Meccano / metal construction set alternatives

[Evan Davey]

Hi All

My dad wants to buy my niece a meccano like set for Christmas but
wants to go 'old school' with metal parts. His is thinking of
http://www.merkurtoys.cz/en/products/big-sets but would appreciate any
advice as to better alternatives.

Cheers
Evan

[Kimball Johnson]

I don't know about that specifically, but my experience is that
meccano clones then to be badly made, with problems like the holes not
lining up.

The other option is to look on ebay:

For example, at the excessive end:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Meccano-1979-Dark-Blue-Dark-Yellow-10-Set-Unused-/130601247013?pt=UK_Construction_Toys_Kits&hash=item1e6870e125#ht_500wt_1202

[Dirk-Willem van Gulik]

Or go 'pro' - and get http://www.makerbeam.eu/ -- they are just as hard to use as the real T-slots ones used in industrial robots -- but the results are wonderfully nice.

Dw.

[Yuan]

Sounds perfect to me, give her a badly made meccano clone, and a set
of metalworking tools.

Nothing like badly made construction sets to encourage children to fix
things up the old fashioned way.

On Nov 23, 11:45 am, Kimball Johnson <kimb...@bowerham.net> wrote:
> I don't know about that specifically, but my experience is that
> meccano clones then to be badly made, with problems like the holes not
> lining up.
>
> The other option is to look on ebay:
>

> For example, at the excessive end:http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Meccano-1979-Dark-Blue-Dark-Yellow-10-Set-U...

[Evan Davey]

Thanks for the thoughts guys. Yuan - are you saying that actual
Meccano would be a better option even though it's now mostly
plastic?

[Kimball Johnson]

On 23 November 2011 14:00, Evan Davey <evan.j...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Thanks for the thoughts guys.  Yuan - are you saying that actual
> Meccano would be a better option even though it's now mostly
> plastic?

The bars are metal, as are the nuts and bolts, I think it's just
gearing and pulleys that's plastic.

If it's all plastic, then it's not the right sort of kit - look at the
bigger ones.

[Evan Davey]

So if I am hearing you right, if you were buying something, it would
be to go with Meccano? i.e.: I should convince my dad to give up on
his 'old school' thoughts

On Nov 23, 2:04 pm, Kimball Johnson <kimb...@bowerham.net> wrote:

[Kimball Johnson]

On 23 November 2011 14:20, Evan Davey <evan.j...@gmail.com> wrote:
> So if I am hearing you right, if you were buying something, it would
> be to go with Meccano? i.e.: I should convince my dad to give up on
> his 'old school' thoughts

Yes, but I would be far more inclined to buy old Meccano from e-bay
than the new stuff, so still old school.

I have bought some of the recent stuff as well, and it is fine.

Kimball

[Evan Davey]

Thanks. Will pass on the feedback. He's based in Oz so might be
harder to ebay.

On Nov 23, 2:25 pm, Kimball Johnson <kimb...@bowerham.net> wrote:

[ei8...@ei8fdb.org]

Meccano is still definitely metal, and alot of the cogs and wheels are still metal. There are cheaper Meccano sets which are plastic but most of them are still metal.

As for looking for suppliers here's a list of both big name suppliers and smaller independent "Meccano only" suppliers:

http://www.diymobileusabilitytesting.net/doku.php?id=wheretobuymeccano

I'd suggest buying fro the independents when possible as these guys are great and hardcore Meccano geeks.

Meccano and Lego are an excellent toy for any kid, both girls and boys equally, of almost any age.

My happiest time working was spending 2 years working on a Lego Mindstorms based  research project designing science experiments for a primary school curriculum.

I could not believe they *actually paid me* to play with Lego...ahhh the memories.

Bernard

----- Reply message -----
From: "Evan Davey" <evan.j...@gmail.com>
To: "London Hackspace" <london-h...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: [london-hack-space] Re: Meccano / metal construction set alternatives
Date: Wed, Nov 23, 2011 14:20


So if I am hearing you right, if you were buying something, it would
be to go with Meccano? i.e.: I should convince my dad to give up on
his 'old school' thoughts

[Yuan]

Evan, sorry my comment about badly-made meccano clones and
metalworking tools was a joke, but my point was: (depending on age of
child) don't be afraid of introducing him/her to real-world tools.