THE MIDLAND - THE ONLY SHOW IN TOWN !

What will be there for those that use their workshop for other things than model making?

Same for me. Wild horses etc.

I reckon there has been enough ‘non-workshop’ interests, to draw in those without a workshop, in the past.

I’ve only attended three times, but have enjoyed the wide range of exhibits - often well beyond my machining capabilities - as well as the opportunity to check out some different interests, available for a wide range of personal hobby opportunities.

There is far more there than just tiddly little static steam model engines. One only needs to look at the whole range on show, to perhaps understand that while there are some superb machinists/engineers with their wares on display, they are not necessarily the only ones that gain satisfaction from their chosen direction, in the wider hobby arena.

I shall go with a small ‘possible’ shopping list, but that will not be taking up most of my time there.

Pleased to hear that Neil.

What is your organisation doing to support exhibitions? Maybe you are supporting MMEE2022?

Am I right in saying you have phased out your own exhibition and there's no sign of another? Maybe you are banging down somebody's door to hold an exhibition but I can't see it.

With the amount of shows etc that Mortons already put on I would say the chances of a MEX have gone up, could be combined with one of their events like Kempton so more to see for a lot of visitors and several of the traders at Kempton also do ME shows so good for them too.

Could their be a clue in the cover of 318 as it says showS are back suggesting midlands is probably not be the only one in town (I went to Guildford show last week anyway)

Edited By JasonB on 07/07/2022 10:11:36

Am not REALLY a Model Engineer, not sufficiently skilled.

But certainly go to MEX, (and to other shows when they are on ) to buy odd bits of material, to see work which inspires me and makes me envious of the skill and patience, and hopefully to meet friends, from other parts of the country..

Sometime at shows you have the opportunity, to meet someone with whom you have only corresponded via the Forum, which is always a pleasure.

At the last Show that I attended (as an exhibitor / steward ) To my pleasure I met two editors of magazines, and another enthusiastic member of one of their teams.

Well worth attending, in my book

Howard

The Midland Show is fast approaching ! I don't care what you use your shed or workshop for no doubt you use drill bits ? If like me you can not abide blunt drill bits then come to the show with a few !

I will be on stand 54 running a Brierley drill grinder, this is an industrial machine not a plastic or metal gadget and can handle drills up to 1.25", in parallel, 1, 2 and 3 MT shank

A limit of 3 per entrant has been set in an affort to give everybody a chance - so don't turn up with a biscuit tin full ! If I'm not rushed off my feet I will try to be flexible on this matter.

Best of all - IT WILL BE FREE !

I will look forward to seeing you all there ! Noel.

That's a very generous offer, thank you Noel, I would like to take you up on that, I'm hopeless at sharpening the larger sizes so it would be very much appreciated.

Looking forward to the show immensely, by some strange coincidence we will be up that way on a short break to Leicester and Lincoln. How convenient we will be up that way when the show is on, almost as if it were deviously planned.

Dave

200 mile trip twice fir me with trailer as I’m exhibiting I was going to stay and steward but they won’t let my camper stay on site and other sites are too expensive. Shame, but still looking forward to it

edit.  I will be bringing my bigger drills. Thanks for that!

Edited By Zan on 10/09/2022 13:51:31

Our Castings Officer for the N25GA stops in his camper van. He drives into Southam and stops on a car park there that allows overnight camping. All the amenities you could want there.

It is a bit daft that you can't stop overnight on the field at the exhibition though.

John

I will be going to the show. I have missed them being on over the last few years and feel that the show( s) have to be supported to keep them in being, it somehow feels like a duty to go.

Similarly, it seems like a good idea to keep supporting the ME suppliers, by buying something from time to time, some of the smaller firms must be feeling fragile with all the pressures and uncertainties at present.

Rod

If I can make it (there is some uncertainty, which will be resolved one way or the other in a week's time), I would like to bring one drill along. Then I/we can see if there's any difference between the Brierley and the relatively simple Meteor ME14 that I picked up a few weeks ago.

Edited By Mark Rand on 10/09/2022 20:01:13

Having been contacted by a member about the show I would like to point out that in the past I have been best know for my small foundry Demos and talks- I will be at the show this year and quite happy to discuss Foundry matters. In case there are any comedians out there who thought about bring a LEFT HAND drill bit - I have a set of cams for left hand form !

If you are bringing drill bits for sharpening then it would be helpful to mark them ( masking tape ? ) with a name Etc for identification.

See you there ! Noel.

I'll be there, and I'm bringing a vaguely interested friend who, I hope, may become more interested after seeing what's what.

Oh, got my drill bits too - what's the minimum size you can handle, Noel?

Rob

Can you do 3 flute left hand core drills?

A long time ago John Stevenson wrote about mapping the Brierley cam profiles and publishing them somewhere. Do you know if this ever happened or if the information is available form an alternative source? Thanks.

Is this the thread you were remembering?
https://uk.rec.models.engineering.narkive.com/GfBbR2uX/brierley-drill-grinder-cams#post18

Looks like a candidate for 3D printing for someone cleverer than me.

Bill

I got into this with a 4 jaw ZB 10 (I think ) a fairly basic machine and single phase. I then bought an as advertised ZB25,though it had ZB32 on it and only a couple of cams and the standard accesories were missing, this set the ball rolling Then I got hold of a ZB25 with an almost full set of cams(11,12,13,14,missing) and 2 sets of accesories, plus the point splitting attachment. The standard accesories are easy to make. Some machines use a special wheel with 2 grit sizes others use 2 separate wheels,the dish for point thinning, both my 25 and 32 have the left hand threaded flange for the dished wheel missing - one day I will get round to making one. Having bought 2 wheels that were way out of balance, I bought a Jones and Shipman balancer, this showed how far out they were. I complained to the supplier who sent me a 3rd wheel, this no better than the first 2. Only by making a load of extra weights could I set it up to my satisfaction, and it transformed the machine !

I have cams 1 - 10 and at £93 +vat each you can see why I bought the 3rd machine ! Having read the link re John Stevenson and cams Etc I found the fellow at Chesters not very helpful, more interested in telling me my machine was obsolete and that they sold new ones ! A CNC lathe or mill might make it easy to copy the cams !

Point splitting or 4 facet grinding is not usually done above about 1/2", above this size point thinning is more common to reduce the chisel edge width.

DC31K 3 flute taps in left hand yes, according to the book core drills NO. But strangely 4 flute can be done.

Rob, The book states 1/8" or 3mm but below about 5mm it becomes fiddely and for what those sizes cost at the show for a box of 10 not worth the time.

Mark, the big difference between the brierley and the Meteor will be the time taken to do the job and the fact that by changing the cam a different point can be generated, new they were very expensive but veratile.

Look forward to see you at the show ! Noel.

ZAN -

Camp-sites.

My first full weekend at the show was pricey as the only site I could find was a fairly posh one near Starfford-on-Avon. However, I have found another, and used it for about 3 years running (BC!) ]

It is only a few miles from the Show Ground, too: Churchlands Farm, on the fringe of the village of Harbury.

Basic, low-cost, no frills - the loos and showers are or were when I last there, in converted shipping containers; and the entrance is slightly disconcertingly through a small industrial estate. Not too far to walk to the pub, either, which I hope has survived The Pestilence.

A lot of the other campers, the owner told me, are HS2 builders staying in caravans for the week, going home at weekends. (The route passes near to the village.)

Try them: 07904 496940

I just spent some time today reading through all the Brierley stuff at lathes.co.uk To my reading, it says the ZB60 and 80 have always been able to do three flute drills. But the early ZB32 could not, ony three flute taps.

The later brochures for the ZB32 say it can do 3 and 4 flute drills so Brierley must have added the feature at some point.

The later literature also notes that the machines can do 20 point styles. Like you, I have only ever seen cams up to 14, so maybe there are more cams to collect.

That is why it would be good to see maps of the cams: you could compare a standard two flute drill to a four flute. The single flute and three flute tap ones would tell you how they managed to work the machine with odd numbers.

DC31K, There are some points where you only use rotary motion, then there's point thinning and point splitting the adman would count these so 20 would be possible. I have 4 and 4A cams as well.

As to 3 flute core drills I think the problem is grinding 1 flute without hitting the next ? A smaller wheel and upping the speed with a VFD might do it ?

Mapping the cams should be easy, sit it on a rotary table, noting the pin position and a DTI to read height Etc every 5 degrees rotation, or 3.6* to give 100 points ! A job for a cold wet wintery day, do it in front of the fire !

Ah well ! Noel

Edited By noel shelley on 01/10/2022 20:08:29