The latest copy of The Journal (April 2020) is now available online. You can see a list of all available online copies of The Journal here.
News
AnyMeeting and Video-conferencing - a How-to guide
23rd Mar 2020
SMEE uses the AnyMeeting software application to allow members to participate in video-conferences and online meetings.
To find out how to join an online meeting in SMEE, please go to this page for more information.
We look forward to seeing you online!
Coronavirus and Marshall House
17th Mar 2020
As you are no doubt aware, Covid-19 (AKA Coronavirus) is causing some changes in the way we live. Current advice from the UK government is to restrict large gatherings, but it is very likely that the government will take the decision to make ‘self isolation’ of everyone over 70 compulsory. Currently they are saying ‘within weeks’ and for up to 12 weeks.
Even before this announcement, the SMEE Council had debated the effect this virus will have on meetings held in Marshall House. Although the Kemsley Room will only hold about 60 members (and therefore could not be classified as a large gathering), we are nearly all in the vulnerable age range. We also sit quite close together and these are ideal conditions for the virus to spread. Many people come to Marshall House via public transport, which is a potential source of infection. Even one case of the virus in the room would then require all of us to self-isolate for 14 days and a deep clean of Marshall House would be necessary.
With this in mind, the SMEE Council has reluctantly decided to postpone the lecture programme, rummage sales, courses and other meetings until further notice. We will offer money back to students that have pre-paid for SMEE Courses or, if they prefer, a place when we next run it.
For the moment the Workshop Group will continue to operate, but is likely to be restricted to members under 70 and in good health.
Council will still meet, but they will do this on-line via AnyMeeting. Any important decisions will be communicated vie email, the SMEE website and The Journal.
Members are reminded that they can still communicate with each other via the website ‘forum’ facility. Think of this as a temporary replacement for the Marshall House tearoom!
These are extraordinary times and call for extraordinary measures. The overriding priority is to protect our membership and keep them safe.
Stay healthy and vigilant.
[This message has been posted on behalf of the Chairman and Directors of SMEE]
SMEE Competition results
14th Jan 2020
We now have an area of the web site dedicated to reports of SMEE competitions. The results of the 2019 Annual Competition, along with pointers to notes on the models concerned, can be found via this page. Congratulations to all competition entrants and especially prize-winners. Even if you were not awarded a prize, there’s a good chance that your entry on display has put ideas into the heads of other members and maybe will inspire them to enter next year!
Back issues of the Journal (1992 onwards)
1st Jan 2020
As of today, the collection of back issues of The Journal goes back to 1992, and right up to the latest version hot off the press (December 2019). Many thanks to Mike Tilby for his work in scanning back copies which are now easily available to all of us via the web site.
The index to the list of available issues of The Journal is available HERE.
2020 Training Courses - dates and prices
13th Nov 2019
The Training Course page now has all the dates and prices for the 2020 season. Click on the link for more information, including links to details of each course.
SMEE discussion forums
12th Nov 2019
We now have a number of discussion forums on the web site, available to SMEE members. As well as a couple of “special interest” forums for the Engine Builders’ Group and Digital Group. we also have a general discussion forum (ask questions, make suggestions, answer other members’ questions) and a buy/sell/exchange forum where you can post details of items for sale or wanted, or just to give away to get them out of your workshop!
All forums are open to all SMEE members and everyone is invited to participate. This is a way for members who are unable to get to Marshall House on a regular basis to participate a little more in the activities of the Society.
Just go to the “Members” drop-down menu above (just under the title bar on every page) and select “SMEE Members’ Forums” to see a list of all forums, or click on the links above. Look forward to seeing you there!
SMEE website reliability problems
3rd Jul 2019
Some of you might have suffered because of the website problems we have had a couple of times in the last month or so. It seems that it is nothing to do with our site, but the hosting service we use has had some issues that have affected us. They believe that they know where the problems are, and are looking for a suitable solution.
In the meantime, if you go to one of our pages and get a “404 Page not found” error, don’t worry about it, and try again later. I try to keep track of the site but you can always drop me an email just to warn me that something isn’t right. Emails to webmaster@sm-ee.co.uk, please. As soon as I see or hear of a problem, I shall chase the hosting service to fix it as quickly as possible – unfortunately I cannot fix it myself.
Thanks for your understanding,
SMEE Webmaster
A further episode in "Building a Desktop CNC Milling Machine"
26th Jun 2019
A further episode (part 23) of this series on a home-built CNC-milling-machine-from-scratch has now been added. Take a look and see how the project is progressing.
3D CAD and Fusion 360 tutorial series
8th Mar 2019
The 3D CAD and Fusion 360 tutorial series has now started running online. The first session was held on 4th March with more to come and was presented via a live video-conferencing link to around 15 participants.
All sessions are being recorded and are available to all SMEE members. If any member is interested in taking a look or even joining in, the recordings are available via the Digital Group programme page. Just click on the date of the session in the programme grid to run the recording. There is also a support forum on the SMEE website where participants can post questions or discuss techniques. They can even find their homework there!
If you would like to know more about these tutorials, please contact the Digital Group Coordinator via digital@sm-ee.co.uk. If you were unable to see the initial sessions live but have been watching the recordings, you are also welcome to join the forum to ask questions and see all the discussions to date. Again, contact the DG Coordinator to get access to the forum.