Ladies in Model Engineering

[Bogstandard]

Over the last couple of days There has been a post that Marv started about nuts and bolts
http://freeforums4u.com/viewtopic.php?p=4297&mforum=homemodelengine#4297

The post got hijacked by a certain Cherry Hill (who Marv mentioned in the first place), who in the UK has become the goddess of model engineering, producing models that put a lot of the so called male professionals to shame. Maybe just the 'womans touch'. It can't be a quest for fame on her part, because you very rarely see this talented 'lady of the lathe', except when she releases one of her models at a show, then everyone justs gasps 'wow'.

Do you know of any ladies that follow this trend, maybe a partner or spouse, or god forbid a teenage daughter that have a hankering to follow us making these creations. Or are we in a totally male dominated hobby. There must be ladies out there that enjoy model engineering, but just stay in the shadows. I do know of two others, Tins' better half, and another that changed gender a couple of years back (started out as male). If there are ladies reading this, maybe they would like to contribute.

My wife would love to start making these little engines, but her life is taken up looking after the house, our grandson and myself (are we being too selfish). But I do involve her a lot about the decisions of how my engines look, it was her that chose the gold and black colour scheme on my mine engine, to good effect.

How do they feel about you disappearing into your workshop for hours on end? Have you got their end of the story?

Maybe what you should do is sit them in front of the computer, open this page and start a reply to the post, and let them type away to their hearts content. You just might find that their answers would be eye opening.

Rather than saying to them, bring me a coffee (or beer) in half an hour, maybe you should say, do you want to come and help me in the workshop (and not just to sweep up).

It would be really nice to have a bit of female input, or are we all chauvinists.

I have lit the fuse, will there be a big bang or a little 'phut'.

John

 

[jgarrett]

I am building one of Elmer's horz. mill engines and my 7 year old granddaughter is facinated by it. Every time she comes over she wants to see what I have done new. I think I will blow the dust off the old Unimat and ler try turning come aluminum. (under strict supervision, of course!)
JG

 

[Bogstandard]

JG,
My grandaughter is just the same, the problem is you will train them up but as soon as they realise there is an opposite sex, their heads instantly empty and hormones take over. But catching them as young as that maybe you stand a chance of getting something to stick.

John

 

[Cedge]

Bogster
At one point I despaired of teaching my daughter anything that didn't pertain to beauty aids, boys ... well you get the picture. I started letting her help me with various projects when she was 8. She held wood while I cut or nailed it in place, handed me tools she actually knew the names of , helped change spark plugs, tires and oil on an old Volkswagen that I let her play with in the back yard. She was exposed to landscaping, gardening, carpentry, mechanics, sheet rocking, painting and any number of various home repairs. All of that went away when she decided she was a girl and a right cute one to boot.

Fast forward a few years... college, marriage and two kids later. I walk in to find her sanding and refinishing her hardwood floors, installing custom compound miter cut chair rails and fitting a new attic access ladder. All of this while her mechanically challenged husband held wood, ran the vacuum cleaner and complained that he would happily pay someone to do home improvements so he could go play golf...LOL.

Teach them early, let em watch and get dirty hands. You just might be pleased to learn some of the knowledge actually stuck to them, down the road. My daughter is much like me... jump right in and fight her way out of whatever trouble the project hands her. Her fearlessness never fails to make me proud and I often shake my head and say "That's MY Boy"....(grin)

Steve

 

[rake60]

Rather than saying to them, bring me a coffee (or beer) in half an hour, maybe you should say, do you want to come and help me in the workshop (and not just to sweep up).
John

I tried once!
I said, "I'm going up stairs to grab a beer. I need two more bushing just
like this one. Shouldn't take you more than about 10 minutes"

She said...... Well, never mind what she said, but I made the bushings
myself. :lol:

Rick

 

[chuck foster]

my 15 year old son started to build a model gas engine and all was well for about 3 months then along came football and girls..........i think i have lost him till the season ends (football season that is) but it think the girls will keep him away for alot longer. but thats ok because the model will go in a box on the shelf and if and when he wants he can just get it down and go to work.
while he was watching me work he picked up a few ideas and one night he was making all the hex head bolts for the model and i left the shop of a minute that turned into an hour (bad on my part) but when i returned he had finished all the bolts (four diffrent lengths and two diffrent thread sizes). i asked him how he knew what to do and he said " i just did what you did to make your bolts"
just when you think they can't be taught any thing thay blow you way.
it is nice to work by yourself some times but i do miss having him in the shop with me, i try to teach him all i can but he teaches me allot of things to.
well i better go and see if i can talk him into working on his model.

cheers
chuck

 

[wareagle]

My wife has an open invitation to come out to the shop whenever she would like. There have been a few minor things that she has done out there, but mainly will watch what I am doing. I haven't been able to get her involved, though she does support my endevours out there.

My young son, on the other hand, will come out there and turn crank handles, grab tools, bang on stuff, and anything else he can do. He knows where the e-stops are on the equipment (he's only 3) and will make sure they are pressed in before he starts messing with any of the machines. (He obviously is under strict supervision while out there!) The bad side to this is you have to watch him real close when you have something set up!! Ask me how I know. :roll:

I am thinking (and hoping) that once he gets old enough to spend some time out there actually doing some tings, that my wife will join us out there some. It is the type of thing that can be a fun family hobby if all of the parties are interested enough to enjoy what they are doing (woodworking, metalworking, etc.).

 

[Hilmar]

John,
You do get Model Engineer? If so You have seen the cover of #4283 , September- October 2006.
The Blackburn Agricultural Engine. The model for which she got the 8th Gold Medal.
Hilmar

 

[Tin Falcon]

Greetings!

I'm 'Tin's other half' (call me 'Nickel', if you like), putting in my five cents worth............

When I was growing up, I was the only one of my father's three girls who had any mechanical aptitude. I have some good memories of helping put up the family room ceiling, and later swirling texture paint onto it; replacing the wiring harness (and other parts) in the family car after an engine fire; remembering what he said about car lights acting funny when one bulb is burned out, and helping him notice the weak bulb which turned out to be the culprit. I watched and listened as he did other things, too, and when a time came that a lamp I had needed to be rewired, I was able to do it myself.

My first involvement with Tin (and 'the boy') and model steam engines, was listening to them talk about what they were making, doing quality checks on some of the pieces as they showed them to me (ask Tin about the 'calibrated eyeball'), and helping Tin decide about colors of Corian to use for 'Corey'. I also had fun helping them with names for each of the engines as they came along.

Finally, I went along to Cabin Fever in York, PA. The most fun I had that first trip was bragging to whomever came by about the engines, and about 'the boy's' Lego machine shop. After a couple of trips to CF, and then Iron Fever, Jim started making noises about me making an engine. I'll admit, I felt pretty intimidated. Scared to death, really!! But, also intrigued. I could design it........... chose the materials............ Aha!! Finally, the PINK Corian would be used!! (Tin had decided against it for use in 'Corey'!) So, 'Rosie' came into being! I made as much of it as I could in the short time we actually had left before CF, and was very pleased with the results. The surprise on the faces of some of the guys was priceless, too, as they became aware that the 'kinda feminine looking, isn't it?' engine was actually made by......... moi!! (I think Tin has already posted a picture of 'Rosie' on this board somewhere.......).

In time for IF this past summer, I did most of the work on 'Catherine' - wooden step-up display base and all. She's a carousel tin that spins; a take-off on the ancient 'Hero' air turbine engine. She needs a bit of balancing yet, to run more smoothly, but was a hit at IF.

Being the kind of dad he is, I expect if we had had a daughter, Tin would have gotten her doing lots of things, the way he has our son. 'The boy' had been involved in carpentry, roofing, plumbing, electrical, car-mechanical, and machining work of one type or another for most of his nearly-18 years. (when he was 12, he found a broken pulley on my dryer, took it out, and put the new one in when I brought it home - with Tin across the state!).

Nowadays, when we're at CF or IF, or Rough & Tumble, I can almost talk intelligently about the engines, and how they work. And yes, I try to encourage other gals - of any age - to think about getting out in the shop with their husbands or dads, and seeing what neat things they can create. After all, I tell them, if I can do it, and enjoy it, so can you!

Okay. Thanks for 'listening'.

Catch ya later.............. 'Nickel'

 

[Bogstandard]

Nickel,
Absolutely wonderful, our first lady poster.
You give such a nice insight to a womans' view of our mainly male dominated hobby, and how you have gradually integrated into Tins' little world. It does show that ladies can get involved and enjoy themselves.
My better half loves getting involved, especially at the shows, along with my grandson, and has started her own collection of displayer plaques. Unfortunately, because she is rather shy she doesn't get deeply involved with the 'customers', but if any ladies show an interest she is away at ten words to the second. Ladies seem to have a different way of communicating the finer points about our model making, instead of just 'polishing', a more in depth description is given like how long it took, what was used, how to keep it shiny etc.

Here is her plaque from this years show. I would call it a medal for putting up with me for another year.

Keep up the good work and start making a few more chips.

John

 

[Tin Falcon]

Thanks for the welcome!

Too bad we're not close enough to meet up! Would love to meet you and your other half! And what an awesome 'medal'!! CF gives us great pins, and we keep them all. Last year's is still attached to my everyday winter jacket, and gets attention everywhere I go.

Tin will tell you, I'm not particularly shy. I make it a point to invite ladies to come over to our display and look, especially at Rosie and Catherine (the ladies readily relate to the pink and the carousel). I see them wandering by with their arms folded, looking bored, and I can't resist. And, the ladies who sit behind their menfolk's displays - it saddens me to see many of them wrapped in a blanket, just reading a book.

Of course, Tin is different than many of the menfolk, too, as he will start conversations with whoever comes by. He'll ask if they know what they're looking at, if they know how they work - and then he's off and running! And when he gets someone who actually talks the same language, he's really happy! His enthusiasm has rubbed off on me. I think it's a big part of why I worked past my apprehensions and got into the shop.

And you're right. I ought to get out there and make more chips. After I get done with the meals and the dishes and the laundries and the homeschooling of our son and the part time hours in the card shop and the several responsibilities at church and .............

Well, yah, many of the menfolk are still full-time employed, including Tin. But many are retired, as are their wives. So, those ladies have less 'excuse' to stay to themselves. And please, guys, if I'm sounding overly critical here - forgive me. I do understand, there are many people who just aren't interested in 'mechanical' stuff. I just wish the 'sharing' we do in this hobby was more infectious to other couples/families.

Off to the card shop soon, so you're saved from more of...........

Nickel

 

[Bogstandard]

Nickel,
Bit big and heavy to hang on a jacket, that medal is in fact 4" by 3" specially cast each year for the exhibitors. We only display at one steam rally because we can't travel far nowadays, but we have now been asked to a few more local modelling exhibitions, so that will keep us busy throughout the summer. We are trying to make one new engine a month, that will give us new stuff to show people each time.
I do hope you will keep up your input, thats if Tin will let you near the computer from now on.
It just might inspire a few more ladies to join in.

John

 

[Bogstandard]

Sorry Hilmar,
Ladies before gentlemen.
I don't subscribe to M.E. any more, for the same reason as Marv stopped, it is getting much too railway oriented nowadays and that just doesn't appeal to me. I think the only good one now is Model Engineers Workshop, and even that is starting to get a bit too technical for most people.
Why can't they just make them so that the average layperson can understand it all, and bring out a special one for the people who like the maths and the very technical side of things.

John

 

[Tin Falcon]

john:
The next step is to get her set up with her own sign on. Guess that should not be a problem as I know a couple of the administrators here.LOL Actually the wife has a pretty good collection of exhibitor plaques as well they are printed sheet metal at the shows we attend some are in full color photo quality.

 

[Bogstandard]

Hi Tin,
I might come over as a bit of a hypocrite, asking others to get their better halves to join in the disussions, when I can't get mine to join in. The main problem is that she is totally computer illiterate and very shy, all you would get is 'Hi, I'm Mal, Bye'.
In the last year she has sent maybe four emails to friends in Australia, I have to set everything up, she types maybe four or five short lines, then it is sent.
Just maybe if she could see other ladies joining in, it just might inspire her to contribute, but very doubtful.
I would love to see your good lady wife 'mixing it' with the lads. For one it just might curb the dubious language we sometimes come across, but I suppose that there is nothing in there that she hasn't heard before.

John