Commentary and photos by Craig Libuse
This is the third year Sherline has attended the Cabin Fever Show in York. It has become the biggest model engineering show we attend in the United States. Host Gary Schoenly estimated attendance at over 4000 people with many e-mail list request cards turned in indicating a lot of the people were first-time attendees. The weather held this year with no snow until late Sunday evening, so it was not a factor in keeping people away as it did last year. With that many people crowding the aisles on Saturday, I didn't have much chance to get out of the booth and take some pictures, but what I did shoot I have included below in case you couldn't make the show. If you have some good photos of the show you'd like included here, just attach them to me in an e-mail (craig@sherline.com).
Click on any photo to see a larger version. Use your browser's "back" button to return to this listing. A U.S. quarter dollar coin is used for size reference in some of the photos. It is 24 mm in diameter for those outside the USA.
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Bert de Kat, of Troy, ON, Canada built this neat little gear driven drill press. It can be programmed to drill tiny "peck" cycles and includes a dial indicator to show depth progress. It is very compact and professionally finished. Sitting on the table under the drill chuck in the first photo is a 1 Euro coin which is slightly smaller than a quarter. |
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This clever young man built a whole machine shop with working overhead belt all from Lego blocks. I wrote his name on a business card and now can't find the card, so if he sees this or you know him, send a name and I'll update this to give him credit. |
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The round display by George Luhrs is always right inside the entrance to capture people's attention as soon as they get in the door. He has some incredible displays of his tiny IC engines. In this case he has built two, one of which is displayed as a finished engine and the other of which is laid out in a display case below part by part so you can see what went into building it. He also ususally has steam powered tractor or two running in circles around his table to keep both kids and adults interested. |
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The yacht pond was a busy place with all the steam and electric boats and submarines running around on and under the water. Here are some steam models from the NASMA (North American Steam Modelers Assn.) |
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It was our pleasure to once again have world champion model builder Augie Hiscano display some of his projects in our booth. Augie is very outgoing and always available to answer questions about his techniques. |
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New to Augie Hiscano's display this year is this 1/25 scale all metal chopper. His previous purple chopper looked very realistic, but most people thought it was made of plastic, so he left this one unpainted. |
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In the unpainted version you can see the quality of the metalwork and the lack of filler. He even put little tie-downs on it as if it were being transported in the back of a pickup truck. |
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Another new project this year was this Browning M2 50 cal. machine gun. The chamber opens up and the bolt is spring loaded. It can be dismounted from the tripod and has 125 individual metal parts (including fasteners). |
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This 1/25 hotrod is one of Augie's favorites and was covered in detail by several modeling magazines. Unfortunately it did not win the big contest in Salt Lake City and Augie calls it his "Best Model to Never Win Best of Show." |
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Here's a detail of the fully plumbed and wired engine. Underneath is a complete frame with brake lines and emergency brake cables. Very few plastic parts survived from the original kit--almost everything is scratch built from metal. |
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Augie and wife Carol enjoyed meeting many people over the weekend, and we hope lots of you enjoyed seeing Augie's fine work. |
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Though not a train show, there was a nice N-gauge layout on display. It is amazing how much detail you can work into about a 4' x 6' layout in N. This one had a coal mine and town with yard, tunnels, bridges and two main lines. |
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Here's a detail of the station area. The layout is included here because 1) I love trains and 2) it was right near out booth and I got a chance to get out for a few minutes to take these photos. The show was very busy this year and once again I didn't get to see much outside our own booth. |
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Jim Clark heads for the car on Monday morning to drive back to the airport for the flight to San Diego. It had snowed overnight and the wind chill was in the single digits the morning we left, so that 72° air felt pretty good when we got home later that day. |
| Side Trip—Harley Davidson Assembly Plant, York, PA | |
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We got the booth set up quickly on Friday, so while Jim checked out the machine tool auction, I headed for the Harley Davidson assembly plant just down the road to catch the last tour of the day. York is where they assemble the big road bikes like the Softtails, Road Kings, ElectraGlides and FatBoys as well as the Custom Vehicle Operations (CVO) versions of the same. |
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No photos are allowed on the factory tour, but they have a section of sample assembly line set up in the store and display area. Side trips like these are a fun part of traveling to a model engineering show far from home. The tour is free, although I always end up buying a lot of stuff in the factory store. |
There is no entry fee. Sherline makes available $100 in prize money for each entrant up to the first 25, so a maximum of $2500 in prize money can be available. We hope next year to see at least 25 entries so that the full total of $2500 will be up for grabs. There is also a Youth Division for entrants under the age of 20 the day of the contest. An additional $500 is divided among the entrants in this group. Start making plans to get a project together for next year's show. Call 1-800-541-0735 for details or watch this site. As far as we know at this time the contest rules will remain unchanged. Our goal is simply to show the interesting and fun things that can be built with a few cents worth of material, good miniature machine tools and a bit of skill and imagination. Novice entrants (less than two years experience building metal projects using machine tools) have a chance to score double prize money as Bruce Roland did in 1998, Graham Hollis did in 2000, Steve Peirce did in 2002 and 12-year old Scott Schwab did in 2001, so don't let the quality of some of the entries intimidate you. If you are just starting out, you can still build a good project. For '03, think big and build small!
Jerry Kieffer was on hand to demonstrate the precision capabilities of the Sherline lathe by turning a 1/2" diameter bar of steel down to a .010" diameter hair and then drilling a .005" hole down the center of it. (Click on photo for larger image.)
Sherline once again donated product to be used for the raffle to raise some money so the NAMES organization can continue to put on this wonderful show each year. On the left NAMES members cart around a Sherline lathe to encourage raffle ticket sales. On the right is the display of all the raffle prizes offered at the show. (Click on photos for larger image.)
(L) Rudy Kouhoupt introduced a new engine at the show. It is a "compressionless" internal combustion engine of his own design that is based on a concept from the 1800's. He has produced a video on how to make it that includes plans and a materials list. No castings are needed. It will be available along with his other many books and videos through ads in Village Press publications The Home Shop Machinist, Machinist's Workshop and Live Steam. (R) Former Martin Foundation Craftsman of the Year and multiple winner of the Sherline Machinist's Challenge contest Wilhelm Huxhold of Ontario, Canada displayed his latest masterpiece. This tiny steam engine includes the vertical pump on the right and stands only about 3 inches tall. It runs beautifully on compressed air. (Click images for larger photo.)
Roger Ronnie of Rapid City, SD was awarded a plaque and a check for $1000.00 from Joe Martin Foundation for being selected as the 2003 winner of the foundation's "Metalworking Craftsman of the Year." The award was presented by Craig Libuse on behalf of the Joe Martin Foundation at the 2004 NAMES show where Mr. Ronnie displayed examples of his engraving work. (Click on photo for larger image.)
Roger Ronnie is not only a skilled engraver, he is also a craftsman capable of making the intricate watchmaking tools that he engraves. In addition, he is now building a 1/3 scale Rolls Royce Merlin V-12 engine that he plans to use to power a Cushman scooter to be called the "Cushman Screaming Eagle V-12." Mr. Ronnie's work can also be viewed in detail in the Joe Martin Foundation's on-line museum at www.craftsmanshipmuseum.com/Ronnie.htm.
Roger Ronnie displays some of his engraving work to the spectators at the 2004 N.A.M.E.S. show. He also brought a magnifier and detailed closeup photos of some of his work, as much of the scrollwork is so small and detailed it is hard to fully appreciate with the naked eye. (Click on either photo for a larger image.)
Click this link to learn more about the Joe Martin Foundation's Metalworking Craftsman of the Year award. Visit the Foundation page for more details on Mr. Ronnie and all the previous winners and their work.