways they are not interest I tried for a few years then gave up.

That must be worth a visit. Is the exhibition further north in Sinsheim still going?

Russell

Went to the Bristol Model Engineering exhibition yesterday with my son (13yo). Had a really enjoyable time, met some very friendly people, saw some fantastic machinery and a huge number of people actively encouraged my son to look at and even interact with their exhibits. My son had a go at cutting a gear, drove model boats and used a hand made pantograph to make sketches among other things, and I cam home with some parts for my Stuart engine and my Britt.

Well done to the Bristol ME exhibition and all the exhibitors. To the nay-sayers, help things improve or be part of the decline.

RevStew, I highly recommend a club, mine is very informal and friendly. I've been made utterly welcome right from the start. If you are ever in the area of Westbury you would be made very welcome.

I went to the Bristol Exhibition on Saturday looking for rucksacks and Body Odour. I counted six rucksacks, and one mild BO. (The latter looked hot, and may have been a cyclist.)

Had a good time, met an old friend, bought bits, and admired the models. I was particularly impressed by the large US battleship in Meccano, but there was much else to admire, all of it out of my league.

Due to a SatNav crisis¹, I arrived at lunchtime, and found the hall less packed than usual. It was easy to see everything, to catch the eye of salesmen, and to chat to builders. No problem parking either and - unusually for Bristol - the journey had been straightforward.

Suddenly realised that complaints about BO and rucksacks etc are probably due to overcrowding rather a feature peculiar to Model Engineering exhibitions.

Engineers never waste time fixing the wrong problem, do we?

Dave

¹ Why is it so many SatNavs require a special USB cable, and won't navigate if you power them with a standard one? B*****ds...

I went to Bristol on Friday. Bumped into a few forum members. One of whom has been helping out a fellow MEW reader to the extent of making them an accessory FOC. There are plenty of 'good eggs' about, it's just that they are often less visible.

Something very relevant has just happened here. My daughter has been on 'group chat' with other students who will be in her hall of residence in the Autumn. Two new members joined the discussion (from a country not know for treating women well) and started insulting other group members and using offensive sexist and racist language. See called them out, unleashing a tide of fury from other group members which ended with the hapless pair being expelled from the group.

It's the same here. Every kind word, offer of help or just tolerance of someone else's foibles helps make this a more pleasant place to be.

It's the same with clubs. As we see above, a few grumpy souls one one day and someone has been put off all clubs for 58 years! I joined an astronomy club a few months ago and everyone there has been welcoming and helpful. If you are in a club and some new youngster comes along, make a point of saying hello and welcome, don't leave it to someone else. Then they might still be praising you in 58 years time!

Neil

I live in a village and when I walk down the pub or the shop most people will offer or return a good morning etc. A friend thinks the village is really unfriendly as no one speaks. I think people reap what they sow to some extent and people are tuned to read body language so if you have the don’t talk to me face on then they won’t bother you (unless they are salesmen in pc world). I usually visit shows on my own but when I stop for a coffee it invariably means sharing a table and most people will chat about their day, travel, show, queue etc. Be prepared to make the first move and have some topics prepared to start the ball rolling.

Mike