MEW, ME, RCM&E and Model Boats under new ownership.

Could still be called MEW, My Engineering Workshop a magazine for all aspects of home workshop use.

Hi KWIL

We went through the renaming exercise about 12 years ago. Every name we came up with conflicted with one of the American titles so we left it alone.

It's not clear what Mortons' plans are for the forum, aside from the fact they appreciate how important it is and want it to continue.

They have different systems, and it will take a while for things to adapt.

As for content, we have featured more and more new technology - Mark Noel and Mike Cox's recent articles both used 3D printing where in the past other approaches would have been used.

I would really like to see offers of articles on a wider range of subjects including (in no particular order):

Anodising

Spark erosion

Laser/water jet cut parts

Using small CNC machines (e.g. engravers) as light CNC mills.

Advanced CNC (e.g. 5-axis machining).

Plasma cutter (long overdue, never been covered as far as I can see).

More articles on incorporating pre-built modules and parts into builds.

More on developments with adhesives, resins, retainers, abrasives etc.

Modern fixings.

Advances in 3D printing like SLA and sintering.

Other useful things - like using a vinyl cutter to produce decals or sublimation printing.

More ideas on electronics (we've done DRO, VFD, ELS/dividing to death, let have some new ideas!)

Other advances - there's loads of new and better PPE out there and younger people are more likely to use it.

Using engineering skills to support other hobbies - we had an interesting one about working with abalone/mother of pearl last month. More on approaches to making parts for car/bike restoration, model boats/aircraft, musical instruments, meteorology, astronomy, measuring instruments etc. etc.

I have an idea for making anti-vibration feet for my hifi turntable using turned aluminium cups and silicone sealer, for example, something like that could find other applications.

Plus, still happy to get content on 'traditional' approaches.

For example, I think the situation for getting castings done has greatly improved, I would like to have an article that covers the whole process from concept through pattern making and getting castings made by a foundry through to machining them.

Neil

Might be able to do something about the last one as have some fag packet sketches or old engravings taken to completed model. Would be working up the design in CAD, pattern making with CNC and traditional machining though depending on timing may also be CNC machining. Outsourced casting though.

Could call it ME Workshop, as in "just going out to me workshop"

JasonB, that sounds interesting.

Hi, for MEW, the Model could be replaced and it could be called Miscellaneous Engineers' Workshop, but perhaps that's to many letters.

Regards Nick.

Edited By Nicholas Farr on 06/04/2022 11:03:45

Neil,

YES to all of those things from me.

I buy MEW for the workshop part, not 'model engineer.' Which means techniques, design criteria and decisions, new equipment, old equipment used in new ways are always more interesting than yet another Myford polishing series.

My suggestion would be to prefix every entry in your topic list above with Things you need to know when ordering/buying/designing(delete as appropriate) for a series of one or two page articles. A worked example of laser cut side plates for a locomotive frame would be equally applicable for the suspension brackets for my proposed hot-rod chassis.

A bit like Nick above, I want to be able to twiddle knobs and create something, effectively by hand. I am not interested in CNC, CAM etc, and only interested in CAD in so much as it enables me to produce readable drawings. The idea of using Gcode, or whatever, on a computer, to tell a tool which way to move absolutely does not appeal. I have done a small amount of computer programming, found that I can do it - and promptly lost interest. Yet, using my machines to shape a piece of metal still absorbs my interest, probably because I still can't do it to a high enough standard.

In a similar manner, in the mid '70's,I taught myself basic transistor circuit design in order to achieve something I had been tasked to do. Back then I was using + & -50V supplies, something which 5V TTL wasn't happy with (can't think why!). Today, those selfsame circuits would have been created by a dedicated integrated circuit, a black box with many legs and little or no information about what was inside. Now OK, probably a better design that what I could do, but where is the interest? At least my transistor designs were easy to understand and easy to repair.

A few years later, my then manager authorised me to buy the Sinclair Mk14 kit so that I could learn how microcomputers worked. A simple system, with a limited set of machine code commands, but it gave me a basic understanding of how computers worked. And indeed, I learned how to interconnect the system to the outside world, although I never actually did so. But the point was that I understood how to do it.

And there lies an important point. I suspect that there are a lot of people like me who want to know how the thing works, not just "do this" and it will work. And this is why I think that a basic, low level, magazine which covers the techniques of using machine tools, and how to use them is a necessity. Otherwise, and this to an extent is already happening, we will be heading down a path where only a select few will know how things work: everyone else will just use it.

As an example of this, I will finish by relating another aspect of my life. Back in the early '70's I attended an adult recreation class and learnt how B&W televisions worked. Quite simple really, basically just an extension to AM radios. But the came along colour TV. Actually, it was already here, but the internal works started to get a bit more complicated, eg the use of Lecher lines for tuning purposes. Plus stereo sound. And what of today? Multiplexes combining a number of channels onto one carrier frequency and using fancy techniques to extract the information. Really, I don't know how it now works. And so we have the situation when 50 years ago I, and anyone else could reasonably easily understand how TV works, but not today.

Whether or not MEW is due for a change I cannot say, but I do think that there is, and will always be, a need for basic level information.

Regards,

Peter G. Shaw

Hi Peter

i built one of the first Sinclair MK14. Great fun. I had to send it back to Sinclair because it was faulty. Turns out the rims were faulty.

Then I learnt to program it. Then I upgraded to a proper color computer. Been programming ever since, how I got into CMC.

I always think of it as Hobby Engineers' Workshop or Amateur Engineers' Workshop... but the name is mainly just a link to ME and a lot of heritage/.tradition.

I doubt it actually puts many people off, it's the content that counts.

I'm afraid everyone will be devastated and disappointed by issue 315, it's going to have a Myford on the cover...

🤣🤣

Neil

Considering the amount of motorcycling titles Morton’s publish MEW could quite possibly be renamed Bikers Workshop,, that would leave ME and EIM, both of which seem to be struggling, so either merge the two into one decent magazine or leave one magazine for model engineering and have the other for modern technology, CNC, 3D printing etc that way all the luddites will be happy reading about turning handles and backlash and those interested in things operated by a computer wont be pi..img everybody off talking about G code etc. Maybe we will get a decent exhibition out of Morton’s, possibly a merger of EIM and ME, something which I believe should have happened years ago.

Hi Neil, well I'm not a Myford fan per se, but I do have a Myford M type of the Drummond fashion, although I haven't used it yet, bought it off a workmate some years ago as he was short of money to take himself and his family to Australia for a holiday where his wife's uncle lived.

Regards Nick.

ME Workshop might not quite work, because M.E. is a debilitating chronic illness. Short for Myalgic Encephalomyelitis. Used to be called Chronic Fatigue Syndrome in less enlightened times.

Back Shed Heroes sounds better to me. Modeled on Mortons' Back Street Heroes bike mag.

You might be looking for a new moderator next week.

Might get lucky and find it's a photo of Martin's CNC converted Myford and raise you one

Good one. Awaiting with baited breath.

Just remember that for historical reasons, if Myford had not been around, many present modellers would not have had a suitable machine to work with. Bit different now of course.

The article in 315 is rather special - very much in the tradition of J A Radford and George H Thomas, both of whom found many ways to improve their Myford's. For example, it includes pattern making and castings, a high standard of work and good writing that should engage and interest all readers, not just Myford fans.

Neil

Two magazines but only one pocket, and one that is getting shallower by the day. I could not afford both and after issue 300 I let my subscription lapse in December ! With times getting hard, how many more will give up ? Noel

I used to subscribe many years ago to ME, but let it lapse 20 odd years ago, I did take up an offer last year for a digital subscription but I am disappointed that it is almost completely dominated by endless loco construction series.

EIM, a magazine I also occasionally look at in the local newsagents to see if there is anything other than loco construction articles and there is generally even less of interest for me in that magazine.

MEW is becoming more dominated by CNC, electronics, CAD 3d printers and programming, none of which I am interested in to be honest.

I totally understand that you can only publish submitted articles and you cannot be something for everyone. It is difficult to please everyone.

The term "luddite", being used in this forum does seem to appear derogatory to those of us who wish to continue with manual machining - most of which are one offs...

Not sure what would be gained by joining EIM and ME, they have different publishers and wouldn't we just get a slightly larger magazine with even more locomotive construction series......?

Regards to all

Derek