OT - Famous (or not famous) machinist / engineer sayings

[nickel-city-fab]

What are some of your favorite shop sayings from machinists, mechanics, and engineers? I have one which has guided my career quite well:

"The supreme excellence in machinery is in its simplicity" -- James Watt, ~1790.

(Yes, *that* James Watt, of steam engine fame, who gave us the Horsepower.)
What are your favorite sayings? It doesn't matter who said them or what year they were
as long as its mechanical.

[brian Rupnow]

Along came Henry with a hammer and a board
And he picked up a tin can and made himself a Ford --- That's only a couple of lines from my uncle Jimmy's "creation song". Another part went "Adam he was the first man invented, He lived all alone and he never was contented.--Made him out of mud as the days went by, and hung him on the fence just to see how he'd dry." I googled that, and it was actually a childrens creation song from one of the religions. Uncle Jimmy's words were considerably different than the children's version.

[Bob La Londe]

I cut it twice and its still to short.

[Tom S]

Not necessarily always familiar to machinists and engineers, but I think that Dieter Rams' 10 Principles of Design are excellent things to always keep in mind while designing something.

https://www.vitsoe.com/us/about/good-design

[A.K. Boomer]

Advice from a machinist friend of mine, when your doing close tolerance work; "Sneak up on it like a blind paraplegic"


If you got one of your fingers involved; "keep at it - you'll get a feel for it"


If you drew blood; "Shop Band-aids $1.35 apiece"

[Tungsten dipper]

My Dad's favorite: That's thinner than a mosquito's rear end stretched over a rain barrel!

[Tungsten dipper]

My Grandfather's favorite He couldn't hit a jackass in the ass with a bass fiddle!

[larry_g]

The old shop supervisor was known to say "That chit is harder than a whores heart."

lg
no neat sig line

[Boatman53]

Nothing is more permanent than a temporary repair.
Jim

[danlb]

Shop rate :

$50 an hour.
$75 if you watch
$100 If you help
$125 if you tried to fix it first.

[ezduzit]

"Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away." Antoine de Saint-Exupery
"

[nickel-city-fab]

one of mine... "That's tighter than a bull's butt in fly season" (well, you can guess how it actually goes...)

[old mart]

F-----d that up didn't you!

Take a bit more off, a gnats cock.

[DrMike]

If it doesn’t fit, force it.
If it breaks, it was defective.

[Glide]

I was trying to figure out how to make something and asked a machinist friend. He told me to just machine away everything that wasn't it. That smart ass answer has actually helped me through a lot of problems.