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Is this hobby dying?
| Ian S C | 08/09/2010 09:00:28 |
 7468 forum posts 230 photos | Axel, the motor your thinking of is "Busy Bee" by E.T. westbury the series starts in 1950, not sure, but I think castings are still available. A nephew of mine has put a 49cc Chinese 2 stroke on one of his bikes, a group in Christchurch organises rallies every so often, and they go of around the countyr side in mass, 40/50 or so. There was a twin cyl vesion in ME in resent yrs. Ian S C |
| Axel | 08/09/2010 09:10:14 |
| 126 forum posts 1 photos | Thank you Ian!
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| Axel | 08/09/2010 09:38:50 |
| 126 forum posts 1 photos | http://buyvintage1.wordpress.com/page-41-1958-busy-bee/ |
| Peter G. Shaw | 08/09/2010 11:34:50 |
 1531 forum posts 44 photos | Is the hobby dying? I think this will depend on two main factors. The first is that as people become older, and realise that "for the want of a nail, the shoe was lost" - but unfortunately they can no longer obtain the nail, unless they make it themselves! In other words, as people come to reject the idea of throwing away perfectly good "stuff" because the spares are not available, so they will turn to repairing it themselves. A good example from some years ago when a small bracket on a manual lawnmower broke. It's owner was unable to take it for repair, incapable of doing it herself, and in all probability not have a clue as to trying to obtain a spare part from the manufacturer. I made a new bracket out of a piece of m.s. angle. The second reason is that of interference by officialdom saying that you cannot do "that there here" syndrome etc. I remember reading many years ago in ME, someone, possibly in a letter, saying that there was a move afoot to ban the use of powered equipment by householders on the grounds of safety. Fortunately it never came to pass, but if ever it did, where would that leave us? Then there are the H&S people who, at the moment have no jurisdiction over what we do as amateurs in our own premises (this does not mean that I condone unsafe working practices), but what if H&S do get a foot into our workshops? Plus, of course, the council planners who can insist that you stop doing whatever it is you are doing if they get to know about it - see the story of Jesse Moody in ME around 1994. I became involved in this hobby many years ago when one particular 00 gauge locomotive kept derailing and I decided that it needed new wheels with a larger tread and deeper flange and so started a chain of events which resulted in the present workshop. And now, I am primarily interested in learning how to use the tools, and to make other tools and adaptors for the equipment. People have mentioned that in general it is the older settled people who can afford the hobby. To an extent this is true, but I would point out that a lot of the major costs are for equipment and are usually few and far between and may only be a one-off. Let's face it how many people buy a new lathe every three or so years, whereas there are some people who think nothing of replacing their car that often. So really, although the cost of a lathe can be expensive, an expensive lathe is likely to be a once in a lifetime event and hence the cost per year, say, does become quite low. I am very fortunate in that my eldest grandson has shown himself to be gifted - even his school has said so. Right from an early age he has shown a remarkable practical ability - I mean, how many 5/6/7 year olds would you trust to insert wall plugs with a hammer, and ok, I had to stop him before he knocked it through to next door, but even at that tender age he was showing his ability. He's now 15, and a few years ago I gave him free run of the workshop only asking that he didn't hurt himself - I even said that I wasn't bothered if he broke something - at least he was learning. So now he has done turning, milling, hand screwing, heat treatment of silver steel etc. He is doing engineering at school for GSCE - it's just a pity that he want's to be a vet! It's my hope that this hobby will remain alive and kicking so that children such as my grandson can continue on in the tradition. Regards, Peter G. Shaw |
| John Coates | 08/09/2010 12:45:28 |
 558 forum posts 28 photos | I think Peter makes a very good point
I want to transplant the front end (forks and yokes) and swingarm from two other different bikes onto mine. This will require spacers making and existing parts machining to fit. I could take everything plus designs for the new bits to a local engineering firm and pay but it will total hundreds of £'s and several re-visits to fine tune the fit.
So I thought I would buy a lathe and make the bits myself plus learn new skills into the process. The lathe cost me £350 plus the 350 mile round trip down to Hereford and back to collect in my estate. I then went a bit mad buying stuff that I probably didn't need as a newbie or that didn't fit an old British lathe but, hey ho, I live and learn from my mistakes. At least now I am able to make them fit e.g. Myford vertical slide. Then, after further reading and contemplation of the project in hand, I decided I would need a mill. One came up on eBay within 6 miles so I bid £375 and won and that's where I am today.
At the moment I am making some extra tooling (tap and die holders as I have found that I can't do these straight and true by freehand) which is teaching me basic lathe and milling skills. The main lesson I have learned is that when the rubbing noise starts, take the tool out and sharpen it !
All in all I have probably spent in the region of £1200 thus far on two second hand but sizeable machines plus tooling. This probably exceeds what I would have spent down at the local engineering firm but they are there for whatever future jobs turn up (restoration of a "free" 1982 Yamaha motorcycle I have been given is the next project), plus a work colleague wants me to make some spacers to get some crash protectors to fit on a different motorbike, and I am having a ball learning about lathe work and milling and making mistakes along the way.
I've bought quite a few of the Workshop Practice series and am looking forward to making some of the tools and tooling in there as well
All I am short of is time, being in full time work with a young family (1, 5 and 19). That's where I envy all you retired folks as this gets further away for me every time the Govt ups the retirement age!
John
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| Stovepipe | 08/09/2010 13:35:33 |
| 196 forum posts | The corpse is taking "a long time a-dying".. The hobby will change, but the creative element will, in my view, not change. As Mark Twain is famously reported as saying, "reports of my death are greatly exaggerated". I don't think we need to mourn just yet.
I hope Peter's grandson is encouraged, if only for using his obvious abilities as a hobby.
I would suggest that the greatest threat to H&S commissars is from the owner of the workshop - a smack in the kisser with a 4ft length of 2" m/s bar would greatly discourage them.
Dennis
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| John Stevenson | 08/09/2010 13:53:07 |
 5068 forum posts 3 photos | Drown the expletive deleted in the coolant tank.
Two fold advantage [a] gets rid of the Elf and Pastry erk and [b] keep the bacteria down in the coolant tank because nothing will grow on an Elf and Pastry erk.
Remember you may need that 4ft length of 2" bar later and plod will probably still have it as evidence.
If you need to take a thwack at them, use an iron bar, that's the tool of choice. If you read the daily's it always says " Crooks attacked XXX with iron bar "
Where do the crooks, who we are led to believe are of sub normal intelligence, get these large quantities of iron bars from ?
When I want iron bars I have to pay thru the nose for them.
John S. Edited By David Clark 1 on 08/09/2010 15:32:12 |
| Andrew Johnston | 08/09/2010 14:30:56 |
 7061 forum posts 719 photos | Well, that's easy. The crooks swapped their lead coshes (made from stuff liberated from the church roof) for iron bars. We all know lead is bad for your health, particularly in a small, high speed form. Whereas iron is of vital importance within the body to enable the blood to transport oxygen. So by bashing 'em with an iron bar their 'ealth is being improved. Regards, Andrew |
| Axel | 08/09/2010 14:40:11 |
| 126 forum posts 1 photos | Congratulation on having a talented grandson! Its noting wrong with wanting to be a vet, but if u tell him why the vet carry rubber gloves that go up the the armpit, with them when they visit a cow farm he´ll might be persuaded to change his mind!  |
| Peter G. Shaw | 08/09/2010 17:26:52 |
1531 forum posts 44 photos | Thankyou for your kind comments re my grandson. He is well aware of the less savoury aspects of vet life. When all said and done, his dad (not my son) comes from farming stock, he himself has been involved in rearing guinea pigs and chickens, has also had one or two weeks work experience with a vet, and given half a chance helps his dad with his agricultural contracting business. On a personal basis, I hope he manages to do it because I think it may well be better paying than engineering, but at the same time, I do hope he retains his interest in engineering. Certainly I'm doing my best to assist him, but without pushing him too hard. To be honest, his only problem is that if he doesn't get on with people, eg his English teacher, he doesn't put the work in. Which is a shame because he needs English! Otherwise, on current grades he'll get there without too much effort. Regards, Peter G. Shaw |
| Axel | 08/09/2010 17:39:06 |
| 126 forum posts 1 photos | Talented people are often the same who dont get along with others, not meaning they are anti social, but more self motivated persons with a "can do it myself" attitude. It´ll get better with age for most, in my experience!
Veterinary is probably a good education for having a job in the future too! I´m sure we in the western world will make our own food more then, since transportation will be more expensive. |
| Dusty | 08/09/2010 19:47:15 |
| 498 forum posts 9 photos | Posted by John Coates on 08/09/2010 12:45:28
All I am short of is time, being in full time work with a young family (1, 5 and 19). That's where I envy all you retired folks as this gets further away for me every time the Govt ups the retirement age!
Whoever told you that retirement gave you more time to indulge in hobbies cannot be retired. I have found that when half your neighbours and most of your relatives find out you no longer work they give you projects with a little (it won't take you long) and a clasp on the back. Most of these 'little jobs' turn into time consuming and major projects. Because most Model Engineers don't like doing bodged jobs. This cuts into workshop time dramatically. Gone are excuses for doing decorating, visiting relatives who you have not seen for 25yrs and so on.
You have been warned
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| Geoff Theasby | 08/09/2010 20:10:17 |
| 615 forum posts 21 photos | Having retired three years ago, I revelled in doing nothing for the first time in 45 years. Then I started doing things which interested me, I joined the local model engineering club, I toyed with the idea of helping out at a steam museum, I became chairman of the local advice centre, and did things which I wanted to do, rather than those which I had to. Now I have a job working from home, doing something I am interested in, which keeps me busy from one week to the next, and gets me out and about on nice days. I recommend being retired, one of my friends said "you wonder how you found the time before you left work" and that is so. Finally, you can indulge yourself, to the extent that you wish to, not that you have to... Regards Geoff |
| Stub Mandrel | 08/09/2010 20:26:15 |
 4318 forum posts 291 photos 1 articles | Ho Ho! I didn't become a vitinarian because I read the James Herriot books.. no way I was going shoulder deep into the wrong end of a cow! Neil Edited By Stub Mandrel on 08/09/2010 20:26:39 |
| John Olsen | 08/09/2010 22:59:59 |
| 1294 forum posts 108 photos 1 articles | Here in New Zealand lately we are called "sheddies". A bloke will have an old shed out the back, and he goes out there to indulge in his various hobbies. There have been a couple of quite successful books illustrating the many and varied activities that Kiwis get up to in their sheds. There is also now a magazine, called "Shed Magazine" which comes out once a month. It covers a variety of topics, from basic home improvement stuff like building an outdoor barbeque through to making your own linisher, machine work and so on. Since we have a reasonably large land area, nearly as much as the UK, but only 4,000,000 people, we tend to have to be generalists rather than specialists, and we have had to learn to fix things as we go along since the spares are liable to be six months away. regards John |
| Digger | 08/09/2010 23:12:30 |
| 9 forum posts | Hi, I thought I may contribute my five penneth, I am (was) an engineer working in the aerospace industry until an accident forced me to retire early (very early) after not doing much for a year or two, I just had to get myself a workshop then a lathe and a milling machine bandsaws etc, I just like to tinker around making things or modifying things, it's a grand hobby and I am a young 44 years old. |
| Stephen Rowley | 08/09/2010 23:58:23 |
| 57 forum posts 14 photos | It is sad to say but the hobby is dying. The younger population require something now. something they can get and use when they want not when the track is open. I have seen so many young people in the past come to a track and see what is happening and want to get involved only to meet the "jobs worth" as I call them saying "don't touch that, don't do that" not come in and have a look they just say "don't". I have watched the same thing happening in the cinema organ world where if a young person comes along who can play one song with one finger and loves the sound of the organ and would love just too try they get chaste away instead of someone saying "come up here, sit down this is what happen" and letting them have a go so you loose one then another. But you also get the things where the young people do not know it exists. I was working in the shed making an amplifier and one of the kids next door heard me and asked what I was doing. He did not know you could make an amplifier. Now we can not stop him. I had lost of meters and soldering ions I had collected over the years so set him up with some bit and away he went. With some it can just be that simple as saying yes. jsk |
| Peter G. Shaw | 09/09/2010 11:27:45 |
1531 forum posts 44 photos | jsk, Couldn't agree more with you about letting them have a go. And similar to you, I have had a basic sort of education in electronics and do in fact have lots of electronic test gear & bits & pieces at home. Unfortunately, none of my children or grandchildren have shown any interest in it, and wouldn't I love to at least show them how to build even a lamp flasher (astable multivibrator) from basic components, but no, there are too many other distractions. Oh well, back to my monastic life tinkering with whatever takes my fancy. Regards, Peter G. Shaw |
| Ian Abbott | 09/09/2010 18:06:18 |
 279 forum posts 21 photos | We're feeding the grandkids Bob the Builder and Thomas the Tank Engine while they're little, maybe it'll spark an interest. As soon as they are old enough, it'll be tool kits; they can work on all the furniture that their parents scrounged off us. Three of them are girls, but no gender stereotyping here, they can all wield a hammer.
Evil laugh echoing around the room......
Ian |
| Axel | 09/09/2010 19:52:36 |
| 126 forum posts 1 photos | My stepdad, at the time, had a wood workshop. At first I wasnt alloed to use the bandsaw. But it was too tempting for me, so I was defiant, and soon enough, when I had showed my work I was allowed. And I was only 13 or so at the time. I think we baby kids there days, just as society baby all of us! A few years later when I was 15 or so, I sent mom to the hardware store to buy .22 cartridges, now you need a permit just to buy them! |
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