# Mistakes - Errors - F*&k Ups!



## rake60 (Oct 21, 2008)

Working metals comes at a cost.

There's an old saying to console, that read:
Your mistakes are NOT carved in stone.

Well ours are carved in metals.
Just as permanent as stone.

That means a wrong move is permanently inscribed in history and a personal
failure to do it perfectly the very first time.

*SO WHAT! * 

We all make mistakes in our projects.
We can kick them under the rug and pretend they never happened.
OR, we can show them here and hope that another member will see it and
learn from our mistakes.

Nobody is the perfect machinist.
If you ever meet someone who claims to be that, *RUN AWAY * before he turns
a machine on!

Machining is a learing process that never ends.
The day ends, you are either dead, or too unstable to be operating
machine tools.

Rick


----------



## kustomkb (Oct 21, 2008)

Weight reduction; no extra charge


----------



## baldrocker (Oct 21, 2008)

I have a stunning collection of too big holes and too thin shafts
going cheap.
Perhaps MK can write a programme we can us to tell when a hole
has become TOO big to be of further use and can be safely discarded.
BR


----------



## Tin Falcon (Oct 21, 2008)

Like I have said before :
The home model machine shop is like a University engineering lab . No mistakes just learning experiences. 
In the home shop we can say it is not a mistake I just modified the design . or it is not a mistake I just changed the tolerances.
That is not a mistake just a highly machined door stop . Should I go on LOL
Tin


----------



## jack404 (Oct 21, 2008)

heck F*&k Ups is all i have made going from the regular sized stuff to this small stuff

theres a whole pile of small wheels link arms pivot joints you name it i stuffed it well and truely

i gotta get a bit better tooling for the smaller machines and hope that will help

but i am mainly hoping its just practise 

and when i get the paying work out the way ( next week teus weds i hope ) i'll be able to start back on the practise sets i have found online and here


----------



## Philjoe5 (Oct 21, 2008)

I distinctly remember the first major blunder I made about 2 years ago. I was tapping some holes in an engine baseplate. Some were 8-32 and some were 6-32. In my typical newbie fashion I had pilot drills and taps strewn about the workplace and sure enough I picked up a 8-32 pilot drill and drilled a pilot hole where a 6-32 screw should have gone. I thought, "What a stupid thing to do; how am I ever going to finish a whole engine if I can make such a dumb mistake as that?" But, as many have said, you learn a lot from these mistakes. If you persist, you are a better machinist because of them. That's the point of the tag line on my avatar after all,

Cheers,
Phil


----------



## wareagle (Oct 21, 2008)

They aren't [email protected]! ups, they are lessons in machining. And for those that do foundry work, its just cutting down the material for a future melt.

There is not another hobby that I can think of that one is expected to be "right" or "successful" on the first attempt. Our stuff is no different. A golfer doesn't go the course and expect a hole in one on every hole. A fisherman doesn't expect a fish on every cast. The point to this is it is suppossed to be fun!

Screwing the pooch on a part may mean loosing several hours of work and some material, but the idea is to be making chips anyway! I'd rather be in my shop making piles of scrap with the machines rather than going to work. The only problem is it doesn't pay well, but if I figure that one out, you guys will be the first to know!! ;D


----------



## Kludge (Oct 25, 2008)

rake60  said:
			
		

> Machining is a learing process that never ends.



So every time I'm watching the "scenery" on the beach, I'm actually machining? :big:

That mentor I had 'way back when (the one who's highest praise was "It'll do") would sit back and watch me make mistakes on practice pieces (some of the stuff from _his_ recycle bin) then show me where I went wrong and have me do it again. And again. And again ... until I got it right. 

After my second pass, I had to tell him where I screwed up and if I was wrong I was "informed" of the error of my ways in terms that would shame most Marine Gunnies. No profanity and no yelling, just a way with words that let you know his feelings without any doubt. 

The fewer passes between my first mistake and "It'll do", the better. That last was when it matched _his_ standards, and he did onesy-twosy contract work for the government, NASA (which I realize is a government entity) and a few of the earliest mechanical heart replacements made. His standards were pretty high. 

If I seem a bit slow in coming on line, blame him. I've been making swarf on the Clisby & Peerless practicing until I feel comfortable with the machines. (Part of that comfort is dealing with my own "internal problems".) Will I make mistakes in the future? Oh, yeah - but I'll do so knowing I'll recognize them and be able to either fix them or make a new piece so "It'll do."

BEst regards,

Kludge


----------



## Tin Falcon (Oct 25, 2008)

Several years ago I worked in a shop that made models, mock-ups and training equipment for industry and schools. I was an all around craftsman a little machining , painting, welding assembly work etc. 
There was kid there that worked full time in the machine shop. 
He used to say a good machinist knows how to hide his mistakes. The kid then went on to do cnc programming for another company. After he left we started finding the mistakes he hid. They were under work benches used to weigh down the napkin basket in the lunch area and several locations I do not remember.
Tin


----------



## wareagle (Oct 25, 2008)

Tin Falcon  said:
			
		

> Several years ago I worked in a shop that made models, mock-ups and training equipment for industry and schools. I was an all around craftsman a little machining , painting, welding assembly work etc.
> There was kid there that worked full time in the machine shop.
> He used to say a good machinist knows how to hide his mistakes. The kid then went on to do cnc programming for another company. After he left we started finding the mistakes he hid. They were under work benches used to weigh down the napkin basket in the lunch area and several locations I do not remember.
> Tin



I think he worked for me for a short time period!!  :big:


----------



## rake60 (Oct 25, 2008)

I have a bent 3/4" jack bolt in my garage.

22 years ago I was setting a job up on a big machine and jogged the table
around to indicate at the next jaw. I had not only misjudged the clearance
for the indicator, I had totally forgotten that the jack stuck out 4" farther.

In a panic, I unscrewed the jack bolt and threw it in my lunch box.
I laugh every time I see it. I wouldn't have gotten in trouble for the error.
Those kinds of mistakes happen! I was just a young kid that wasn't willing to
admit that it could happen to ME! 

These days things are different.

I've screwed up just about anything that possibly could be screwed up in the
course of machining set up, cutting and turning.

I'm not proud of it, but if my learned lessons can help the next persons attempt
go a little more smoothly, I'm willing to tell what went wrong with mine.

It's why they force us to study history in school.
You are supposed to learn from the failures and achievements of those
who proceeded you to make you life an easier path.

Rick


----------



## Kludge (Oct 25, 2008)

rake60  said:
			
		

> You are supposed to learn from the failures and achievements of those
> who proceeded you to make you life an easier path.



Oh. I thought it was "You are supposed to learn from the failures of those who proceeded you so you can make even bigger and more spectacular ones." ;D

Best regards,

Kludge


----------



## wareagle (Oct 25, 2008)

Kludge  said:
			
		

> Oh. I thought it was "You are supposed to learn from the failures of those who proceeded you so you can make even bigger and more spectacular ones." ;D



No, no, no... You've got it wrong. The reason is so you can invent new and improved ways of screwing up! ;D :big:


----------



## rake60 (Oct 25, 2008)

I read something one time that said:

"Make it idiot proof, and they will produce a BETTER IDIOT!"

Do you think they were picking on me? 8)

Rick


----------



## Bernd (Oct 26, 2008)

rake60  said:
			
		

> "Make it idiot proof, and they will produce a BETTER IDIOT!"
> 
> 
> Rick



I herad it a bit different. "Make it idiot proof, and some idiot will prove you wrong!" 

Bernd


----------



## Tin Falcon (Oct 26, 2008)

To err is human to really mess things up requires *power tools* LOL :big:
Tin


----------



## seagar (Oct 26, 2008)

I'm the better idiot.lol


----------



## jack404 (Oct 26, 2008)

Tin Falcon  said:
			
		

> To err is human to really mess things up requires *power tools* LOL :big:
> Tin



in the army it was similar

to err is human to really screw things up you need a *officer*


----------



## rake60 (Oct 26, 2008)

jack404  said:
			
		

> in the army it was similar
> 
> to err is human to really screw things up you need a *officer*



LOL
"As you were Jack!"

This old man was known to have worn Captian's bars many years ago.  

Rick


----------



## joe d (Oct 26, 2008)

It's still an article of faith in the Canadian Navy that the only way to really frighten the hands is to let them see an Officer picking up a tool......

(sometimes Lt(N) ) Joe


----------



## jack404 (Oct 26, 2008)

Rick

that's OK mate for a while i was a officer ( made major !  )
major what? disaster, problem, screw up, PITA (especially to CDFS  ) heard em all 
:big: :big: :big:

got out for a while but when i went back had the sense to resign the commission and go back to being a seargent , i like the Field and being on the spot ( and the CDFS was never so happy either)

OTS was a waste on someone like me, once a grunt always a grunt ( infantry )

retired rank is WO 2ND class = to company/squadron sgtmjr in the US and happy that way

cheers eh (Sir!)


----------



## Kludge (Oct 27, 2008)

Good grief! So many former officers! Guess I should throw my brief tenure as a 2lt (aka: butter bar) in for a laugh as well. You know "Nothing so dangerous in the field as a 2lt with a compass" and all that. Thankfully for all concerned, that tenure was extremely brief. 

Best regards,

Kludge


----------



## tel (Oct 27, 2008)

Stuff ups? One of these days I'll tell y'awl about the pound or so of molten aluminium that I managed to explode in me face.


----------



## baldrocker (Oct 27, 2008)

Jeez Tel it hurts when I bite my tongue.
BR


----------



## kvom (Oct 27, 2008)

"To err is human, to forgive devine," neither of which is Marine Corps policy!


----------



## pelallito (Nov 1, 2008)

Tel,
I was lucky not to be injured when a 60# plus pot of molten lead blew up in front of me! I was adding more lead to the pot to bring the level back to the top and noticed a difference in the color of the lead. Apparently water had gotten in my lead.
I blocked the pot with the coffee can that I was pouring out of and turned my face in time. The lead got all the way to the ceiling.
Shook me up for a while.
Fred


----------

