"Robin S." wrote in message
. ..

"Harold and Susan Vordos" wrote in message
...

I accepted work with .0001" tolerance in my humble shop when I was
actively
machining, and had success.

Harold,

I knew you were one of the five. Then there's Steve. I wonder how close I
am.

Anyway, about the only thing I know about that area of machining is that
the
more you're able to see, the greater the aggravation. Things like spotting
blue, comparators, tenths indicators, and other "gauges" can be very
humbling after dealing only with very-nears and micrometers.

Regards,

Robin


That's the part where machinists gets sorted that I spoke of. You may
discover you are very talented in a given arena, but struggle in others.
I've rarely met anyone that is skilled across the board. The best lathe
man I ever met, hands down, was heads and shoulders above anyone else, but
was at a loss on a mill, for example.

I've always been gifted with the ability to do small, precise work. I can
tolerate doing it endlessly, and am very patient (very unlike my normal
demeaner) where it drives most guys crazy. By sharp contrast, I'm not good
at large work----and don't particularly enjoy doing it. The size of the
items you've discussed in pursuing your apprenticeship would drive me mad.

While it wasn't tool related, one job I ran in my shop, many years ago, took
two months to complete. It consisted of a minute hook made of aluminum and
Armco iron, with two stainless steel pins, .022" diameter. It was titled
an antenna latch, and was a defense part. The pins were provided, but I
made the balance of the parts from stock. The purchase order required 200
pieces, one first article, and 199 from production. I sold 209 pieces when
the job was completed, having started with something like 240 pieces. Lots
of close tolerance dimensions, although none under a thou except for hole
diameters. The entire lot fit easily in the palm of one hand. I still
have a few of the scrap parts, along with one completed item, assembled.
If you're interested, send me an email on the side with your address and
I'll send you a picture (77 kb in size) of some of the parts in various
stages of development, along with the finished part. Included in the
picture is a common straight pin, to give you perspective.

Harold