Author Topic: how good are you really?  (Read 5455 times)

Offline Stuart

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Re: how good are you really?
« Reply #15 on: September 13, 2018, 09:42:22 AM »
Jo is that with metric fasteners of imperious ones , but not for a long time I hope
Mike agree completely

When I get a day when thing don’t go so well I shut up the shop , go indoors have a cup of coffee ( don’t like tea and I cannot drink wine etc ) think about why it did not go to plan machine it in my mind until I have a better plan ( maybe a cunning plan like baldrick )

Then next day go and get it done

At 71 I am still learning ,do not be afraid to approach the task from a different angle ,hold the part a different way

So after 50 or so at model engineering I do make mistakes,dumb decisions or WHY but that’s life

It’s a good day when I wake up and get out of bed

Above all for us it’s a hobby and enjoy it , it’s not like we have to earn our corn doing it

Last comment be safe in your workshops and enjoy that you can

Stuart

My aim is for a accurate part with a good finish

Offline Vixen

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Re: how good are you really?
« Reply #16 on: September 13, 2018, 10:20:42 AM »
Each day we spend in our workshops, we learn a little and we grow in experience. We can then use our vast accumulation of knowledge and experience to make the same inevitable mistakes again....but with greater confidence.

As Stuart points out, the only achievement that really matters, is to wake up each morning.

Mike
« Last Edit: September 13, 2018, 11:53:07 AM by Vixen »
It is the journey that matters, not the destination

Sometimes, it can be a long and winding road

Offline Stuart

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Re: how good are you really?
« Reply #17 on: September 13, 2018, 10:47:59 AM »
I like your comment  made me smile , but it’s so true
Instead of taking a hour to mess up I can now do it in five mins
My aim is for a accurate part with a good finish

Offline Vixen

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Re: how good are you really?
« Reply #18 on: September 13, 2018, 11:43:42 AM »
Zee asked the question "how good are you really?"

Perhaps this little poem will help remind us.

The Indispensable Man

Sometime when you're feeling important;
Sometime when your ego 's in bloom;
Sometime when you take it for granted,
You're the best qualified in the room:
Sometime when you feel that your going,
Would leave an unfillable hole,
Just follow these simple instructions,
And see how they humble your soul. 

Take a bucket and fill it with water,
Put your hand in it up to the wrist,
Pull it out and the hole that's remaining,
Is a measure of how much you'll be missed.
You can splash all you wish when you enter,
You may stir up the water galore,
But stop, and you'll find that in no time,
It looks quite the same as before. 

The moral of this quaint example,
Is to do just the best that you can,
Be proud of yourself but remember,
There's no indispensable man.


And that goes for all of us, both during our careers and also our remaining time on this tiny planet.

Mike :old:
« Last Edit: September 13, 2018, 03:17:36 PM by Vixen »
It is the journey that matters, not the destination

Sometimes, it can be a long and winding road

Offline 10KPete

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Re: how good are you really?
« Reply #19 on: September 13, 2018, 03:09:54 PM »
I think I'll go back to bed now... nothing to top that verse.... good one.

Pete
Craftsman, Tinkerer, Curious Person.
Retired, finally!
SB 10K lathe, Benchmaster mill. And stuff.

Offline Tennessee Whiskey

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Re: how good are you really?
« Reply #20 on: September 13, 2018, 03:21:07 PM »
Great discussion: sure makes a man think. Here, I’ll give y’all a little music that fits the thread

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3Dc5NtDyII" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3Dc5NtDyII</a>

Whiskey

Offline Flyboy Jim

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Re: how good are you really?
« Reply #21 on: September 13, 2018, 03:53:39 PM »
Another interesting thread Zee.

One thing that jumped out to me is the concept of "perfect". I think that perfect is not always what we think of as "perfect".

Example: Let's say you have a ramshackle garden shed in the back yard that was poorly built, but functional. Lets say the siding on one part of one wall needs replacing. The siding on this building was poorly done (crooked, split, nails showing, etc). Okay........you replace part of the siding and do it pretty much perfectly (as we usually define perfect). Your perfect siding job is going to stand out like a sore thumb......where as "perfect", in this case, would of actually been doing the same sloppy job as was done on the rest of the building.  :thinking:

In the case of machining............maybe "perfect" IS achievable if "perfect" is defined as being within tolerance.

Jim
Sherline 4400 Lathe
Sherline 5400 Mill
"You can do small things on big machines, but you can do small things on small machines".

Offline bent

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Re: how good are you really?
« Reply #22 on: September 13, 2018, 06:22:29 PM »
I had a boss once who said he hated the phrase "good enough".  He wanted us to strive to be better, which is not a bad thing.  Except when you are wasting time pursuing an ideal in one area (polishing that knob for the perfectly shiny finish) and ignoring the leaky fittings or worn bearings elsewhere.

Engineers deal in "good enough", we set tolerances and define the minimum and maximum acceptable conditions.  Form follows function, and what it looks like should be secondary to whether it is fit for purpose.  And I am not overstepping, I think, in saying that everybody on this forum is an engineer in the real sense - somebody who designs and builds engines.

But yeah, I'm my worst critic some times. :embarassed:

Offline zeeprogrammer

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Re: how good are you really?
« Reply #23 on: September 13, 2018, 07:26:27 PM »
Very enjoyable thread and wonderful contributions. Love the stories.

It's lots of fun and I hope it adds to our community. We're not just engine builders.
Carl (aka Zee) Will sometimes respond to 'hey' but never 'hey you'.
"To work. To work."
Zee-Another Thread Trasher.

Offline steam guy willy

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Re: how good are you really?
« Reply #24 on: September 13, 2018, 09:00:16 PM »
The problem with accurate work is ...that once you make the first bit dead accurate ,all the other parts have to be dead accurate as well.....If you have a dead accurate 1" shaft then make a 1" hole the shaft won't go in the hole ?? !! so which part was the accurate 1" bit ??..........i think we should be told !! And as my mum told me    a lick of paint covers a multitude of sins !!
Willy

Offline crueby

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Re: how good are you really?
« Reply #25 on: September 13, 2018, 09:06:14 PM »
The problem with accurate work is ...that once you make the first bit dead accurate ,all the other parts have to be dead accurate as well.....If you have a dead accurate 1" shaft then make a 1" hole the shaft won't go in the hole ?? !! so which part was the accurate 1" bit ??..........i think we should be told !! And as my mum told me    a lick of paint covers a multitude of sins !!
Willy
Licking paint - that explains a lot!   :ROFL:
Thats why we get the first part made, to as close as we can get it, then spend lots more time getting the mating part to match it and run smooth. At least one of them is easy that way!

Offline Admiral_dk

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Re: how good are you really?
« Reply #26 on: September 13, 2018, 10:12:58 PM »
I make some very high quality constructions for my employer and no I can't show them here (secrets), but even then there are still room for improvements between production batches. As for all else, both at work, home and for friends, the biggest problem is the interval between solving the same kind of problems .... or to use a phrase from the English :   
Quote
Use it or loose it

For the same reason - I do enjoy helping my brother in law, as he has a lot lower level of acceptance than me and we like each others company => he is happy with the result and I feel good for helping and company = a win, win situation.

I have often abandoned my own projects if I don't have access to the tools I know how to get a result that satisfies me (or lack of knowledge on how to achieve the same with what I have) - another reason to hang out here, so I can learn and be inspired to other way to skin that cat  ;)

Offline Chipswitheverything

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Re: how good are you really?
« Reply #27 on: September 14, 2018, 01:46:53 PM »
Zee has come up with another very interesting topic of discussion, and everyone's reply has been individual and different, reflecting the variety of experience, personality and probably all sorts of other things that a psychologist would value as a good starting point for a thesis!  Very good reading!

 I suppose my feeling would be, yes, I hope to do my best in this excellent hobby, but am prepared to filter what may be possible through the ( presently fairly considerable ) constraint of the time that I can spend with it.  Also, certain limitations of the equipment and the room that I actually have, against daydreams of what might be the ideal: - maybe feasible expenditure too.  And, needless to say, through limitations of skill and acquired experience of some processes, but certainly not of others.

If a hobby does not give a reasonable measure of satisfaction and pleasure to the participant,  I don't really see why anyone would want to pursue it for the long term.  Anyone who can only find fault with all that they produce, even though it may in fact be at a good standard of skill, will not get much fun from what was meant to be an enjoyable diversion from mundane cares and problems.
Not arguing for being happy with an effort that is under par, but I think it is reasonable to feel a certain degree of modest satisfaction when, say, a piece of machining that has given a bit of apprehension, in the end goes pretty well. Certainly, you wouldn't want to put it anywhere near a showcase with one of Mrs. Cherry Hill's wonderful models in it!, but you can accept that , for you, the result hasn't been too bad.  And that bit of remembered pleasure helps to send us back into the workshop to get on with another job, and , with a bit of luck, leads to the improvement that we hope will gradually come about.   Dave
« Last Edit: September 14, 2018, 01:50:55 PM by Chipswitheverything »

Offline dvbydt

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Re: how good are you really?
« Reply #28 on: September 14, 2018, 09:50:07 PM »
Another brain exercise from Zee!
I love Dave's comment :-

"There is no shortage of things I'm not good at."

I'll go along with that!!

I am not good at cutting my losses if I get an idea. My latest engine posted on here had no drawings - it just evolved, so I kept on working at it till it worked.
Had it not worked I am reminded of Shakespeare's Hamlet :-

"For ’tis the sport to have the engineer
Hoist with his own petard"

Or in other words I would be up the creek without a paddle and a useless little engine!

There is a story of an Engineer who was asked if he could play the piano. His reply was "I don't know, I have never tried."
 My wife comment on this was that he could probably have told anyone who asked -  how it worked and even made a good try at building one.

Keep it going Zee, we all appreciate any insight into why we bother.

Ian

Offline zeeprogrammer

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Re: how good are you really?
« Reply #29 on: September 14, 2018, 11:03:50 PM »
Fascinating thread. I really enjoy the responses and I learn things, not just about fellow members, but about myself.

As a plus, it's given me another idea for a, hopefully, interesting topic.  >:D
Carl (aka Zee) Will sometimes respond to 'hey' but never 'hey you'.
"To work. To work."
Zee-Another Thread Trasher.

 

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