Meccano Anyone??

[rake60]

Has anyone else noticed this on eBay?

My wife noticed that is is on my "Watch List"

Rick

 

[steamboatmodel]

I remember the Gilbert/Erector/Meccano sets quite fondly, when I was 10 I received for Christmas a Gilbert Chemistry set, and an American Flyer train set. I was asked not to play with the chemistry set until all the relatives had gone home. As it was one of my Dads elderly Aunts was convinced that the boiler on my electric train was going to blow up and kill us all. I received a Meccano Steam Boiler and construction set the following summer for my Birthday, Fortunately my Dads Aunt wasn't there.
Regards,
Gerald
PS I still have the Meccano set, but the boiler has disappeared.

 

[ChooChooMike]

Wow, I'd never heard of Meccano till reading this message. Yes, I spent TONS of time playing with an Erector set and still remember it ! I still have some of the nuts/bolts/metal straps that came with it.

Think nowadays, the Erector sets come preassembled and don't require as much imagination as the old sets.

What fun !!!

 

[Gugger]

For getting new Meccano parts that would be the place today:

http://members.tripod.com/Ashok_Banerjee/Meccanoville/Replicas_and_Specials1.htm

Walter

 

[laddy]

I am in my sixties and still have my Erector set. I also have a set called The American Model Builder 1913. Since I spent many hours building I got one Christmas the Girder and Panel Bridge and Turn Pike set and a few years later a Set for making Chemical plants which consisted of a base that had a pump and you built all kinds of stuff and pumped the colored liquid around through plastic tubing down flasks etc. Great Toys!!!!

 

[Loose nut]

My parents gave mine away years ago after I moved out, today the wife wanted to go to a local flea market/antique place. They were selling the wind up Mecano motors for $125.00 each. That hurts.

 

[steamboatmodel]

I have noticed a lot of the Meccano parts kits showing up in the secondhand stores lately.
Regards,
Gerald

 

[RICHARDDV]

I had several Erector sets as a kid and they helped me greatly to visualize physics concepts and tweek creativity in school. I later got a manufacturing degree and went into agricultural equipment maintence. I now collect Erector, meccano, Buildo, Lionel and other construction sets. I now have well over 100 sets in various stages of restoration. Since I restore I machine damaged parts and re-engineer obsolete consumable parts that are not available any more. Meccano and Mamod of England had a steam engine kit available that was made on the concept of Meccano standard construction and examples can still be found if you look . Since AC Gilbert did not ever supply a steam engine for his sets , probably due to patent infringements . I am currently designing an steam engine using custom made and Erector standard parts in construction where possible. Since steam engines were a favorite project in the Erector assembly manuals it seems natural to try to bring those static models to life. richarddv

 

[Orrin]

Having displayed an interest in things mechanical at a very young age, my step-parents gave me the smallest Erector set when I was about seven or eight. It was a big hit, so a couple of years later they gave me the next size larger. In terms of enjoyment and entertainment, those were probably the best gifts I've received in 70 years.

Lately, I've tried to obtain a complete ferris wheel or merry-go-round-sized set (#12?) via eBay. I've bought some sets, but they were missing many parts. One thing I've noticed about them is that some kids seemed to entertain themselves by bending parts until they metal-fatigued and broke.

I've concluded that some kids "have it" and others don't. Those with imaginations and patience are able to build things. Those who are lacking both get their kicks by destroying and scattering the parts.

Recently, while "Googling" for "spur gear differential" I came across the most complex Meccano construction I've ever seen: a functional automotive transmission model, complete with planetary gears, spur gear differential, etc, etc.

Orrin

 

[black85vette]

Having 3 grandsons and another on the way I thought an Erector set would be a fun thing to have around when the boys come over. So I kept an eye on Ebay and bought 2 sets that were pretty well worn and incomplete but with a bunch of good parts. Paid $25 for the two sets which I thought was reasonable.

I did use some of the parts for an engine project using a Mamod boiler I picked up pretty cheap. I made a mount for the boiler out of erector parts pretty quickly. May just leave them with it.

 

[chuck foster]

when i was about 8 or 9 my aunt gave me a meccano set, she found it while cleaning out a house.
she asked the people that owned the house if they wanted it and they promptly replied "what would our kids do with that junk"

well all i can say is that it was some of the best junk i have ever had

i think it is still at my moms and dads, now another thing to bring home scratch.gif :big:

chuck