The loom...

Ready to unload

You may remember that last year we able to acquire the huge loom built by the late Dennis Weston, back in the late '90s. It is so big that as it stands it will not pass through a standard doorway in any orientation. In fact, as it stands, it will not fit in Sue’s Volvo estate!

The loom has not been run in more than a dozen years so the first thing to do was to turn it over manually, identifying tight points and remedying any timing issues. After several attempts of trying to understand how it should work we finally got it to turn over and fire the huge shuttle at the correct time.

The original motor and drive band

Now it is time to decide exactly what we are going to do with it! Over the past few months we have considered all sorts of options including a complete rebuild. Until now the favourite option was to build a clone of the frame and rebuild all the working parts from the original into that. The idea being we could get each mechanism to work independently of the rest and re-assemble the entire loom in a new frame. Although this method seemed to make sense from a practical point of view, it would mean that the finished loom would be largely a copy of the original.

Trial motor - works fine!

Today we had another session of loom restoration and cured the last of the timing issues. The final problem to address was how to power it. The motor fitted to the loom is an ex-sewing machine, mains voltage motor. The drive band has seen better days and was slipping. We could find another belt but we decided to replace the huge Singer motor with a modern, low voltage motor. First attempts are encouraging. A single 12V DC motor drives the whole mechanism with ease even though there is still some stiffness in places probably due to a build up of fluff, solidified grease and oil. 

The huge shuttle

The loom now runs, throws the huge shuttle through the warp without catching, selects the heald frames correctly and maintains tension in the warp threads. The trouble is I have just noticed that woven cloth is being pulled back onto the tensioning roller. A bit of undoing of grub screws released the tension and the cloth was pulled back allowing the warp to go slack. Now all we have to do is to rewind the thread back onto spools – all 120 of ‘em!

The shuttle on its way

Once we have sorted all that out, it will be a case of smoothing out all the stiff bits and load the shuttle with the weft so that we can start weaving…

Ralph.

Another road trip...

It all started with one of those conversations:

    Me,"Wanna go to Pontefract Sue?" 

    Sue, "Isn't that a cake?"

    Me, "No, It's a place"

    Sue, "I think it is a cake - or a biscuit, isn't it?"

    Me, "No its a place! Don't change the subject, do you want to come or not?"

    Sue, "What for?"

    Me, "I just bought a motorbike."

    Sue, "WHAT?!"

And so it went on for a bit until I managed to explain it was made of Meccano and it needed collecting from Pontefract, West Yorkshire, not a big problem if you happen to live in Wakefield, 8 miles down the road, but we live in London 192 miles down the road! This small fact was not lost on Sue. The next morning, the good old recycled Swedish fridge was heading north with a couple of Meccano nuts off to collect the motorbike! We were off on another one of our rescue missions...

...By the way, Pontefract Cakes are not cakes or biscuits, they are sweets, sort of boiled sweets that are made from liquorish (Yuck!). I think they're akin to Marmite, you either love 'em or hate 'em!

The motorbike in question is a modern dealer display model, first seen at the 2010 London Toy Fair. These models I believe, were built by outside organisations. The model does not promote any particular set and was intended to just fly the flag in general. I have no idea how many of these models were made and I have not seen one on display anywhere other than at the London Toy Fair. 

Modern display model - just got it home

The display is going to need a bit of cleaning and some rebuilding to rectify some misalignment, probably caused by some minor crushing at some time in its life, but there is nothing too serious wrong with it that an hour or so on the bench will not rectify. I will have to bring it up to UK electrical safety specifications, as it stands, it would not pass a PAT (Portable Appliance Test). It just goes to show how the rules and regulations for electrical safety seem to be largely ignored. The addition of a simple earth wire and new flex will enable the display to be tested as a Class I appliance and hopefully pass!I will post some decent pictures when I have sorted it our and given it a good clean.

Ralph.  

NELMC Meeting and AGM

This time last year, North London Meccano Club (NELMC) was in big trouble. With membership falling off and a complete lack of interest when it came to thinking about electing officers.  What a difference a year can make.  A lot of work behind the scenes has resulted in a vibrant new atmosphere with a good attendance. Indeed it was, to use the modern vernacular, rammed!
 

A busy scene at Hainault last Saturday for the AGM

At one point I thought we would run out of space, and when it came to the AGM we had plenty of volunteers stepping up to take up the places on the committee.  The day was about getting the enthusiasm going again and thanks to a good crowd I really feel it is heading in the right direction. We have launched a new style quarterly Rag called The Flyer that seems to be a hit with the members and we are in the process of revamping the website to bring it into the 21st century.

Oh good! Its tea time! No? I thought it was a tea trolley...

Lots of interesting models to be seen, including everything from a Robotic Development Platform (Under Construction) built by our new Chair, Allen Berman to Roger Little's huge railway display and most things between. Tony Brown brought the proceedings down to his level by displaying the odd ugly crane built using X-Series parts, but we have to forgive him for that - he lives out in the sticks.

Little loco from Roger

It was really good day. If you live in striking distance of Hainault why not pay us a visit and if you like what you see you can join the Club and that will entitle you to a subscription to The Flyer Our new 12 page, full colour newsletter that is totally compatible with all electronic media. It is supplied in .pdf  format and can also be printed out to A4. For more details about the club visit: http://londonmeccanoclub.org.uk/  and click on the North East London Meccano Club tab at the top of the page. 

I am now really looking forward to the next meeting on 13th April 2013. If you would like to come along and see what its all about you will be most welcome. 

Ralph. 

Great day out at Lyne...

...A new venue for the RMG's meetings!

Plenty of parking at the new venue

The new venue for the Runnymede Meccano Guild's (RMG) meetings is a great success - and the food is good as always! The new venue is only a short drive from the previous meeting place and the improvement is staggering. More space, easy access and plenty of parking. Getting there by public transport my be a bit more tricky but it didn't seem to put many people off. With an attendance of around 80 the day was roaring success. Even with far more table space than previously available it was all occupied. 

Easy access - Great!

Details of all RMG's forthcoming meetings and events can be found by visiting their new website. You will also be able to join the Guild and now you can pay by using the PayPal checkout - You don't have to have a PayPal account either! Membership of the Guild includes subscription to the sixty page, full colour, magazine, which is published three times a year. Details can be found HERE. At the time of writing, UK subscription is only £20 - even if you can't attend the meetings it is worth the money for the magazine alone! 

Now, where does that bit go?

Indeed, the guild has lots of international members who subscribe for the magazine alone. More details and pictures of the new venue can also be found on the all new RMG website at: http://runnymedemeccanoguild.org.uk/

Inside, the place was full with an extreamly vibrant atmosphere as models started to stream in accompanied by their builders milling about looking for their allocated spaces while taking in the splender of their new surroundings. No handbags-at-dawn arrangements were made and the meeting settled down to the usual hum of motors and murmurings and that irritating, poor quality, nasally sound that emanates from electronic media being played on a continuous loop. (Sorry, I can't help being a grumpy old so-and-so!) Time for a wander and leave Tim to his videos!
The usual culprits were in attendance and the dynamic-duo were at it again chewing the cud for England, while the Dealer of Dunmow looked on!   

Ralph.

Unusual 'modern' sets are hard to find...

A lot of modern sets are only available for short periods. In recent years some of the sets specially commissioned by the big retailer such as Marks & Spencer are particularly hard to find and when they do appear on the market they tend to sell for premium prices. The Harrier and Stephenson's Rocket spring to mind. There are plenty of others but it is the not so common that I have been looking for as they often include hard to get parts. Shortage of supply usually means the price will climb but persistence can pay off - eventually.

Two types of part B006

It all started when I was experimenting with some tracked vehicles a year or so ago after discovering, from a post on the Spanner II list, that the 19-tooth plastic pinions will fit inside a strange looking part that I first came across in a job-lot of modern parts Sue and I bought a few years back. A similar part can be found in the Crazy Inventors Rattle Trap and Time machine. The part in question is described as a 'sprocket for crawler tracks' part No. B006 in Oscar Felgueiras's New Parts Listings. The green part comes from the Rattle trap or the Time Machine, Crazy inventor series. There is only one in each set, making it hard to get hold of any amount of them as both sets are very sought after these days.

Future Master Drilling Machine

The grey part looks a bit more promising as the Drilling machine from the Future Masters series has six of them. The trouble is trying to get hold of this set is proving difficult to say the least! None of the future master sets seem to appear for sale on the second hand market very often and I have never seen this particular set for sale anywhere in recent years. It was only that a fellow enthusiast, George Roy, happened to have a spare set (that he let me have for a very reasonable price) that I managed to get my hand on one - Thanks George! So if you see a set kinking around grab it - you may not see another!

The tracks being driven using the drive sprockets

Apart from the set I bought from George, I have managed to find a few of these drive sprockets over the years and, to my surprise, they drive the rubber tracks very smoothly. My first attempt at building a working model was a simple single motor vehicle shown here. The drive is via tri-axles and plastic tri-axle,19t pinions, part No. A326.

As a next stage, I built a steerable chassis using two motors. This time the drive was via bossed yellow plastic 19t pinions with brass bosses. The yellow plastic ring of teeth fitted to the brass boss often split rendering the pinion useless. This gave this part a bad reputation and a lot of the remaining brass push-fit bosses were turned down as collars. I have always saved mine as they were, using them as stops on my drifts or other odd jobs.

The steerable chassis

This was not because I was being cleaver - I don't own a lathe (yet!). In this model, they proved their worth by providing a matching free-wheeling hub. One end of each axle uses one of my many split, plastic pinion fitted into a drive sprocket, while the other end is secured using the brass boss only, from a split pinion. This arrangement is repeated in reverse at the other end of the chassis making it possible to drive each track independently - worked great! I have yet to build a model that uses this idea but I am sure I will one day.

A Find...

The search for unusual modern parts was made much harder, in the UK, when Meccano UK hit a rough patch at the end of the '90s and sold off their entire stock to raise funds. I presume this also meant for a period they were not buying new stock. The current sets, of the time, have since become scarce as collectors start to take an interest in an area that was not so popular previously. For the builder, this means there are some parts that are very thin on the ground and it is a case of buying the sets as they become available, which is not that often.

It is all still out there - somewhere

This week, purely buy fluke during an internet search, I was directed to Germany's eBay site where I was delighted to find an unused, still wrapped, Master Connection set 0030. As I investigated further it became clear that this was for a current auction and not, as is so often the case, an expired one. The listing was a buy-it-now and the price was reasonable - Click! A few days later and the set was sitting on our Meccano room table awaiting attention. It just goes to show that these sets are still around, we just have to look a little further afield.

Ralph.

January 2013 Toy Fair - The all-new Evolution sets...

POS Display

Is this the best news for years?

I think so. What is there not to like? Meccano have added lots of new generic parts to the range and released some sets that make models that look more like the real thing rather than a futuristic fantasy.

The old instruction books for the classic progressively numbers sets are full of models that to our eyes look very dated but in their day they were mainly of contemporary subjects. Of recent years, Meccano have produced some very dubious looking models that I am sure did not appeal to the kids or their dads (who are usually pres-ganged into helping ‘little Johnny’ build the thing) Consequently these models end up on ebay, or the like, and sell for a fraction of their original cost to the part hunters.

The new Evolution range of models feature a selection of smaller parts with holes spaced at ¼ inch. There are also a host of new parts including plastic bevel gears and a very compact universal joint, designed to work with the tri-axle system. OK, I will not take the load of its metal counterpart but the whole idea of these kits is to build smaller models with more detail achieved by using the greater flexibility of the ¼ inch spacing and narrow strips. There are also plenty of plastic components that will add to the growing armoury of modern parts that have been expanding the range for the past decade and a half or more.

Plastic universal joint

Most noteworthy after the gears and universal joint has to be the new mini-strip that has gear teeth moulded at the ‘standard’ 38dp (ish). I can see these being very popular and there are four of them in the Mobile Crane set. There is also a 3 hole, 1 inch plastic mini-strip similar to the existing 5 hole example. Several other parts appear to be new such as the floatation tanks on the rescue helicopter that appear to be AA battery holders.

There are a few bespoke parts creeping in like the rotor blades, which look to be made of rubberised plastic, the handlebar unit on the quad bike and the driving mirrors on the crane. There are a few more you will spot in the pictures. The Mobile crane picture shows a comparison between the new model and the best you can get using conventional Meccano.

Click on the pictures to enlarge:

Quad bike

4x4 buggy

Tow truck

New and old Meccano - Mobile crane

Helicopter

The five new Evolution models are:

Helicopter - orange/white/black                RRP £89.99

Mobile Crane - yellow/black/zinc              RRP £69.99
Tow truck - orange/white/black/zinc          RRP £49.99
4x4 Buggy -red/black/zinc                       RRP £34.99
Quad bike - Yellow/black/zinc                  RRP £29.99

The new range are not expected to reach the shops in the UK until the end of the summer 2013. The on-stand video at the Toy Fair this week is saying they will be available August 2013 – If past experience is anything to go by then September/October is a more realistic date.

Ralph.

Ralph's new shop is now open!

Our new internet shop is now open and although we will be selling some Meccano, the emphasis will be on steam. We have several Mec1 engines going through the refurbishment process and these will be available soon. In the mean time you can go and see what it is all about by following the link: http://ralphsshop.com/

Paint me please!

More interesting items will be added on a regular basis so keep checking back to see what's new!

Ralph.

No man's land...

Here I am in that gap between Christmas and the New Year and finally I have had a chance to update the website and start this new Blog that will replace the old News pages on the main website. The old archive index can be found HERE.

The past six months has flown by and here is a catch-up on what we have been up to...

A holiday in Scotland and the North of England at the end of May was squeezed in between exhibiting at the Chelsea Flower Show, the summer club meeting of The South East London Meccano Club (SELMEC) and a club outing. SELMEC is very active in the local community and supports all sorts of other events during the year. Sadly, most of the time we are otherwise engaged on one thing or another. This year an invite came along that we just could not refuse...

A day out at the sewage works...

The ornate ironwork is being restored to its former glory stage by stage

Okay, we are not totally bonkers. Crossness pumping station is the southern outflow of Sir Joseph Bazalgette’s answer to ‘The big stink’ London’s escalating sewerage problem of the 1850s. The government of the time made available vast sums of money to build the extensive sewer system part of which was Crossness pumping station. Crossness boasts the four largest rotative beam engines in the world one of which is fully restored, another is in the process of being stripped down and the other two are awaiting their turn. The place is a palace to Victorian engineering at its most arrogant. The interior was decorated to a standard that would not lookout of place in a grand hotel of the day. Money was obviously no object. Lots more information can be found on the Crossness Engines Trust website

Hummm... That bloke looks familiar. The loom always attracts attention

The event was a steam day and model engineering show. We (SELMEC) were invited to display a selection of Meccano models. We did and a good time was had by all. Sue and I took our partially restored Meccano hand loom and a clock based on some instructions, found in a 1930’s manual, along with a dealer display windmill. As usual, the loom attracted the most attention from children (of all ages), Mums and Dads. For more details of the loom, see HERE

The restored pump engine is spectacular to see

Sue is a steam engine and early architecture junkie. She was in her element there enthralled by the whole event. Not only are the engines really impressive, they are housed in Grade I listed buildings. If you get a chance to go, don’t think twice the place is fantastic and it would make a good day out for the whole family. There are modern facilities and sensibly priced refreshments are available.

For me the trade stands are my nemesis, I can’t resist a bargain. Several visits to the second-hand book sellers, during the day, increased our book collection. A great day out and I am looking forward to next year's event to be held on Sunday 23rd June 2013, 10:30am - 4:00pm more details HERE

The main event - Skegex2012

Skegex12 came and went with the usual round of socialising and time supporting the takings in the New Park Club. Sue made this much easier this year by making sure we were booked into the B&B directly opposite! We had by then managed to get the small hand loom working and it was a big hit with fellow Meccano people as well as the general public. we also had the huge beaming frame that Sue had built along with the skeleton of the SML 16a loom.

Skegex12 - A birds eye view

While we were there, Joe Etheridge told us about a huge loom that was about to be dismantled for spares because there was nobody willing to take it on and get it working again. The loom was built by the late Dennis Weston and had been looking for a good home for over a decade. Less than an hour later the loom had a new home! There was only one small problem, the loom was in Peterlee, County Durham. That is 275miles door-to-door from where we live in London. The other niggling problem was the size of the loom. Too big to fit through a standard doorway and much too big to fit in the back of Sue's Volvo estate, there was nothing for it but to break out the Yorkie bars and go trucking.

Joe is delighted to get his conservatory back!

For a long time the loom had been occupying a good deal of Joe's conservatory as it would not go through the door, let alone up the stairs, to Joe's Meccano room. We arrived about 9.30am (we got up early!) and after a pleasant chat, a welcome cuppa and a tour of the Meccano room, we manhandled the the enormous loom out of the conservatory's wide door and around the house into the back of the trusty Transit.

Time to hit the road back to The Smoke but not before a trip on the Middlesbrough Transporter bridge.  and while we were there a trip back across the river using the Newport Lift Bridge, a model of which Joe had just built, displayed and won a prize for at Skegx12. finding ourselves back on the wrong side of the river again we took a final trip back to the south side via the modern composite road bridge.

Whitby - Fantastic fish and chips!

After our impromptu sight seeing tour we headed back towards the A19 and home only to see a sign pointing to Whitby. A trip over the North York Moors and we were in Whitby trying to find a parking space big enough to part a LWB Transit loom-carrier. Mission accomplished it was time for lunch and we treated ourselves to a slap-up fish and chip lunch in a super restaurant right on the harbour at Whitby. Time to head home and a few hours later we were all home safe and sound after putting 600 miles (exactly!) on the clock of the van!

The loom sat in the van overnight until we could work out the best way to get it ensconced in the Meccano room. Here at Laughton Towers It was no trouble to get it through the front door and we managed to get it as far as the dining room where it sat for a further period while we measured and planned how on earth we were going to get it up the stairs and into the Meccano room.

The late Dennis Weston demonstrating his loom In Darlington, November 1999

Suffice to say it is now sitting on its own table pride of place in the corner of the room. We have got it working but it needs a lot of cleaning and I suspect a complete rebuild to get it back to being reliable, as it has sat around for over a decade with little or no use. Five and a bit months later we have a plan but we are yet to implement it as we have a few other things on the go right now!

We spent the rest of the summer trying to rid ourselves of a stinking cold that meant we missed a couple of events we had intended to attend. The London Olympics took place in London at the time and we did end up spending a lot of time following the events as they unravelled.To my surprise the whole event went like clockwork, the doubters were silenced by the smooth running and the way the whole event was supported. In fact it was much quieter for us residents (we live only a few miles from the Olympic park) than anyone had predicted. We did the trip to Peterlee earlier than we would have done as we wanted to get it done before the introduction of the road restrictions that were to be introduced around London to provide the "Olympic lanes". as it turned out we need not of bothered, there was far fewer cars on the road during the Olympic period than normal!

Ta da! My pusher came third and I won a bronze medal...

By the time we had recovered from our colds the summer was over and we were heading towards SELMEC's annual show. Advance publicity and promotion was working well and we had organised a MeccanOlympics event. The response was fantastic, with lots of people flocking to see the events take place - I even won a medal myself! The rest of the show was impressive too. We had hired the whole venue - a bit of a risk as last year we did the same and just about broke even. This year was a different matter with good gate sales from the general public and lots of kids! Lots more pictures and video can be seen on SELMEC's website HERE.

NELMC Show

A selection of models on display at the NELMC show

Our final event of the year was the North East London Meccano Club Show at the beginning of December. I have a vested interest here as I was voted in as Club Secretary in my absence back in May! After a meeting of interested parties, at the beginning of November, some much needed fresh enthusiasm was injected into the club and we are now on our way to building a successful club with a growing membership. The show was a big success and was well supported with space at a premium. A good attendance helped make the day profitable as well.

James Young and me!

To prove that publicity works, we even had a visitor all the way from Canada! James Young from Vancouver has been a frequent visitor to our website and had seen the show advertised there. Realising that he would be in London  at the beginning of December, he decided seek us out and pay us a visit, and very welcome he was too!

The NELMC show has always been a favourite of ours. We would usually attend as visitors but with my new role, as am official of the club, it was time to take part and exhibit a few of our models. Our dealer windmill has been show a couple of times this year so we thought one last airing was in order before it went back into storage for a while. We also showed our Steam Derrick and a selection of steam engines including our refurbished Mamod SP3 repainted in 1958 light red. This fills the gap in steam engine production and gives us an engine to use in models built in our preferred colour scheme of red and zinc.

1958 steam engine. Maybe...

The NELMEC show rounded of the year of exhibiting for us and now it was time to consolidate our Meccano activities and start looking towards 2013. It has been a strange year for us with no big projects completed but a few new ones begun. So that is it, a potted resume of what we have been up to lately and now all that is left is to wish you all a Happy and Prosperous New Year!  

Ralph.