May meeting

Sorry, I forgot to do a blog entry for April.

Tonight, we were Chris Baddiley, Marcus, Ian, Dan ( me ), Geoff Hawkesford, Guy, Francis, Mike Dean, Gordon, Ced, Morris, Jed.

Chris was only at the meeting for a few minutes, because he had to be somewhere.
Marcus had an interesting idea regarding food tins.
Ian had an interesting idea regarding silicon sealant tubes and Marcus told us his idea regarding epoxy adhesive.
I told everyone about my milling over the last few days.
Geoff asked me about my milling.
Guy told us about his latest product, oven roasting bags.
Francis had nothing to tell us, of his own, but he explained what a laser interferometer was, when asked.
Mike Dean was out of the room when it was his turn, and we may have forgotten to come back to him. He explained how frequency modulation is used in radar or laser distance measurement.
Gordon told us about his can wall measurement work.
Morris got us talking about improvised explosive devices and the war in Afghanistan.
Jed talked about investment for small businesses.

March meeting

We didn't have access to our normal room at the Malvern Hills Science Park, but we were allowed to use the canteen, which was perfect. I put a piece of paper on the front door telling people where we were, I hope nobody turned away without reading it. I brought some coffee and milk, but they had left coffee out for us. Attending this month were Peter Martin of Junkk.com, Mike Dean, Francis Wall, Gordon Heeks, Dan Heeks ( me ), Ced Jackson, Mike Redman, Jed Marson, Charles Penny. Peter told us about his "Re:tie" again, a clever little idea to re-use something we would normally throw away. Mike Dean told us a little of the history of stage coaches. Francis asked for advice about funding for his business plan, which Jed, Charles and Ced had some good advice about. Gordon told us about pre-historic Britain and tin mines. I showed my free CAD/CAM software ( http://code.google.com/p/heekscnc/ ) and got a lot of suggestions from Jed and Charles. Ced didn't have anything to ask advice about, which was lucky because I had used up the last of the time of the meeting with my turn! Mike Redman told those few remaining about his success with damping the sound from an extractor fan in his house, which had been annoying his wife. I forgot to take a picture of the meeting so here is a picture of my software.

February Meeting

We had a new member join us; Chris Baddiley ( on the right of the picture ), an astronomer and physicist. Guy Unwin was there and showed us his new products including a silicone coated mat which can be used on a tray to stop things sliding, or as a dashboard mat. There was various advice asked for, especially about home insulation and Marcus Cleaver had most of the answers. Ced Jackson showed us the electronic dowsing rod that Barry Dawson made for him, like he said he would. Michael Polley's problem related to cats got us all thinking again, but we are no closer to a solution for it.

January Meeting

The library event was a success. See here.
We had two new members come to this month's meeting; Roger and Ced, but this picture is of Jed and Francis.Around the table were Me ( Dan ), Roger, Ira, Francis, Barry, Ced, Mike, Michael, Jed, Guy.
We all got the chance to talk about our projects and get advice from each other. I asked for some more advice about my bath safety project. Roger told us about his ideas, including an idea for a website. Ira's idea would be amazing, if it works, but it needs a working model to prove the idea. Barry said he would make a prototype for Ced's dowsing idea. Michael was looking for solutions for a problem related to cats. Jed praised everyone's ideas and offered help to bring them to market. Guy showed us his latest products including low-cost microwaveable vegetable steaming bags.

I collected membership fees from most people.

December meeting

We had another good meeting. The table was full of inventors.
I got some advice on my bath temperature alarm idea.

Ian announced that there will be some kind of festival of learning at the Malvern Library on 7th January 11am to 4pm. This will give any of us the opportunity to tell local people about our club and about ourselves. The Tilt Dam people will be there with something to show people. Mr Toastabags, our man from the Dragon's Den, will be there with some of his products. Malcolm Victory's Rotaire washing line cover should hopefully be on display. We should get the opportunity to attract some new members.

I just heard that Ian will be having hospital treatment again, so I will probably be organising the event at the library. My email address is danheeks@gmail.com

November meeting

Two men from the Federation of Small Businesses came and explained to us the benefits of becoming members of the FSB.
Guy Unwin of Toastabags, showed us his wheelbarrow sides.

A new member, Kevin asked our opinion about an idea related to bathroom safety, and I had some ideas about it, which I hope to do some work on developing.

Ian told us about an inventors show he went to.
He saw lots of interesting things there. I thought the hydrogen fuel cell car looked great.

John Aston, Barry Dawson, Jed Marson, my dad Gordon, Guy's brother Carol, Mike Dean and maybe a couple of other people were there too.

September meeting

There were plenty of people there.
And the man from www.junk.com ( see front right of photo ) came and showed us this: http://junkk.blogspot.com/2009/08/its-alive-i-tell-you-alive.html
We all thought it was great. Charles Penny came and gave us more insights into large civil engineering problems. Jed talked about vertical axis windmills again. The meeting didn't finish until after 10pm. I was late because I went paragliding on the Malvern Hills before I got there.