IS IT JUST ME?

[chief]

My intention is not to belittle anyone and I have had as many problems and question as the next guy but after twenty some years of turning metal (usually under some unrealistic deadline). I have noticed that a good many things in the machinist world I
just don't pay attention to.speeds and feeds,
if the bit isn't glowing red or the aluminum isn't melting it's ok.
toolbits,carbide for hard steel,HSS for soft,
easy enough. I look at a piece of stock and know if it's going to work, no need for elaborate metal tests.
I read the articles sometime and think,"boy I should do that or waht a waste of time".
I guess my point is be safe and enjoy the hobby and don't get wrapped around the axle on the little stuff. It kind of reminds of the old joke:
The young recruit says" they taught us to do it like this in bootcamp"
The young, junior officer "in my experience"
And the old, wise sargent says" watch this ****".

[WJHartson]

You do pay attention it's called experience and we keep adding to it each day.

[Rotate]

My guess is that all your experience have thought you get a "feeling" or "intution" about things like speed and feedrate. I guess it's like anything else. I have never seen my mother cook with a measuring cup, thermometer, or scale. She did everything by feel and taste. When I married, my wife owned more graduate cups, flasks, beakers, and scales than a well stocked chemistry lab.

You have earned your badges and there's nothing wrong with what you're doing. Of course, if you're doing high volume production then optimizing the variables can be the difference between breaking even and profit.

Albert

[John Stevenson]

Too true Chief.
I taught my lad all I know and he still knows nothing.

Employ a teenager whilst they still know it all.

John S.

[SGW]

Re: cooking by feel and taste. Reminds me of the clam pie recipie card my wife inherited from her grandmother. In its entirely:

Clam Pie
Clams
Sauce
Piecrust
Cook until done

[Thrud]

chief:
I only worry about specific materials if it is really important - like when I make tips for my Hakko desoldering station, restoration of a historical piece, or a special job. Otherwise I don't sweat it (LYING BASTARD!) too much.

I have come to a point in my life where it does not matter as much to me, and that in itself disturbs me.

[docsteve66]

Dave: your "I have come to a point in my life where it does not matter as much to me, and that in itself disturbs me" is very insightful!!!!! I had said much thesamething to my self a few days ago- but it was not so consise as your saying.

I was thinking to my self- as I cobbled something together- few years back I would have done this differnet-hell few years back I made things to last until the job was done forever or at least til i died. With age I seem to have dropped the forever criterium. And I said to my self (as as i looked at the cobbled up mess) "Self, you seem to think you are on deaths door step"

[Guero]

Doc, Thrud: I saw that with my dad, who lived to the age of 82. He was pretty much a perfectionist and while his profession was actually that of an aircraft engineer, he also had his A & P license and was a genius at working in metal, be it welding, sheet metal work, machining, etc. When he was still in his 50's he enlisted my help (I was not yet a teen) in building a small shed in which to store my brother's MG while my brother was in Vietnam - this shed, though built literally of lumber scrounged from abandoned houses (this was rural North Carolina in the late 60's) is still standing today and will probably still be standing 20 years from now. I helped him again when he was in his 70's, he wanted a shed to store his RV in and that shed will need to be torn down soon as it is already starting to fall apart. In other things as well he seemed to "make for today" and as long as it served his immediate needs, he was satisfied... and yet I inherited some of the specialty tools which he made while in his 30' and 40's and they're pieces of art - not just functional but beautiful to look at. Even very simple things, like a small gear puller, were polished and case-hardened... he built them to last beyond his lifetime.

[Thrud]

Steve
If I have learned anything in my many brushes with death is as long as the world is giving you sh*t and abuse - you are still alive! Worry about it when you start to feel really, really, "special".

[darryl]

I'm wondering about cutting speed, does it change depending on what you had for dinner?

[Thrud]

darryl:
Sure! Sometimes you feel so good after a great meal you are full of piss and vinegar and everything just clicks. Other times, you turn the feed down and go whack your thumb with a hammer on the bench - accidently, twice.

[lynnl]

John S., those were funny! I'm imagining some good impressionist doing that first line in Dubba Ya's voice. (George DubbaYa's that is. or maybe Al Gore's)

Thrud, your last post brings back a painful memory. I did that very thing. Whacked it so hard I cried. Let project rest for 2 or 3 weeks, then resumed EXACTLY where I left off. (Same hammer, same nail in same hole of same board ... also same thumb!) That time I didn't cry, I wove a tapestry of expletives that's probably still hanging in the air today.

[This message has been edited by lynnl (edited 02-16-2003).]

[docsteve66]

Lynn : RE: " I wove a tapestry of expletives ......"> I sure hope that phrase is not copywrited ot protected in some way. I intend to use it one day!!!
Steve
Problem is my cussing buddies dont know tapestry from tape, expletives from explainations and the people who do know are ones that I say, "I really should have thought more before trying to do that".

[lynnl]

Steve, I gotta confess, I sto.. 'er borrowed that expression from the movie "A Christmas Story". It was about a little boy growing up in Gary Ind. who wanted a BB gun for Christmas. It's narrated by the boy recalling that period later as an adult. He said of his father: "...profanity was his true medium. ... he worked in profanity like other artists might work in oils or clay..."
One of the best movies for the holiday season, especially for guys, tho my wife and daughters like it too.

[Spin Doctor]

But Lynnl' YOu'll shoot youe Eye out!