harrogate model engineering exhibition 2008 mikes-models

I made my visit, bought my
bits and took a few
photo's.

What did I think of the
show though? The venue is
very good with it all being
on one level and the
gangways wide enough for
the large crowd on the first
day. I was impressed with
the large number of trade
stands and they all seemed
to be doing well.

I took advantage of some
show discounts, buying a
ME tap and die set from
Tracy Tools. Seems
strange that they are only
four miles from my home in
Devon! I won't be carrying
it home though as I will
pick it up next week from
their premises in Torquay.

I also bought a ER25 Collet chuck from RDG for use on my large lathe as they were the cheapest by far from
others I saw at only Ł26! I asked if they did one for my ML10 and the assistant was very helpful in suggesting that
I made a recess in a face plate for the Myford. Since I have one at home unused, this was a very useful tip.

My visit to MJ Engineering's stand saw me come away with the pre ordered cylinder casting and liner. If you visit
my Fowler page you will see that I have one machined up already. So why the new unmachined casting? Go to the
Fowler page for a full explanation, click here.

To justify going to the show to save on postage (which is true) falls down when you consider the costs to not
only get there, but get in!

But it's not just about show and postage savings, there are the models to see and made by much more talented
people than I shall ever be. If you do visit, you can see the current trends in machinery and tools, but for me, the
opportunity of staying with your daughter and son in law at the other end of the Country is reason enough.

My only surprise more than disappointment, was the small number of models in steam. This may be because my
visit fell on a weekday. Those that were in steam were a credit to their owners and the one that caught my eye
was the half scale Garrett (I believe).

This was truly an imposing model (the green traction engine shown in the gallery) and it was interesting to see
that whilst bigger than the Burrell's (4" scale) , it wasn't massive. It's a size that I would find user friendly so
perhaps one for the future?

Overall I enjoyed my visit and if you just thinking about going I would say….go, its worth it.