Harrogate 2013

[John Stevenson 1Participant @johnstevenson1]

Missed the swing surface grinder, not that i would have been that interested as i have a commercial model but for anyone who hasn't used one of these things they are awesome.

Normally surface grinding is down to small amounts per pass, often 1/2 thou or so and then traverse the work, fast they are not.

The swing grinders will remover a thou at a time easily [ more if you are rushing ] but cover the whole job at one pass, very fast.

Problem with the swing grinder is it leaves swirl marks and not linear marks which some don't like.

I use mine a lot, often milling down to a few thou above and grind to size. In fact the normal surface grinder has had that little use for the last few years I sold it two weeks ago and rely on the swing grinder.

[mechman48Participant @mechman48]

I went on Friday & was disappointed that ArcEuro & Chronos were not there as I was particularly looking to get some items from both traders that I had earmarked in my little notebook, always nice to 'see before you buy', did manage to get stuff from RDG (also earmarked) but still missed both of the above. Apart from Warco, Chester, & RDG (usual disclaimer) there were the usual gamut of smaller dealers for those wanting to 'browse through' stuff so there was enough to satisfy the most picky.

The finance director (SWMBO) accompanied me & again commented on the amount of backpacking,corderoy/jean, fleece garbed 'oldies' wandering around with glazed looks on their faces, myself included I might add, much akin to anoracked train spotters, commenting with 'ooohs & ahhhs' on this & that, albeit said with a grin on her face & then promptly hotfooted it back into Harrogate..for a little bit 'shopping' .

The exhibition on the whole was as expected, a lot of superb models, my favourites being the scale model 1923 Bentley front end.. along with the superb paddlewheel yacht 'Samantha' ..exceptional work guys! puts my meager attempts to shame, still have to make my '1st project' yet.

All in all a good day out & will be there next year.

Cheers

George

Edited By mechman48 on 12/05/2013 22:07:18

[Andrew EvansParticipant @andrewevans67134]

Went on Saturday, was busy but not as much as previous years. Some amazing models on the club stands, well done to all concerned. Not many youngsters, I felt like a kid and I'm 40!

[61962Participant @61962]

I was there today.

Talking to one of the traders his takings were 50% up on last year and last year he was 30% up from the previous year, so the public are still spending despite the current financial constraints.

Arc surprised me by withdrawing last year. I wonder why they need to bring so much stock and staff to an exhibition, to the point where the main business has to be suspended. Maybe they could try to bring samples of a range of their stock so that people can see what is on offer and place orders at prices that are a bit under the normal mail order price. That way they need less staff to do the exhibition and the main business can be maintained as normal with a bit of a boost to their turnover. I know a lot of people who are reluctant to buy mail order because they want to see what they are spending their hard earned cash on before they commit. One of the other traders I know only brings samples of his larger items and still sells plenty after the buyers have had the chance to look at the goods hands on.

My impression was the Sunday attendance was better this year and a pal who was there Friday said it was much busier than last year.

I think the competition models were an improvement on last year. My interest is locomotives and John Richardson's Atlantic is superb and may well be comparable to Bill Carter's Atlantic from forty years ago in it's fidelity. We'll only know for sure if it goes to the ME Exhibition.

All in all Harrogate is still worth the treck.

Eddie

[Geoff TheasbyParticipant @geofftheasby]

I used to drive to Harrogate from Sheffield, but the train is just as fast, and almost as cheap. I like the Shuttle bus, it solves the 'last mile' problem very well. I thought Deborah and I were the only people waiting for the shuttle, but when it came all sorts off grey-haired people descended upon it from nowhere! I thought the show was very busy, I didn't get to talk to many people, as all the stands were deep in conversation with other visitors. A good sign, I thought. We took a walk round Harrogate whilst waiting for the train back, and passed an African busker playing a strange instrument. It sounded very tuneful, and he said it was called a Kora. Then he started signing about a 'Gentleman and his Beautiful Lady' Deborah said that Harrogate obviously attracted a better class of busker…

[merlinParticipant @merlin98989]

On Saturday a cheap barber could have done a roaring business and would have been able to spend all this week filling scatter cushions.

I think it was at Harrogate about 6 years ago that I saw a wonderful display of clocks, mounted by, I think, a club from the Southern Counties. There were one-off clocks with ingeneous mechanisms, many of them being gold plated.

Nothing like that this year.

The boats are always good to see and admire but the one lasting memory I have is of a small boat being rowed by a skeleton man. Perhaps that was at Ally Pally a few years ago.

[nigel jones 5Participant @nigeljones5]

Im confused (as usual)…I only ever go on sunday, last year I couldnt move, this year there were very few people there, stands which had previously been 4 deep might have had one or two people around them, very good for me as for the first time ever it was enjoyable!

[Another JohnSParticipant @anotherjohns]

My wife and I were there on Saturday during peak times.

I could NOT BELIEVE how busy it was. Many of the stands, I didn't even bother to wander along and see what was there. (That's a good sign) I guess coming off a week of walking the North Yorkshire Moors and the open space made Harrogate a bit of a culture shock.

Geoff- my Debra and I walked around Harrogate City, and saw the same man playing the same instrument!

Another JohnS

Back in Canada.

[mechman48Participant @mechman48]

Rik,

Just out of curiosity which lathe & mill did you get?

George

[RobboParticipant @robbo]

Merlin,

The skeleton rowing the boat was definitely at Harrogate, like you I always remember it. When I saw it it had the pool to itself.

May also have been at Ally Pally of course

Phil

Edited By Robbo on 14/05/2013 09:52:53

[Rik ShawParticipant @rikshaw]

Hello George and thanks for your interest. I have ordered WARCO machines viz:

Lathe WM250 VF with power cross feed.

Milling machine WM16

Band saw CY90

I would have gone for the slightly larger WM280 lathe but it would not have fitted into the "tardis"

I have been without a lathe for some months now and I'm getting a bit impatient to get cracking again but it seems that I'll not be able to for the foreseeable. The mill is due to dock imminently but we don't even know if the lathe has even left those far flung shores.

"There's a green hued little lathe

To the north of Kathmandu;

Which I hope will soon be sailing

On a ship with a mad crew."

Rik

[Diane CarneyModerator @dianecarney30678]

They were known as a mad crew
By the subs at Kathmandu
And the lathe was wetter having come adrift
But with all the deep sea pranks
On the decks and in the tanks
The lathe was lost and Rik was rather miffed

[mechman48Participant @mechman48]

Rik

Those are the same model machines I bought at last years show, would appreciate you keeping us updated,& if I can help with any advice, or vice versa drop me a pm. So far I have fitted X & Y DRO's to the mill, substituted the supplied lathe toolpost with a Dickson type '00' QCTP as I already had it from previous combo machine (had to modify the compund slide & made new post ), a '0' size would fit as well, you can see the DRO set up in my photos. Like yourself I would have gone for the 280 & the WM18 mill but budgetry & space constraints said otherwise.

George

[dcostaParticipant @dcosta]

Hello Rick and George,

I'm also in the process of buying a WM-250V-F lathe and a WM-16 milling machine after the fire in my workshop that destroied an Emco Compact8 and a Optimum BF20 milling machine (apart from many other things).

I also would appreciate any information you both keeping us updated and promise I will also share any information on those machines.

Best regards
Dias Costa (in Portugal)

[Trevor Drabble 1Participant @trevordrabble1]

The skeleton rower was Harrogate 2010. Have got a couple of pictures of it, but am having trouble uploading the first one. As and when it works I'll post them.

Trevor

[Trevor Drabble 1Participant @trevordrabble1]

Looks as though the loading of the pictures has worked.

[Rik ShawParticipant @rikshaw]

Hello Dias – Sure happy to exchange info on these machines. So that this thread does not become to bloated it maybe an idea to start another thread/s regarding these particular machines. May I suggest that any future thread titles start with "WARCO" blah blah so you, George and I – and others of course can home in on them easier. (I nearly said "touch base" but I can't stand yuppy speak). Rik

[mechman48Participant @mechman48]

Rik

I can go with that suggestion..

George

[dcostaParticipant @dcosta]

Rik,

Yes. It's a good suggestion and I also can go with it. Also as you say I believe it's a good idea to give the thread a special name so the people interested in Warco lathes and milling machines similar to ours may feel invited to participate in the thread. So for the lack of a better name I suggest Warco WM-250V-F&WM-16 as the name to the thread to be created.

regards
Dias Costa

[Nicholas FarrParticipant @nicholasfarr14254]

Hi, well here is one I photographed at Harrogate in 2007.

Regards Nick.

[Sub MandrelParticipant @submandrel]

You would think they would have put on a bit of weight in six years!

Neil

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