Model engineering not so expensive a hobby!

Ive always thought model engineering was quite an expensive hobby - until I started taking my daughter for days out. Two adults and a 3 year old, one day at the zoo (chester) just short of £70 for entry, £30 for food, £20 for fuel!! Same for most similar attractions. I can buy a lot of brass for that and it will keep me occupied for weeks. Just need to get daughter a lathe and the savings will be huge!

My wife and I had four children so when we did anything that cost beer credits I always divided it by 6. Most things then became reasonable. Only trouble with having four children was that anything we wanted, table n chairs , family tickets etc we found that things were based on two plus two not six. Cars were the biggest problem. We always had to have people carriers. The first one we had was a two litre prairie. I ran that into the ground, gear boxes were not up to pulling the weight.

On the modelling we have done it all Rc boats, cars, aircraft- mostly brought back home in kit form.

None of my kids have taken up modelling - they are all of the computer age even after lots of encouragement

Bri

There's no such thing as a cheap hobby! At least our equipment is useful for other things; try fixing a broken saucepan handle with a set of golf bats

Hmmmm

Best not to think too closely about costs ..........................

N

Yep, it's all in the material cost...until that next drill snaps or goes missing. And then there's all them unexpected surprises to sort out.

MIchael W

When I read model engineering magazine articles(especially here in the US) I get a bit of an inferiority complex! Some of these blokes have machines worth more than my house. I have a pretty worn 9" South Bend, a Grizzly Mini Mill and a very flexible Craftsman table drill press. Some of these lads have a lot of extra cash. The funny thing is the well heeled locals will not change a flat tyre and making something is not in their list of abilities.

Why are you taking a 3yr old anywhere expensive? At that age walking to the local park is like the other end of the earth and playing on the swings with their dad will be the only thing they remember, if anything below the age of 5. The only time to pay for food out is when you are supplementing the sandwiches you took by supporting your ME club if they charge for coffee.

Fizzy,

Can it really be 3 years since you announced you were waiting for the arrival of Harriet Grace!

No wonder I feel old!

Time for an Avatar update?

When I was 3 years old we never went anywhere - but then WW2 ended!

Edited By Robbo on 19/06/2016 09:32:26

She might not remember the days out but she is learning and enjoying at the same time as we are. And there are my memories too. It is indeed three years ago!

Yesterday she was bitten by a vulture - only a passing nip (as opposed to tearing the flesh from her limbs!) but how many other kids have had such an experience, three or otherwise? She can name every animal in the zoo unlike a familt who were pointing out the tapiar and explaining to their children that it was a hyena like in Jungle book...I kid you not

Well you do have to wonder when some townie kids do not know where milk and butter come from nor fruit's origins.

It is said that parents no longer read books to kids as they have no time left! Under five years of age I was reading through a whole set of encyclopedias, 12 of them 2 " thick. Then at tech school i read all the books about world war 1 in my dinnertimes.

Learning and experiences are life forming and exploring ones world whether accompanied or not is essential for a balanced life.

Good for you Fizzy for taking an interest in your Daughters lif and future.

Clive

I see buying tools as simply moving money from one account to another, and if you buy well you get interest.......

Shaun

If you see the prices that are being asked for some completed models model engineering could be a very low cost hobby indeed!

Russell.

Clive, how right you are.

I gained my fascination for engineering while reading my grandparent's collection of encyclopedias as a mite and also learned how to read before attending primary school.

Reading any kind of story to my children at bedtime was a natural thing to do and probably as therapeutic to me as it was to them. They grew up ok.

My grandfather also had an allotment where I was sometimes allowed to visit and learn where food actually came from.

When neighbours come for a visit the TV gets turned off and we actually talk, same when I visit them...Old fashioned or just good manners?

* Danny M-Z *

Edited By Danny M2Z on 19/06/2016 12:28:44

Fizzy

Money spent with your family is well spent I think. Yes we can fill our workshops with wonderful kit which is a joy to use and we ( or rather some of you! ) may create magnificent models which amaze our friends. All of this is nothing compared to a good relationship with our kids. Days out like yours will stick in all your minds and form the patchwork of memories for you all to enjoy for the rest of your lives.

Good on you - you've got it right I think !

Norman

If you think modeling is expensive, try mucking about with classic motorbikes. Makes a day out with the kids at the Ritz look cheap.

It's as expensive as you allow it to be. To keep my costs down I have various ways of sourcing materials/tooling most of which involves avoiding retailers. Car boot sales, scrap yards, and bargain hunting on ebay being just some of my suppliers.

My acquisition of supplies has become an enjoyable hobby in itself but doing it my way calls for a particular personal quality - patience - which I have by the bucket load together with the willingness to buy quantities of stuff at knock down prices when it become available - even if I have no use for it at present it will come in handy eventually.

Patience? That's the bit that's needed when you need something you don't have. Seek and ye shall find. A couple of weeks back I was stuck for a bit of inch diameter (thereabouts) to make some collars for a shaft on my sons tractor. A box of odd bits at the local boot this morning yielded an old but large cotter pin which will fit the bill perfectly.

I am lucky in that I am retired and have the time to do things my way - not everyone can or wants to "faf around" as some might describe my methods but I like it and it suits me and keeps a smile on my face

Rik (surrounded by "stuff" and loving it.)

I saw a sign in a shop window the other day that read:-

For sale

complete set of Encyclopedia Brittanica.

No longer needed due to marriage.

The wife knows everything.

Sounds like a healthy childhood to me - never did Mowgli any harm!

I got bitten by a pelican, butted by a goat and an elephant ate my crisp packet (I scanned the local paper for a week afterwards expecting tho read 'elephant dies in suspicious circumstances'.

Neil

Could you write that up for MEW so we an all share the details with our pursers?

Neil