Auckland Meccano Guild

The August meeting took place at the home of Peter Hancock in Howick. The meeting was well attended with 18 meccanomen and six partners .

A varied selection of models were presented, including some unusual ones like Andrew Cathies model of a trick cyclist. The model was not that unusual although it ran flawlessly and was super quiet. It was the model components that aroused much interest. Every part of the model was finished in a high polish Chromium finish, including flexible plates, gears, wheels and even the meccano chain. I understand the nuts and bolts were palladium coated.This all came about because a meccanoman , having recieved a 10 set from a dealer, was unhappy with the finish and returned it for replating. Replate it they did, every bit down to the last screw and bolt making it a very distinctive and unsual set, most likely one of a kind. The highly polished finish allowed the model to work so quietly it was as if the surfaces had been lubricated.
William Irwin has passed on an original photograph of the 10 set which I have included here as it really is one of a kind.

Neil Carey assisted his Grandson Matthew to make up a fine model of the Flying Scotsman.

Rick Vine had made up an Earth, Moon and Sun Orrery using details he had seen on spanner. It worked well however the drag of the gearing tended to pull the base around when completing a circuit. Im sure Rick has a plan to keep it in place. Rick also presented a small, well made Dalek which would delight Dr.Who fans and smaller models from a micro model series.

In the view above can be seen the Earth/ Moon end of the device.

David Wall brought along a drill motor demonstrating how a modified mount could be made for use with Meccano. He had mounted a three inch gear driven by a pinion and at 6 volts the speed was impressive at 12 volts almost uncontrollable.Pretty scary stuff David but it showed that the motor was highly suitable for a number of meccano models, especially when geared down or controlled by a suitable rheostat.

John Denton had put his model engineering skills and his Meccano building skills to excellent use and had produced a beautiful scale model of the 1878 Class K Kingston Flyer.

Gary Higgins had brought along a 1920 Limousine made out of old refurbished nickel Meccano repainted in a silver grey paint close to the finish of the old nickel. He had completed the main bodywork and steering as well as the differential which had yet to be placed in the model. The motor and gearbox will be next.

Above can be seen the working differential taken from the model of the 1905 Rolls Royce in the Meccano magazine, Beside it can be seen the 1920 style tow truck completed in the same finish as the limousine. This was based on a model seen on spanner.

George Ovenden had brought along two interesting models to demonstrate an automatic reversing mechanism and a machine to convert circular to linear motion, such as those used in factories to pick up e.g. a bottle and move it into place for filling and capping. It demonstrated the concept well.

The circular to linear converter is on the left with the automatic reversing mechanism on the right.

William Irwin had brought along a small selection of his collection of boxed Meccano parts. He held quite an audience explaining how labels and boxes had changed over the years and demonstrated that what was pictured on the outside of the box was not neccesarily what was inside. A trap for young players!

Henry Porter hasd brought along his well constructed medium blocksetting crane. Henry is a super modeller who uses a number of different systems and some innovative ideas to get the job done.
Some examples of this can be seen in the neat layout of the crane. To get a roller bearing of the right size he used two exacto 7.5 inch circular girders driven by two excato 7.5 inch gear rings to give a good wide driving surace for the pinion.
I liked the way that Henry used spockets and gear chain to drive the base of the crane. This frees up a lot of gears for other uses. To brace the sides of the base henry used a number of smaller non- meccano strips ( metric sizes ) they would not normally fit the Meccano spacings but when used diagionally they worked. Now that is thinking outside of the square... Well done Henry.
He also brought along a railway breakdown crane and a road roller.

Left can be seen the exacto roller bearing made up by Henry and on the right is the continuous chain drive to the wheels.

Henrys road roller to the left and the placement of narrow strips on the crane base to the right.

Gerald Hart had made up an Avery traction engine of USA origin. It was unusual in thet it had the valve gear on the underside of the boiler ( undertype ) It was well modelled and created a lot of interest. Gerald had also modelled a railway crane from the yellow binns road crane set, now done as a replica set by exacto.

Richard Sealey brought along a built up no1 car constructor and spare parts. It was in very good condition. He is having trouble sourcing 6ba bolts and has need of a steering wheel and shaft for the car if anyone can help him out. Just email the webmaster and I will pass the details onto him.

Bob Pentney had brought along the base of a truly massive electric dockside crane. He toldme " If you think the base is big... wait untill you see the rest.

Other members who attended were Graeme wrightson, Don Stuart and Graeme Mills.
The meeting concluded at 17:00 after an excellent afternoon tea and the next meeting will be held at the home of David Wall at Orewa.

Click on the meccano tin to go to more pictures taken at the meeting.