Thread: MEW magazine heading > downhill

I agree - I've thought that for some years. I don't know whether it was the change of editors (and a different view of what the magazine should be) or the change of ownership with a different policy but I rarely buy a copy now. Looking back through some of the earlier on line editions there are some quiet exciting projects but as well as the workmanship standards dropping, there seem to be more (and longer) multi-part articles and a much narrower scope.
I once subscribed to an Australian magazine that went the same way. When I queried the changes I was told that they were changing because their circulation was dropping - there were not as many people out there being hands on. Perhaps the MEW fraternity in the UK aren't interested in stretching the boundaries as much and the average reader just wants to feel they are doing something.

Michael

Hi Mike i'd have to agree, a lot of the articles now are re-runs, or updates to old articles. There are more ads than ever. I still get it but seem to find less and less to read in each one.

Ew

Mike, I stopped subscribing MEW about 18 months ago. I have since only bought two more issues from the news agent. Sometimes I wonder if I should take out a subscription to the American counterpart.... then again, there is so much to read online nowdays that it is hard to keep up. Chris

I feel the same way about MEW but are there any machining related magazines worth subscribing to ?

It seems to me that they are struggling for ideas and the standard of a lot of the writing has declined, a lot of "padding" to get the word count up. They've lost me.

I agree with the sentiments on MEW. Is the US HSM publication any good?

Interesting comments

What put me off is in the latest issue: The editorial, which should be a objective piece on a hobby engineering topic , is, instead, a blatant advert for a product .

I generally like Harold Halls writings , but his latest 3 part article on modifying / improving low cost drill press vices , is rather disjointed and it is very hard to follow his methods and understand the sequence . In this case, he seems to waffle on and the article is a patchwork of paragraphs

Mike

I have to agree, I have have bought every issue to date & for the last couple of years I have seriously thought about cancelling my subscription. The magazine is not a patch on what it was a few years ago. I think that the current editor (David Clark) is very professional, but the magazine content has really fallen away under his editorship. I still have every issue from No.1.
tinkera

Originally Posted by tinkera

I have to agree, I have have bought every issue to date & for the last couple of years I have seriously thought about cancelling my subscription. The magazine is not a patch on what it was a few years ago. I think that the current editor (David Clark) is very professional, but the magazine content has really fallen away under his editorship. I still have every issue from No.1.
tinkera

I too have every issue of MEW, I still have a subscription and I will continue to subscribe. NOT because I think that the articles are of a great standard anymore, But because I have every issue and don't want only half a collection. It's very hard to stop collecting something once you have started.
Maybe a collection of letters to David Clark on the subject would raise the bar..
Or even some articles from Australian readers would be better.
It's all well and good for us to sit here and gripe about the problem, When maybe some of us could be helping to solve it.
Just my 2c worth
Matt

I have sent a few emails to David Clark about this in the past and he is all too well aware of the problem.
As much as he pleads for new material it just never arrives and he is getting quite desperate about it.
Looks like it is the way it is. I used to subscribe for the great ideas and machining tips but even they have all but disappeared.

Phil

Originally Posted by Steamwhisperer

I have sent a few emails to David Clark about this in the past and he is all too well aware of the problem.
As much as he pleads for new material it just never arrives and he is getting quite desperate about it.

I think there is more to it than that. I have submitted things in the past, heard nothing and then down the track an article will be published that means mine is useless. My suspicion is that someone somewhere has decided that writers should be from the UK (it costs more to pay people from O/S); that they don't want articles involving any equipment bigger than a mini-lathe (or a Myford) because most of the UK readership are that size or smaller; liability issues mean that they don't like articles where they could be held responsible for giving out potentially dangerous information and because of CNC a lot of the "old" skills are not known any more. As a result articles are not written about these skills and even if they were, the reception to them would be mixed.
Then there is the issue of past editors writing books based on published material and then splitting those books up to publish the material again. Apart from the regurgitive nature of this I would not be surprised if potential writers are discouraged because they do not feel they are of the same standard as these established writers milking a retirement income.

Michael

Originally Posted by tinkera

I have to agree, I have have bought every issue to date & for the last couple of years I have seriously thought about cancelling my subscription. The magazine is not a patch on what it was a few years ago. I think that the current editor (David Clark) is very professional, but the magazine content has really fallen away under his editorship. I still have every issue from No.1.
tinkera

Am of the same opinion and have always subscribed to MEW, Mod Engineer and Eng In Miniature. Have always been disappointed with the huge advertisement content and now same amount of ads and poorer quality content esp MEW as this was supposed to be for enthusiasts who wanted to enhance or compliment their workshops with personally made tooling.
Perhaps a petition could be raised from us disgruntled subscribers and readers that ''the colonials''are not impressed with the back slide of this magazine.Any takers?? J.A.

Like other people here I have a subscription to MEW and have been very disappointed with the content, or lack thereof, of late.

Too much fluff and not enough substance, then the fluff is padded out to stretch it over multiple issues, that has also been the case with Model Engineering.

I originally subscribed when I read a lot of articles in old issues and learned a lot from those, but the latest issues are not a patch on those.

For a nation of improvisors,free thinking and free spirited people,Australia stands out in the realm of engineering excellence.In the past we have stood alone in producing world class items.Wartime improvisations due to our isolation and shipping threats come to mind.
With reference to previous replies here there are many of us annoyed at what we are paying for [magazine ]price and content matter.
We are a lucky country,we have our sheds,''man caves'' and workshops to match our open and freer life style.I do mix and have many British expat aquaintences and friends,with whom I share ideas and a common interest.
For a start most do not comprehend the size and vastness of our nation.The home machinist and hobbyists are Myford minded,changed some what with the influx of far eastern machine tool imports.Most of the old school will never be swayed from their Myford mentality that once upon a time was the only machine tool most of them owned.What we take for granted is space.Some of these Brits have a work space the size our bathrooms or laundries in their homes.In fact I knew of a British surgeon who had his lathe in the kitchen of his home in a cabinet so he could unwind after a hard day at the hospital.
I always have a positive outlook and open mind to most matters,after all a mind has to be like a parachute,they both fail if they don't open.It is with the input of the forum members who I have come to respect and know that we grow collectively and share ideas and even excess items surplus to their own personal requirements.
Let us not get stale and complacent about our thoughts on what these magazines mean to us.time to raise up from our posteriors and ''have a say'' John.