Issue 222

Hello, just bought issue 222 of MEW, first time in months. Ive bought perhaps 70 or so copies of this magazine, and generally speaking , thoroughly enjoyed them all. I know that every article isnt going to suit everyone, depending of course on articles thst get sent in, but when I have to see a bloke making another storage box for a tool, why ?. It was a nice box, but over 3 pages !!. 2 pictures of a hinge and 1 of a catch ( top of page 9 ) beggars belief. The other articles were OK, especially the EW lathe, but please no more storage cupboards and boxes. Not up to the usual standard of the mag. Sorry for the rant !!.

Hi Roger,

Sorry that article wound you up. Storage and care of tools is a legitimate subject, and though it isn't to everyone's taste, there are other readers who find it useful. I think we've had about two articles on the subject in the last six months, so that's between 1 and 2% of the content.

If I'm going to put in the range and variety of articles that appeal to all readers, then from time to time, there will be articles some readers don't like. My aim is to make sure every reader finds something they really enjoy in each issue, and to cover a good spread of topics, and I have to accept that from time to time someone won't like a particular topic.

So... my advice is to subscribe and make sure you enjoy the full range of topics in MEW

Neil

Sorry Roger, this post isn't going to go down well and before anyone says anything about the moderator tab at the side, this is a personal reply and nothing to do with my highly paid job [ £0.00 pa ] as just one of the moderators of this forum.

So 70 copies out of 223 makes you an expert ? Surely anyone who has bought all or most of the 223 copies has more of an idea ?

Like you say it wont suit everyone but storage is an issue.

Geoff [ Ouiballie ] on this forum has taken storage to an art form. It's even been rumoured that some of his work will be in the Tate next year.

Sorry but personally I don't agree with you, I, and from recent remarks on this forum are of the opinion that Neil is going a grand job in revitalising the mag from the low it got itself into. Whoever takes over has a hard job and it will take more than 3 or 4 copies.

Personally I didn't read the article, I tend to flip read and then go back later when I have an interest in the subject.

John S with personal hat on.

[edit] Neil types faster than I do and has been on the diplomatic course.

Edited By John Stevenson on 18/11/2014 09:58:03

I have bought the mag from day 1 and have virtually every copy and I agree with Roger. What was wrong with a tupperware box or even a takeaway meal tub? No offence to the author who I'm sure enjoyed the project and writing about it but I wonder seriously how many people are going to build their own small wooden box or need instruction on how to build a small wooden box. This article could have/should have been a page at most. I'm ready and willing to write an article about painting and decorating a workshop if the remit is that wide. I think you're being unduly harsh on someone with a valid opinion who probably now feels bullied away.

and John (who I like), you can't have a pop at someone for only having read seventy magazines and calling them no expert, and then comment expertly on an article you haven't read.

Chris,

If you read my reply again I didn't comment on the article, only made remarks that it's a valid subject and will be of some use to some people.

Why not use a tupperware container ? Many reasons, won't fit in a drawer ? Stuff gets mixed up in there ? Etc

I have roughly the same problem at the moment. In my repair work I use a lot of special threads, many are screw cut but I like to have taps and dies to clean up or use where I can't swing a 17 tonne casting [ I know I need a bigger lathe - sigh ]

A lot are fine threads, 1mm pitch being very common and all my special taps are in a drawer that used to be a plans drawers, and are all mixed up.

I seem to spend hours looking for these and a couple of weeks ago I decided to make a set up of just 1.00mm pitch taps and dies from 6mm up to 24mm. So I literally spent two + hours sorting out what I had, making a list up and then ordering the ones missing from a full set.

Once all these come thru I will then make a special tap and die box to hold these.

Anal ? OTT? Personally I don't think so as by now i must have lost more in time than this full set will cost to put together.

Edited By John Stevenson on 18/11/2014 10:37:43

As someone who HAS every single copy since the first issue, AND every insert, AND a few ME's as well. AND likes to see a good row, may I say, that personally, that's me and my opinion only, I don't actually, like, you know, see what woodwork, ie box making, has got to do with model ENGINEERING.

Tootle pip,

Peter G. Shaw

p.s If you want to read a good row in print, may I suggest you have a read in ME the row between Jim Ewins and Tom Walshaw. back in 1989. The (high) standard of erudition has to be read to be believed.

My twopenneth,

I'm a mechanical engineer who could not work wood if my life depended on it, for a start it catches fire when trying to weld it, I may not be immediately interested in making a wooden tool box but the techniques used to produce the item allow me to learn for the future, dont tell SWMBO I might might know a little about working wood otherwise she will add to her list of targets sorry jobs keep the 1-2% coming.

Martin P

Edited By martin perman on 18/11/2014 11:43:42

Let he who hath no home-made tool storage solutions in his 'model engineer's workshop' cast the first stone...

Neil

I did once drill some holes in a shelf to hold drill chucks etc. Come to think of it I put the shelf up. I don't have the patience for woodwork but admire those that do.

OOps sorry meant to hit "quote" but hit delete by accident and John Coates post has gone.

Neil any chance you can get it back please, my fault, nothing wrong with the post in fact thought it was very relevant hence wanting to quote on it

On occasion I also buy the odd copy from the local newsagent, and prior to parting with the necessary beer tokens, have a quick look through to see whats inside.

Sometimes, there is nothing of interest, sometimes quite the opposite which ensures the release of aforementioned beer tokens.

Can't remember how many CD's / LP's etc bought over the years because I liked the 'hit' in the charts and only liked one or two tracks.

C'est la vie

Hi all

As I have all the MEW issues since No1, and have made a number of storage boxes, I think I am qualified to comment.

If the article in question had been how to use tools available in a typical Model Engineer's workshop to make a reasonable fitted storage box - something of the quality of the box that used to be sold by Hemmingway for the Quick-step mill - then I'd say "well done".

There have been articles in the past showing how someone used his milling machine as a router.

Unfortunately, the "storage box" described in 222, resembled a crate. At best, it was a bit of rough joinery.

If you want to know how to build storage boxes, look at YouTube. There are plenty of better examples there.

Andy

I'm gobsmacked by the ire created by this short article.

I think there are two issues here:

1 - woodwork has no place in the magazine.

I'm afraid I disagree with this, it's a minority topic but it has it's place. A short article every few months adds to the variety, as long as it is about a workshop application and not just 'woodworking'.

2 - the item in the article was crude

Perhaps, but by definition it's a storage box not a Chippendale chair. I thought it was a useful source of ideas for those who haven't tried making a custom fitted box before.

Harold Hall has offered me an article on making a routing table. Perhaps I should reflect on whether this would be welcome in MEW?

Sorry to John Coates, I think your post has been nuked forver by the thumb-fingered Earl of Bligeport.

Neil

Well, I think it's funny, all these divergent views.

Seriously though chaps, wood as a material does have a place in an engineering magazine. Was it not Tubal Cain who commented in one of his books about using wood as a temporary faceplate fixing with the advantage that it didn't matter if one "dug" into it a bit. Surely we can all agree that different materials all have their place in the workshop and let's face it, how many buiilders of scale models then go and mount the model on a nicely polished wood plinth with a plastic cover? And what about clock makers? What do they mount their clocks in but a nicely polished wood case.

Maybe this idea of a box was too simple. Perhaps if it had been polished using, say a milling machine to spin a polishing mop. Or nicely engraved using a tiny tool in the milling machine. Would that have made a difference? .

Regards,

Peter G. Shaw

I've noticed before that there seems to be a growing assumption that, if a reader finds one article in the magazine that appeals to him/her, that justifies buying the magazine. Do people really feel this way?

Certainly, if I pick up a magazine (any magazine) on the book-stand, unless there is an article that is seriously a "must-have", I want two or three articles at least that appeal if I'm to purchase it.

This was an old bit of recovered beech table (I think), once. I need to touch up the varnish a bit!

Neil

Bring on the router table, that would interest me.

Martin P

One article that appeals is enough for me to buy a magazine, anything extra that appeals is a bonus.

Neil, There are many uses for wood in engineering: Pattern making. I have to admire the skill that has gone into some of the patterns I've seen. I have made wooden spoked wheels and used single-use hardwood fixtures to good effect on my models. Nicely made wooden boxes were used to keep precision measuring items in. So much space devoted to a wooden box may have been better used for a toolmaker's chest but not many of us engineers are good enough at woodwork: I can't make a tenon saw cut accurately but I can get within 10 thou with a hacksaw!

See my photo's for my use of wood in engineering. Colin