Lathe and societies.

Hello,

I am new to this site and am at 22 an apprentice engineer. I have started this hobby from my long term interest of restoring old or antique tools, me and partner have just started saving for our first house and I am getting or restoring most of the things I will need. No new equipment, all old school.

Largest piece so far is a long bed 1916 Drummond lathe of 7" swing and 66" bed length in near factory condition. I have a couple of general questions.

What are the main benefits of joining the local club or society? Also, what lathes (and other machines) do you possess in your workshops, irrespective of what branch you are in?

TIA
Ralph

Hi Ralph,

Welcome to the forum. If you already have an old Drummond you can do a lot with that. There are few or no local clubs/societies where I live so I miss being able to ask others, I have a friend with much the same interests though. In addition to a lathe (with tooling) the next machine in your workshop might be an old milling machine?

Thor

Clubs do vary in what they provide but all are a centre of friendly engineers. For many retired or not in an engineering profession it is the only place to talk to people who understand technical terms and get away from the interminable sport and soap talk.
My club is focused around monthly talks on an engineering or modelling related topic, has auctions and sales opportunities to buy/sell tools and materials, trips to preserved railways etc, exhibitions, advice, whatever is needed. Our track and boating lake activities are an adjunct to this rather than the centre. Only a few clubs have machines/workshops owing to cost, security, insurance.

Once you join one in my experience you can go to any club in the UK or the world and when you declare your home club you will be treated like a mate. A few months ago I got a free lunch in the Boxhill club (Melbourne) but it did cost me a grand in airfare to get there.

"but all are a centre of friendly engineers"....you are clearly not familiar with the North-West of England!

From what I can gather (and my own experience), most ME clubs in the UK are friendly, PROVIDING your brain runs on steam and tracks, otherwise expect to be ignored once you have paid your fees.

Cheers Derek.

P.S. now going to don my armour.

Hang on Derek, I for one agree with you.

Is that really the case? the two local clubs here are very much into tracked steam admittedly but also have a very healthy following for road vehicles and stationary engines too, both steam and i.c.

I would have generally hoped that we would foster the interest of all things mechanical and I saw an excellent display of just this sort of thing at the Guildford MES open day, which had virtually every different format of design that could be built.

I suppose it all stems back to childhood and the 'I want to be an engine driver' that makes people want to build the rail based vehicles, and when others of a more varied outlook come along it interferes with their clique.

Thanks John, better put your armour on too John, I fear the worst is yet to come.

Cheers Derek.

Hi Ralph

welcome to the fun!

I joined the York club as recommended by a friend who advised me on a few things engineering wise as I hadn't a clue ( not much change there as yet!).

Yes there are always Cliques in any society but don't be put off. There are loads of generous minded friendly individuals who will always help / answer questions. You choose who you associate with in any organization, remember you will only get out of anything as much as you put in.

I have been in several clubs, both model and otherwise and "there's always one".... so just ignore that one and move on. Locomotives provide lots of engineering experience which is directly transferrable to other aspects of the craft.

The clock guys in York leave me dumbfounded with their skill but one guy recently built a wooden clock that amazed even them- that's right Jack I mean you !

Go along and judge on how YOU feel, if you tell people what part of the country you're in them maybe able to assist some more.

Happy New Year one and all Ian

Ralph. In my mind the benefits to joining a local club are always going to be positive. Access to people with some or more experience and the odd loan of a tool your budget might not afford, is the main point of model engineering. Even if its a odd piece of advice because " I made one of those 20 odd year ago and ..." will stop you losing a work piece and could finish your project quicker. Like all social activities an individual might fail where a collective can win.

If anyone in the Mid-Sussex area is looking for a very friendly club with boiler testing and workshop facilities and which also encourages all types of engineering models the Mid-Sussex Model Engineering Club Ltd caters for them. Some members are also in the nearby Sussex Miniature Locomotive Society. Colin

Welcome Ralph!

By all means, find a Club, and join it.

Unless it is an unusual one, you will be made welcome, and it will cater for a variety of interests.

Last year, at Spalding, our Club stand showed Locos, Rolling Stock, a Road Engine, Clocks, Stationary Engines, Historic Artillery, and Workshop Tooling, so plenty to choose from there. And there will many others like that.

Visiting one of the major exhibitions, you may well find a Society close to your home.

As a member you will see and hear how other folk work, and solve problems. There will always be advice available, probably someone will be prepared to lend a tool for a one off job that doesn't justify buying, and someone will either be prepared to come round and help, or invite you to take your problem to their workshop.

"That's too big for your lathe, bring round to me, and we'll do it together"

Yes, you will run across the odd misery, but they are everywhere, not just in Model Engineering, so just avoid them, and stick with the members who will be welcoming, helpful and friendly..

In my experience, visiting other Clubs, as a Club member you will be made welcome.

As already said, there are lot of positives to being a Club member.

Howard

Thank you very much for the replies, the information and advice you have all provided is much appreciated. I shall look into joining to the Southampton society, where I live, in the near future. From what you have said it would be a very useful and beneficial thing to do.

Ralph