London Model Engineering Exhibition

[Guest]

Hi fellow subnuts,

The 2007 London Model Engineering Exhibiton is due to take place soon, January 19th-21st.

It will be held at Alexandra Palace, which is in North London, and this year will be the first time they've organised a pool, which will be housed within a special 'activity' area.

This means we can get our boats wet, yay!

This is always a good show to stock up on materials and tools for those winter projects, and there is some real hardcore model engineering on display.

For those interested, there are more details here-

http://www.meridienneexhibitions.co.uk/ ... exhib.html

Andy

[paul von braun]

Andy,
what will be the criteria

Andy,
what will be the criteria for exhibiting?

Paul.

[Guest]

Well in the past, I've

Well in the past, I've always got a ticket through the AMS if I'm taking a model along.

I think you can exhibit your model as an individual, but the organisers now seem to be stipulating new conditions which require you to bring your model for the entire length of the show i.e. all three days.

This is what happened at the recent International Model boat Show, which is organised by the same outfit, and took place last month.

An email to Meridienne would soon clarify this.

In my opinion, it's not a good policy, as a lot of folk will be put off exhibiting, especially if they live a fair distance away.

However, I don't know if these rules will apply to the show in January, hence why I suggest contacting the organisers.

Andy

[Wheelerdealer]

I'll pop along to see

I'll pop along to see if I can pick up a small lathe.

Hows that U boat coming along Paul?

[anonymous]

It does seem very restrictive

It does seem very restrictive this 3 day or nothing requirement.

It resulted in the AMS not going to the Warwick show this year.

As Andy says , best to clarify it with the organisers. maybe you can bring a model to splash in the pool without doing a static display of it.

David

[Guest]

I'll pop along to see

I'll pop along to see if I can pick up a small lathe.

Well you'll have a lot of choice there!

The Chinese stuff is now very well made (Warco etc.) and is making Myfords look rather expensive.

S/H lathes come up from time to time at my model engineers club, so I can keep my eyes peeled if you're after a machine.

Boxford lathes make excellent S/H purchases. Many model engineers often overlook them in favour of Myfords, but IMO they're just as good if not better. They just don't have the accessory range of the Myfords, but that's really not that important if you just want to make basic bits and bobs.

Andy

[Wheelerdealer]

I'm after a lathe that

I'm after a lathe that will fit on a work table and can be placed on the floor under it when I finished with it, due to a lack of space. So it need to be small and light. It will be for turning endcaps and making small fitting out of brass and soft materials. I figure the largest endcap I am going to turn is say 150mm dia (BTW if a lathe spec is a centre height of 75mm, that means this will fit right? Or is it the Swing over bed measurement I should be looking at??). I have my eye on the Chester Cobra and Clarke 250 which seem to be badged version of the same thing. Another option is the Taig / Peatol micro lathe which is smaller still.

[Guest]

I'd say the Clarke is

I'd say the Clarke is a good choice of machine for the sort of work you want to carry out, bearing in mind the limitations on space- but I wouldn't go any smaller.

The swing of the machine is adequate for anything you've specified (strangely the Chester machine specs a swing of 1/2" less, which isn't sufficient to swing 150mm), and as you're working primarily with plastics and non-ferrous metals the 150W motor should be up to the job- just take light cuts.

The distance between centres is only about 10.5" which could limit you a little i.e. you'll have a tough time truing up cylinder ends. However there are workarounds to this.

I'm guessing that this machine uses a DC motor, I don't see how they could get that level of electronic speed control otherwise.

Chronos are good for small lathe tools (they do some nice tungsten tipped tools for silly prices). Be careful with Tracy tools, some of their stuff is a bit suspect quality wise!

I'd budget for a rotating centre (not essential but jolly handy), and get a set of digital vernier calipers (Woolworths are selling these very cheap at the moment), worth their weight in gold.

Also check and see if the lathe comes with a 4-jaw chuck.

It's not something you'll use often, but is handy for holding non-cylindrical work and/or offset turning.

The milling head attachment is a nice little addition.

I prefer the Chester Conquest though- a small lathe proper.

Andy

[anonymous]

I would keep the Peatol/Taig

I would keep the Peatol/Taig lathe on your selection list.

I have had one for the last 2 years and I'm very pleased with it. It is rather different to most other lathes (a sort of US design classic maybe!) and is really a cross between a jewellers lathe and a small lathe.

It is very small and very accurate and yet can turn out quite large work up to 150 mm diameter (I think) with riser blocks on the headstock and tailstock. (I haven't yet used them.)

http://www.peatol.com/

http://www.cartertools.com/

Will give you an idea.

With the present state of the dollar versus the pound you may even consider a trip to the States to collect one with all the accessories you need. (It is quite light in weight being mostly in aluminium - get a motor in the UK.) I believe it is quite widely stocked in the US but many US residents on this site could advise you I'm sure.

Mind you the UK dealer provides very good service.

One thing for sure, you certainly will not regret getting a lathe.


David