The Breakroom > The Water Cooler
Countdown
bogstandard:
--- Quote ---I reccon we'll get the 200th on Saturday the 28th at 3:30 PM UK time give or take 30 min.
--- End quote ---
My guess would be the next one after number 199.
Bogs
It is a shame I don't belong to more US sites, then I could most probably drum up a few more from there. It is getting a bit top heavy with Brits, but what the heck, we are all human beings (well almost).
No special talents needed, we can all do it, you only have to point the way, and if people like what they see, then they will take part.
SPiN Racing:
Might be me.. or because Im in FLorida.. but there seem to be a lot more modeling shows, engineering groups, and small engine building groups from England.
That or we here in the states are soo spaced out that we get lost in the dead space.
I can honestly say.. the FIRST Lathe I ever saw, other than one in a hobby catalog for turning balsawood!?!? was at the race shop I work at on weekends when needed. And at the time I was a client needing some custom stainless exhaust work done.
I saw it.. didnt know what it was... watched him turn a brass bushing for something and kinda scratched my head trying to understand the universe of possibilities to it. And still couldnt grasp its potential.
Several years later I saw that, the REAL lathes were next door in the machine shop.. where they have some huge Mauser lathe, and a variety of mills and smaller lathes.
Thinkig back.. I think the mauser lathe can swing some really big stuff.... not sure but Im thinking 3 foot or 4 foot? I remember the chuk being so large I had difficulty grasping what it was.
To this day.. those are the only two people I actually know who have machine tools. (Outside of production shops) I dont even know OF anyone who has tools of that style.
SO yeah.. I vote British member.. likely Saturday Evening GMT.
bogstandard:
Spin,
Distance means nothing in the world today, if you have an internet connection, it is like you are next door.
Projects wise, the US is more open in what it can do compared to the UK, you have large open spaces, we have nothing like that. So in the UK, unless you are in a very special group with access to off road space, you would never consider making something like a buggy.
If I dug a hole outside my house and filled it full of water, the next day you would find fishermen elbow to elbow around it. And that is no bulls**t, a farmer not far from me has what looks like a small round bomb crater that is full of muddy water, and he charges people to fish there.
So to me there should be a lot more US members with major projects on the go, those are the people we should be concentrating our efforts on. The model engineering and machining side will self perpetuate itself now, we need to get the other interests going, otherwise we will just end up as another engineering site.
John
John Hill:
I think it would be good to get some members from former Eastern Europe. I was astounded at the level of home machine shops in small Czech villages, some of those guys have small factories in their barns and they have a recent history of forced improvisation.
At my friend's house he had a nice looking trailer for his Skoda, I asked if it was factory made and he replied that of course it was home made and that all good things were home made! He showed me the electric lawnmower that his father had made, he showed me the motorcycle powered winch his father had made to pull a small plough on his strip of land. He has tilting garage doors which work really well and were made by his friend from down the street. So I started to take notice and saw numerous home made systems and devices equal of any.
Of course I felt some empathy with them as when I was a little kid we had the same culture in New Zealand, not for the same reason, but the culture of making whatever one needed had been inherited from the pioneers and refreshed during post-war shortages.
Bernd:
--- Quote from: SPiN Racing on February 25, 2009, 05:14:06 PM ---Might be me.. or because Im in FLorida.. but there seem to be a lot more modeling shows, engineering groups, and small engine building groups from England.
--- End quote ---
A lot of the mentality in the US is "where can I buy it". Very few want to build anything because it takes to much time. People over here seem to want everything in a hurry, even there relaxing time. Plus with the schools today no longer teaching a shop class kids won't learn or understand anything about machines. Besides they might get their hands dirty and that doesn't pay much.
It still amazes me when somebody says they have never seen a machine tool before, but I grew up with things like that. I know there are things out there that I've never seen before. I guess I'm kind of lucky my dad was a tool and die maker so I learned at an early age about machines. Had he been a CPA I'm sure I'd be a wizz at numbers.
I also have a very high curiousity index so I usally try to find out anything I can about the subject that interests me.
And I'm getting :offtopic: here. :)
Just my take as why there aren't as many machine groups over here, plus the distance.
Bernd
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