"Larry Jaques" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 30 Jul 2018 17:35:42 -0400, "Jim Wilkins"
wrote:


Yes, I see the wisdom in that. Thanks for the Grinders 101. I've
obviously never used one.

When I started in industry I quickly found that I couldn't reasonably
design a part to perform a task without knowing something of how to
make it, though not every newly minted engineer felt that way.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traditional_engineering
"Traditional engineering is also known as over the wall engineering as
each stage blindly throws the development to the next stage over the
wall."

So I learned to operate some machine tools and observed how others
worked, in terms of the geometries they could or couldn't create and
the accuracy they could reasonably deliver. I didn't use the more
dangerous equipment until taking adult-ed night classes in machining
and welding at local high schools.

In small non-union startups that built custom equipment on order it
was easy to learn machine tool operation without threatening the
operators that I wanted their job since I clearly had a good job of my
own, building and testing the electronics. I tended to become the
liaison between engineering and production and had to learn new
operations myself so I could explain them, or convince the designer to
make a change..

Eventually when I bought a house I knew enough to assemble a small
machine shop that was adequate to make the devices I'd thought up.
I've never created anything patentable because I ultimately reduce
problems to very simple solutions, like using a sink spray as a
water-saving shower head.
-jsw