Harold and Susan Vordos wrote:
One of the things I have to deal with, with our apprentices, is getting
them past the idea that they MUST get within a half thou, on a part that
states a 20 thou tolerance. Spend the time on the part, that it calls for,
not more. Careful work on the high tolerance parts. Fast work on the low
tolerance stuff. Get it out, within spec.
That is a common argument with people of today, and I propose to you that's
exactly one of the reasons why it's so hard to find qualified people. If
you think you can turn out work running from one end of the tolerance to the
other and become a fine machinist in the process, you've missed something,
somewhere.
I dunno if yer gettin the level of this.
Had a guy using the mill to cut off a bunch of mild steel, to be used
as spacers in a weldement.
Late in the day, he was still at making his dozen parts. Wanted to
know where the stock was. I had pointed him at two full sticks, earlier
that day.
I found them, cut into tidy pieces, in the scrap bin. HE did not like
that the parts were only within 5 thou of the dimension that was on the
page, so he was still trying to get it bang-on. I kicked his sorry ass
out to the dumpster, and told him to use the ****ing cutting torch like
he had been told in the first place. The guy was about to cut up another
full bar, to get dimensions that were WAY beyond the tolerances required.
I had to watch, pretty much in agony, while another guy spent two days
making 8 bushings. They were to be cold shrunk in. Aluminum. 5/8 inch
7075 barstock. Looks like a countersunk head screw, with a hole through
the middle. Tolerances are to within 2-5 tenths. Two ****ing whole days!
Should have taken him about 8 minutes per bushing. Less, if he was able
to think at a speed that would allow him to breathe and walk at the same
time. That was AFTER I ground the form tool, and set up the lathe, and
demonstrated the making of the first one (which came out as a useable
bushing BTW)
Nothing wrong with being willing to do good work. I just have little
patience for those that do not put a little effort into applying a
reasonable level of appropriate work into the job in front of them.
Trying to work to tenths, on a job that could be marked in crayon and
cut with a torch, is an innappropriate use of time and facilities.
And there are some people that are in over their heads, emptying
garbage cans.
Mind you, I'm not here to tell you how to work, nor how to formulate your
work ethic------but one thing I can and will tell you is if you turn out
every job using hack processes, you'll never be a decent machinist. When
challenged to do the type of work I mentioned, you'll be at a loss, and will
have success mainly from good fortune, if at all. That isn't at all how I
worked----and would have proven to be my downfall had I.
I try to do good work all the time. Less comebacks. Equals less
headaches for me. We have, historically, always been able to find the
time to fix stuff that was done poorly, in a rush. By that alone, I
figure we have the time to do it right the first time. I have no problem
with being a surly prick, when dealing with guys trying to pressure me
to get something done in a hurry, or to take shortcuts, either.
I had one boss that developed a bit of a twitch. When he would ask how
long a job was going to take, I would give it some thought, and tell
him, "two weeks". Got to the point where he stopped asking me. The work
got done faster, without the interuptions. He was happier, I was happier.
The time you spend learning how to work closely is the time needed to hone
skills that are required to do so. Those that don't spend the time will
generally suffer when it comes time to do fine work.
We do a lot of small, cold shrunk, then reamed to size, bushings in
our shop. Tolerances to a couple tenths are typical, if you want them to
work out. We have enough guys here that are able to produce at those
levels, that we are able to carry on.
In our shop, that is the kind of job that requires the fine work, and
the fine work is applied. There is nought to gain, and much time to be
spent, trying to apply the same work to putting points on steel
grounding stakes, or on other jobs that could have as well been done
with angle grinders or cutting torches.
snippage
If you're interested in reading some of my ravings, a gentlemen compiled
several threads and posted them as a single download. I've never read what
was compiled----I'm on a dreadfully slow dialup------but if you'd like to
peruse what I had to say, not only about grinding HSS, but grinders and
wheels, here's a link for the download:
http://www.savefile.com/files/915454
I'll see if I can get registered and get it downloaded.
Cheers
Trevor Jones