"Jim Levie" wrote in message
news
On Thu, 01 Jul 2004 11:28:13 -0700, Harold & Susan Vordos wrote:
"Jim Levie" wrote in message
news
On Wed, 30 Jun 2004 22:15:18 -0700, Harold & Susan Vordos wrote:
Chuckle!
I'd question just how "high end" the shop was when they pull tricks
like
that. My opinion? They should have replaced the guy that screwed
up,
not
removed the indexing pins from all the machines.
Have you ever used a machine with a power drawbar? On the ones most of
their mills were fitted with when you tripped the handle it took about
0.5
seconds to fully tighten the drawbar. I presume some one was changing
the
collet and just tripped the handle a bit sooner than they meant to.
No, I have not, but under that circumstance I can see how it could
happen to
anyone. There was no mention of a power draw bar originally. If that
be
the case, I stand corrected. Still, with just a *little* care, it
could be
avoided!
My mistake, I should have mentioned that all of their mills had power
drawbars. I agree that in the absence of same that anyone abusing a
machine by pulling a collet past the index pin should be fired on the spot
for total incompetence.
That does make a significant difference. Sounds like you have to have all
your ducks in a row when you "push the button". I can see how a guy could
be deep in thought and do so prematurely.
I'm from the old school where everything that was done on a machine was
done by the operator. Skill level is what sorted out those that could
from those that could not. I can see that CNC has changed all that.
I don't think that CNC can really be blamed on the decline in skill
levels. The blame lies partly with the education system. How many schools
do you know of that still offer any training in "hand arts"?
I fully agree with the lack of training, in part because the educational
system (in all its wisdom) has made the decision that we no longer need that
type of training. Before moving from Utah I shared in the good fortune
that came from schools selling out by attending a few auctions, at which I
bought a lot of nice equipment to augment my shop for use in retirement.
For the most part, I would not have been able to otherwise acquire the
stuff.
I contend that guys coming up on CNC machines must know totally different
things than guys do that run manual machines. My age group has a nice mix
of both talents, so it's not as obvious that the manual skills are absent in
general. I'm of the opinion that younger guys coming up generally don't
know how to do the manual work, which is skill intensive, at least for a
predictable outcome. I've always said anyone can make chips, but it takes
considerable talent and experience to make good parts, and do it reliably
and efficiently. That doesn't come without considerable effort.
I don't mean to demean those that run the CNC's, just point out that the
skills involved are not the same. An outstanding CNC operator, one that
can do his own programming, is likely as skilled as many of the old time
guys were that were considered the cream of the crop, but the run of the
mill operator may not have any machining skills at all, yet still do good
work, thanks to the machine and the programming skills of others. Sadly,
the skills that were required to be considered a machinist are getting lost
in the shuffle from manual to CNC. Even tooling departments are using CNC
these days. I guess the only thing to consider is how important is it?
Seems no one is making buggy whips any longer, and we get by nicely without
them. It's just a little hard to consider yourself outdated and useless.
Can't tell you how pleased I am to be retired, where it makes no difference
any longer. I think I'd be hard pressed to hold a job in today's market.
Harold