# Chinese Girl Machinist



## William May (Jun 12, 2022)

If you want to see a tiny Chinese girl machinist at work, go to "Linguoer--Mechanic" on Youtube.  On her videos, she does such things as rebuilding a 1972 metal lathe, rebuilds and repairs welders, electric motors, and generators, most of which are far bigger than she is. There is no narration, as her English is not good, but you get to watch her work. She basically works outdoors, and with the crudest tools available, on a wooden bench.  She is a pretty skillful welder, and seems to know exactly what she is doing.  I was very impressed with her rebuilding work..


----------



## SmithDoor (Jun 12, 2022)

William May said:


> If you want to see a tiny Chinese girl machinist at work, go to "Linguoer--Mechanic" on Youtube.  On her videos, she does such things as rebuilding a 1972 metal lathe, rebuilds and repairs welders, electric motors, and generators, most of which are far bigger than she is. There is no narration, as her English is not good, but you get to watch her work. She basically works outdoors, and with the crudest tools available, on a wooden bench.  She is a pretty skillful welder, and seems to know exactly what she is doing.  I was very impressed with her rebuilding work..


I not seen a female repair machinist or steel fab in America.  I have seen in production machinists and production welding.  I can not till you why.
It just may take time or just have not seen women in repair machinist. America it very good paying job and is hard to find. It would be a great job for women too.

My wife does plumbing and yesterday was running a rototiller 

Dave


----------



## pengxing10 (Jun 14, 2022)

I'm Chinese, it's hard to see female mechanical maintenance technicians in China, my job is ENGEL injection molding machine maintenance, but the salary is not high


----------



## William May (Jun 14, 2022)

pengxing10 said:


> I'm Chinese, it's hard to see female mechanical maintenance technicians in China, my job is ENGEL injection molding machine maintenance, but the salary is not high


You should see if you can contact this girl through her Facebook account, and ask her to tell us her story.  I'm sure it is interesting. I wish she had a hoist to move the heavy things she works on. She just muscles them around now, but when she gets older she will suffer with arthritis and back problems, I think.


----------



## minh-thanh (Jun 14, 2022)

Yes, I watched her video.
She is Great !


----------



## SmithDoor (Jun 14, 2022)

minh-thanh said:


> Yes, I watched her video.
> She is Great !


I seen what some women can do not mush different than men.
Just think of knowing ww2 women that flew fighters into combat zones without bullets. 

Do you have link for video?

Dave


----------



## William May (Jun 14, 2022)

SmithDoor said:


> I seen what some women can do not mush different than men.
> Just think of knowing ww2 women that flew fighters into combat zones without bullets.
> 
> Do you have link for video?
> ...


Go to YOUTUBE under "Linguoer--Mechanic". She has at least 100 videos currently, and is putting up more all the time! You can't miss it. It is a MASSIVE site!


----------



## SmithDoor (Jun 14, 2022)

William May said:


> Go to YOUTUBE under "Linguoer--Mechanic". She has at least 100 videos currently, and is putting up more all the time! You can't miss it. It is a MASSIVE site!


Great video 
Even did rewinding on generator. 

Dave


----------



## William May (Jun 14, 2022)

SmithDoor said:


> Great video
> Even did rewinding on generator.
> 
> Dave


Yeah, this little girl is not afraid to tackle ANYTHING.  I am always surprised by what she does next. She must have a bunch of relatives who work as mechanics or machinists. Nothing seems to be beyond her.


----------



## Henry K (Jun 15, 2022)

She is awesome! When I ran a Plant Engineering Dept in a big printing company, years ago, I would have hired her in a instant if she applied for a mechanics job. Fantastic!


----------



## William May (Jun 15, 2022)

Henry K said:


> She is awesome! When I ran a Plant Engineering Dept in a big printing company, years ago, I would have hired her in a instant if she applied for a mechanics job. Fantastic!


yes, I am always amazed at the things she tackles. Rewinding a generator, no problem! Rebuilding a lathe, no problem! In my opinion, she could use some gentle advice on some of her techniques, but she certainly accomplishes a lot, with almost nothing as a resource!


----------



## josodl1953 (Jun 15, 2022)

Girl Power!!


----------



## GreenTwin (Jun 15, 2022)

I know of a local wastewater plant that employs several female mechanics, and while they are very talented individuals, they don't look like the person in the video.  They don't wear makeup either.
The ponytail would be a real hazard in the workplace.
One person at a technical college had one, and was pulled into a metal lathe that she was working on, and killed.

I give credit where credit is due; but the ones I have seen don't look like movie stars, and they don't have clean white tennis shoes, but steel-toed boots.
Just sayin.
.


----------



## William May (Jun 16, 2022)

GreenTwin said:


> I know of a local wastewater plant that employs several female mechanics, and while they are very talented individuals, they don't look like the person in the video.  They don't wear makeup either.
> The ponytail would be a real hazard in the workplace.
> One person at a technical college had one, and was pulled into a metal lathe that she was working on, and killed.
> 
> ...


She's doing the work, yes?


----------



## Apprentice707 (Jun 16, 2022)

When I was in the RAF it wasn't unusual to have female technicians and engineering officers on a unit. They were treated the same as the men and probably more enthusiastic than some of the guys. I believe there are more of them now. No probs as far as I was concerned.

In the model engineering world, there is Cherry Hill who is a legend in this hobby, look her up on the net her creations are awesome.

Happy machining

B


----------



## johwen (Jun 16, 2022)

William May said:


> If you want to see a tiny Chinese girl machinist at work, go to "Linguoer--Mechanic" on Youtube.  On her videos, she does such things as rebuilding a 1972 metal lathe, rebuilds and repairs welders, electric motors, and generators, most of which are far bigger than she is. There is no narration, as her English is not good, but you get to watch her work. She basically works outdoors, and with the crudest tools available, on a wooden bench.  She is a pretty skillful welder, and seems to know exactly what she is doing.  I was very impressed with her rebuilding work..


----------



## johwen (Jun 16, 2022)

Have you seen the work Of Cherry Hill a remarkable story of a Real lady Model Engineer. Her models are incredible. A Story of her achievements by David Carpenter in book form is worth the purchase www.halebooks.com. does her own photography as well. Makes her own screws rivet chains etc.
Worth  the buy of the history of a remarkable woman. John


----------



## Nikhil Bhale (Jun 16, 2022)

I work in merchant navy and now I see a lot of girls coming out to sea as engineering officers.
They are treated equal and do their jobs competently.

regards
Nikhil


----------



## GreenTwin (Jun 16, 2022)

I guess what I am saying is if she weighed 300 lbs. and looked like Shrek, but had identical mechanical abilities, she would have a fraction of the views she is getting.
Her channel is as much about eye-appeal as it is about mechanical work, and that is perfectly ok as long as that does not become the standard for women mechanics; ie: not only do you have to be good and mechanical repairs, you also have to be young and look attractive too.

She could take off the makup and come across as a much more legit mechanic.
I understand that views=money though, and the videos are about view count.
.


----------



## GreenTwin (Jun 16, 2022)

When my daughter went into high school, I asked her what she wanted to achieve, and she said "I want to be a cheerleader, and be the most popular person in school".
I told her that being attractive and popular had very little to do with reality, or whether you were a good person who accomplished admirable things.
My daughter had the looks to be a cheerleader, but we convinced her to get into cross country and track (running).
She ditched the heavy makeup and skimpy outfits, and excelled at running.

My daughter ended up winning 6 state championships in track in high school track, and won a $250,000.00 scholarship to a top-rated college.
She got her degre in Psychology, and works to help young people who have eating disorders, and who literally starve themselves in order to be the thinest and most atractive person in town.

Young women need good role models, and they need to understand that you can be successful without being a beauty queen.

I am not trying to take anything away from the talented chinese woman mechanic; hats off to her for exceptional talent (and looks).
Many young girls today are getting ruined by unrealistic expectations about looks, and much of it comes from online experiences.

.


----------



## Gordon (Jun 16, 2022)

A lot of her repair seems to involve removing rust and repainting. Most of the actual repair seems to happen off screen. I have only watched a few of her repair jobs but it does not seem practical to take something which is completely seized after setting for years and trying to bring it back to life. One thing which I did notice is that she seems to use a hard hammer to drive out a shaft etc. Not really a good idea to mushroom the end of the shaft.


----------



## L98fiero (Jun 16, 2022)

Gordon said:


> A lot of her repair seems to involve removing rust and repainting. Most of the actual repair seems to happen off screen. I have only watched a few of her repair jobs but it does not seem practical to take something which is completely seized after setting for years and trying to bring it back to life. One thing which I did notice is that she seems to use a hard hammer to drive out a shaft etc. Not really a good idea to mushroom the end of the shaft.


It appears that her family has a machine shop/repair shop, when she is using a sandblaster she obviously has access to a pretty significant compressor, not one you'd generally have in a home shop. Not taking anything away from what she does but that's also probably where she learned a lot.


----------



## Toymaker (Jun 17, 2022)

GreenTwin said:


> <snip>
> Young women need good role models, and they need to understand that you can be successful without being a beauty queen.
> <snip>



You're right.  Young women do need good role models, and IMHO, Linguoer and all her YouTube videos present exactly that,... an excellent role model.   What I see is a rather attractive, nicely dressed young lady doing work that is traditionally performed my men.   I wonder how many young women, even those that may aspire to becoming cheer leaders,  have seen Linguoer's videos, were inspired, and began to believe that they too could do what this tiny Chinese lady is doing.


----------



## GreenTwin (Jun 17, 2022)

I would give her the benefit of the doubt, and say she is a fantastic mechanic, and an inspirtional role model for women all over the world.
I would also say that an honest person would admit that probably the vast majority of her viewers are males that are 2-3 times her age.
.


----------



## Toymaker (Jun 17, 2022)

Yes GreenTwin, in all honesty, I suspect the vast majority of her viewers are indeed older men, BUT if only 1% of her nearly 5 million views are young, inspired women, then she's provided a great service which I applaud.


----------



## Gordon (Jun 17, 2022)

L98fiero said:


> It appears that her family has a machine shop/repair shop, when she is using a sandblaster she obviously has access to a pretty significant compressor, not one you'd generally have in a home shop. Not taking anything away from what she does but that's also probably where she learned a lot.


It does appear that she has access to tools and equipment that her wooden bench in the back yard would seem to indicate.


----------



## William May (Jun 17, 2022)

Gordon said:


> A lot of her repair seems to involve removing rust and repainting. Most of the actual repair seems to happen off screen. I have only watched a few of her repair jobs but it does not seem practical to take something which is completely seized after setting for years and trying to bring it back to life. One thing which I did notice is that she seems to use a hard hammer to drive out a shaft etc. Not really a good idea to mushroom the end of the shaft.



On the contrary, it is VERY practical to take a machine that is in TERRIBLE condition, and restore it to full operational capability.  That is what antique car restorers do EVERY DAY. (I'm not talking about 1960's Mustangs. Those are just used cars.)  I am talking about cars from the 1900s. 1910s.1920s eras. Most of them would be viewed as hopeless projects.  But every day, people are completing these machines, with meticulous restorations that return them to their original condition and function.  I know this because it is what I do with the cars I have collected. 
I have noted that this girl could use some gentle advice on some of her techniques (Like why you don't pound on the ends of shafts with a hammer, or use an adjustable wrench for anything other than as a paperweight to hold down the pages of a manual and keep them from flapping in the wind) but I put this down to her having to work with very basic tools and minimal equipment. You use what you have, to do the work you need to do. I visited several small village machine shops in China when I was over there in 2000, and was most impressed with both their talent and ingenuity. (No CAD, no computers, no CAM machining systems.) Machinists and mechanics all over the world face the same problem of how to do the work with the tools you have. 

Yeah, I watch little Chinese girls work on machines.  I also watch videos by Keith Appleton, Shop Dog Sam, and many other creative and amazing people.
So what's your point?


----------



## GreenTwin (Jun 17, 2022)

One trend on ytube is what I call the "sexy woodchopper girls", who wear very tight and low cut outfits to do all sorts of manly things on the farm.
Its an eye-candy affair, but if you are into that sort of thing, more power to you.

The Chinese mechanic looks pretty legit; certainly far more legit than the wood chopper bunch.

To each their own, but on the other end of things, young women need to understand that most women mechanics look pretty much like men mechanics, which is pretty rough, tough, and dirty, and that is perfectly ok.  It is normal not to put on heavy makup before you rebuild a machine.
You don't have to look like a member of the Kardashian clan to be a good mechanic.
That is all I am saying.

I work with some guys (married with children) who like to eat at either Twin Peaks, or Hooters, because the food is so GOOOOOOOOD.
Yeah right; whatever........  Count me out of the Hooters/Twin Peak eating crowd.  You won't see me supporting that sort of thing.

.


----------



## Gordon (Jun 17, 2022)

William May said:


> On the contrary, it is VERY practical to take a machine that is in TERRIBLE condition, and restore it to full operational capability.  That is what antique car restorers do EVERY DAY. (I'm not talking about 1960's Mustangs. Those are just used cars.)  I am talking about cars from the 1900s. 1910s.1920s eras. Most of them would be viewed as hopeless projects.  But every day, people are completing these machines, with meticulous restorations that return them to their original condition and function.  I know this because it is what I do with the cars I have collected.
> I have noted that this girl could use some gentle advice on some of her techniques (Like why you don't pound on the ends of shafts with a hammer, or use an adjustable wrench for anything other than as a paperweight to hold down the pages of a manual and keep them from flapping in the wind) but I put this down to her having to work with very basic tools and minimal equipment. You use what you have, to do the work you need to do. I visited several small village machine shops in China when I was over there in 2000, and was most impressed with both their talent and ingenuity. (No CAD, no computers, no CAM machining systems.) Machinists and mechanics all over the world face the same problem of how to do the work with the tools you have.
> 
> Yeah, I watch little Chinese girls work on machines.  I also watch videos by Keith Appleton, Shop Dog Sam, and many other creative and amazing people.
> So what's your point?


That is actually my point. Repairing something because it is irreplaceable is one thing but taking junk and rebuilding just for the sake of rebuilding it does not seem like a very productive enterprise. When a replacement is available without using a lot of time or additional resources just replace it. I suppose that it is possible that her family just has more time than money so she is forced to take the cheapest route but she seems to have access to some rather expensive equipment. I am not doubting her talent, I just question her choice of projects. Like you said, people do not restore 1960's Mustangs. 

The message that I hope that her female viewers take from it is that it is possible to be both attractive and talented.


----------



## Zeb (Jun 17, 2022)

Not my cup of tea, but I do enjoy certain shows and documentaries showing Chinese culture and traditions. 

Something to be aware of, it is illegal for regular Chinese citizens to use youtube. They have to use a VPN at risk of arrest or be part of a state sponsored program. Not saying they can't produce beautiful documentaries or good shows, but it is something to be aware of.


----------



## GreenTwin (Jun 17, 2022)

I have watched quite a few of this individual's videos.
She learns fast, is very smart, has a good sense of humor, and makes exceptionally clear well-edited videos.
She makes mistakes, and does not edit those out of the video, but rather takes ownership of them, and posts them for a lesson learned.


----------



## GreenTwin (Jun 17, 2022)

Here is another individual I have come to know through the local art-iron foundry.
She works at the foundry, and operates a cupola like a pro, from startup to finish.
She taps the cupola, and is right in the middle of all the fire, flame, and splashing molten 2,500 F iron.

She teaches male and female young interns the art of iron casting, and creating cast iron scultures.

Tough as nails, fearless, nicest person you will ever meet, extremely knowledgeable about iron work, and very helpful with questions.
About half of the art-iron crowd are women.


----------



## Steamchick (Jun 18, 2022)

Considering what Women did in industry during WW1 and WW2 (and right back through history), on both sides and in many countries, I miss the point here. Women can do most things men can do and vice-versa, and I have worked in factories with single sex (both) and mixed sex shop floors. The tasks and skills were suited to each as "people" not because of their sex. And this has been going on since my first experiences of industry in the late 1960s. (After the Ford Dagenham plant women broke-the-mould by gaining equal pay for equal jobs). Speaking of Moulds, I heard that in a pottery factory, there were a majority of men doing the heavy lifting, mixing clay, and other "menial" tasks, compared to the ratio of mew to women doing the fine art work and finishing, inspection etc. because the women were just better than the men at those tasks "statistically". But both areas of work were mixed sexes. And that goes back centuries. Just like textile industries, farming, etc. and others that pre-date the industrial revolution.
I suspect there is a bias of opinion depending on one's background, environs, political state (country?) and culture?
But let's be honest: a Sewing sweat shop is as hard as a Foundry sweat shop, just the dirt from one shows more on the skin than the lungs. They are both environs where the air pollution clogs lungs, the work is hard, and there are particular skills, muscle strengths, staminas, etc. that suit one type of build more than another. And in the UK we seem to have nearly abolished both!
In various countries across the planet, families have a business and all members have to do all jobs. So don't be surprised at seeing a young lady working on machines, etc. as maybe earning a few pence on u-tube helps her income and family somehow?
It really matters not a jot what sex we are when it comes to teaching and learning skills (e.g. Model Engineering). It only really matters when it comes to making babies. Then "Vive la difference".
IMHO...
K2


----------



## Steamchick (Jun 18, 2022)

Just a post-script: I love the shapely legs (of the foundry) shown in #32... Surely this is the way to tell a Women's workplace? Stylish legs on a furnace? Men would have the cheapest - probably straight angle iron! Narey a thought for aesthetics!
K2


----------



## Toymaker (Jun 18, 2022)

GreenTwin said:


> I have watched quite a few of this individual's videos.
> She learns fast, is very smart, has a good sense of humor, and makes exceptionally clear well-edited videos.
> She makes mistakes, and does not edit those out of the video, but rather takes ownership of them, and posts them for a lesson learned.




I started watching Blondihacks slightly before she started making her first model steam engine; she's a very talented machinist and videographer.  Quinn (Blondi) has a knack for explaining how to make various parts and tools in a presentation style that's both interesting and informative to watch.   According to her bio, she's been making video games for some 36 years.... a very talented women indeed.   I wonder if she's on this forum?


----------



## L98fiero (Jun 18, 2022)

Gordon said:


> When a replacement is available without using a lot of time or additional resources just replace it. I suppose that it is possible that her family just has more time than money so she is forced to take the cheapest route but she seems to have access to some rather expensive equipment.


That may be the issue, some areas of China are still very poor so rebuilding may be the only affordable option, if you've ever watched the videos of rebuilds of equipment by central Asians, Pakistan, etc, you'll see people rebuild things that would never be rebuilt in most western countries but in fact the labor is cheaper than buying a new part,_ if they can get it!_


----------



## GreenTwin (Jun 18, 2022)

I watched a few more videos of the Chinese woman.
There are some interesting things going on in those videos.
They live in a very plush part of China (not sure where), but it has sort of a tropical mountain forest feel to it.

It appears to be pretty primative in that area, very hilly, house is somewhat primitive.
Edit:  Upon futher viewing, it seems pretty modern.  She drives a nice gas 3-wheeler (that I would like to have), and a local sawmill has a powered bandsaw.  Sort of a mix of light industrial, and primitive moutainous terrain.

She is welding in one video without a welding helmet.  Good way to get cataracts really fast.  Not cool.

There is a rather stark contrast between her somewhat primitive living conditions, and the polished and rather sophisticated videography, with nice drone shots of the area, etc.  Someone has some pretty expensive video equipment, satellite uplink, video editing software, etc.
It is like a pro is doing the videography.  This is not amature stuff.

There are two people in every video, the woman and the person filming.
The real star is the person filming.  Most impressive work with most impressive scenery.

As I was watching one video, an Anime advertisement kept flashing across the bottom of the screen, LOL.
She is basically a live person anime character, or so it would seem.

Almost 200k subscribers in 5 months.  That is the definition of going viral.
I know folks who have been on ytube for years, how have perhaps 20k subscribers.

There is a guy named Mechanic Steve, with a larger following, doing similar work, and without the breathtaking scenery, so it appears there is a big following of mechanic work by males and females, and this sort of rules out thinking people are only watching the woman because she is a woman.
His channel has not grown as exponentially fast as the womans's channel, but he still has an impressive number of subscribers (perhaps 1/2 million?).

It is a pretty unique combination of interesting terrain, working under semi-primitive conditions, different culture, and movie star face.

Makes me wonder if a pro is doing her videography.
No telling how many subscribers she will get too.  I would guess millions at the rate she is gaining.
It is quite possible she and whoever is making the videos will become some of those ytube millionaires.

Just watching the scenery in the background is interesting.
So really this is a chinese version of a Hollywood reality series, and all things considered, they are beating the pants off of the garbage coming out of Hollywood these days.
Interesting turn of events for sure.

And her english is not bad, although she may just be reading off of a board without really being fluent in english.
Imagine us trying to make a video, and speaking in chinese.  You have to hand it to her for that.

I think china is an interesting blend of primitive and modern.
They are rapidly gaining with technology.
It was not too many years ago that the US railroad buffs traveled to china to see their steam locomotives, which have been in common use until not too long ago.

Edit:
Reality is always stranger than fiction, and if I had to guess, the "poor village girl" is probably from a wealthy family.
Many of the clothes she wears in the videos are brand new.
In china, I think it would be a very bad thing to live in an extravagant house and such; due to envy and other things.
Her producer is the genius in these videos.  No doubt that he will be a millionaire very shortly.
.


----------



## minh-thanh (Jun 18, 2022)

I watch videos about techniques at home such as : restoration , making somethings, make engine .... with a very comfortable mind .
  Unless the videos are too unsafe , or like : "I do the best ...smallest.."
  We Vietnamese have a saying : "  Đừng vạch lá tìm sâu = Do not trace leaves to find worms =>  Do not be a faultfinder. " . If we always want to find the bad, the not so good,..we will surely find it.
  Personally, I know a few women who are very good at mechanics, and there's one woman who uses lathes and milling machines to make parts mechanics don't lose to anyone


----------



## GreenTwin (Jun 18, 2022)

Here is another one.
I have to guess that these videos are staged to some extent, because the person always has clean clothes on, without a spec of dirt on their body.

But this woman is doing some serious and potentially dangerous work.
You could easily lose fingers or a hand with a wrong move doing this type of work.
And those tires and rims are very heavy, and yet she does the work with relative ease.

Having changed a car tire, and a tractor tire myself, I find this quite impressive.
Very physical work for sure.  There is no faking it in this video.


----------



## GreenTwin (Jun 18, 2022)

The chinese movie industry seems to be quite advanced.


----------



## SmithDoor (Jun 18, 2022)

L98fiero said:


> That may be the issue, some areas of China are still very poor so rebuilding may be the only affordable option, if you've ever watched the videos of rebuilds of equipment by central Asians, Pakistan, etc, you'll see people rebuild things that would never be rebuilt in most western countries but in fact the labor is cheaper than buying a new part,_ if they can get it!_


Back in the 1960's you see rebuilding in America. 
Today no wants used or rebuilt maybe a car.

Dave


----------



## willray (Jun 18, 2022)

GreenTwin said:


> As I was watching one video, an Anime advertisement kept flashing across the bottom of the screen, LOL.
> She is basically a live person anime character, or so it would seem.



What, exactly, does this even mean?


----------



## Richard Hed (Jun 18, 2022)

L98fiero said:


> That may be the issue, some areas of China are still very poor so rebuilding may be the only affordable option, if you've ever watched the videos of rebuilds of equipment by central Asians, Pakistan, etc, you'll see people rebuild things that would never be rebuilt in most western countries but in fact the labor is cheaper than buying a new part,_ if they can get it!_


The thing here about expense -- that is, rebuilding is the only viable option -- I say no because the copper wire she is using is very very expensive.  Had she used "used" copper wire, maybe.


----------



## willray (Jun 19, 2022)

I am somewhere between amused and saddened by the number of posters here who think they have a clue about the economics of machinery repair in China, especially more rural China.



Richard Hed said:


> The thing here about expense -- that is, rebuilding is the only viable option -- I say no because the copper wire she is using is very very expensive.  Had she used "used" copper wire, maybe.



And how does the fact that the wire is expensive, negate the fact that in an economy where such motors are not commodity items, the wire alone, would be vastly cheaper than a new motor containing the wire?

I can buy a new commodity motor off the shelf, much, much cheaper than I can have an existing commodity motor frame rewound.  I can have the custom-frame motor for my Monarch rewound, much much cheaper than I can buy a complete new replacement motor.


----------



## minh-thanh (Jun 19, 2022)

Hi Richard .


Richard Hed said:


> The thing here about expense -- that is, rebuilding is the only viable option -- I say no because the copper wire she is using is very very expensive.  Had she used "used" copper wire, maybe.


 
Electrician who rewinds copper wire for any motor never use used copper wire ! 
In my country , Rewind an Electric Motor is always much cheaper than buying a new motor - Electric motor from 1/2 hp to hundreds of hp or more .
 And I'm sure she used new copper wire .


----------



## aarggh (Jun 19, 2022)

GreenTwin said:


> I have to guess that these videos are staged to some extent, because the person always has clean clothes on, without a spec of dirt on their body.



I've seen that sort of thing on a lot of channels, and have always wondered what it is I'm doing wrong, as my clean tops seem to get dirty when I just walk past my shed, let alone do any work! Drives my wife nuts cause practically every top or shirt I own is in some sad state of disrepair!


----------



## Toymaker (Jun 19, 2022)

I live in Thailand, which is part of the geographical area known as South East Asia; you cannot believe how inexpensive labor, even skilled labor, is in this part of the world.   A few years back I had a welding shop fabricate a frame for my DIY lathe; dimensions are roughly 56" long x 29" deep x 22" high.  Steel tubes are 1.5" square.  
Total cost for the entire frame, labor & metal, was $250 US.   I suspect the price would have been even less in China.

There's no doubt in my mind that repairing old motors in China is much, much cheaper than buying a new one.


----------



## L98fiero (Jun 19, 2022)

aarggh said:


> I've seen that sort of thing on a lot of channels, and have always wondered what it is I'm doing wrong, as my clean tops seem to get dirty when I just walk past my shed, let alone do any work! Drives my wife nuts cause practically every top or shirt I own is in some sad state of disrepair!


That's a kind of funny comment.
When my son was ~5 years old he and the two Chinese boys from next door would play in the back yard, he'd come back in with grass and dirt on his clothes and the other kids, who came wearing white shorts look as clean as when they came over. No idea how that happened.


----------



## Nikhil Bhale (Jun 19, 2022)

I live in India and we follow the same principles as rest of Asia. If it is broken fix it and fix it more. Old things never get thrown out because they are not working or have become old.
But in USA things are different. One time my ship was calling some ports in USA. Houston, Tampa, Jacksonville etc. We had a motor winding short/ breakdown onboard. We asked our agent about cost of rewinding the motor on shore. The cost agent suggested for rewinding was more than the cost of a brand new motor. So we opted to buy a new motor. 

Regards
Nikhil


----------



## GreenTwin (Jun 19, 2022)

I have seen the same thing with motors.
It often costs more to rebuild a motor than to buy a new one.
Labor costs I guess, and OSHA, EPA, and a slew of other business regulations.

And for non-critical applications, it does not matter so much how the repair is done.
I have seen some repairs done that worked, but I question how long the part will last.
You would not really save any money with a repair that did not last long though.

Sometimes the motors are so old that replacement is not possible, because they don't make old motors anymore, and a gearbox would be required to step the speed down.
We had these motors rewound, and the are about 500 rpm, 110 years old.
The new process used the epoxy/vaccum on the rotors.

The key to making a large motor last is to put heaters on the stator, to always keep the windings above dewpoint.


----------



## Zeb (Jun 19, 2022)

Richard Hed said:


> The thing here about expense -- that is, rebuilding is the only viable option -- I say no because the copper wire she is using is very very expensive.  Had she used "used" copper wire, maybe.


I've seen hundreds of feet of stripped power lines overseas.  
There's some pretty amazing Pakistani videos on casting iron and rebuilding starter motors. What I also appreciate is that ordinary folks are able to share their content in a raw format. You see workers get grouchy with their boss and walking around bare-footed near molten lava.

@GreenTwin That rebuild is amazing! And I love the Allis-Chalmers brand...particularly the tractors.


----------



## minh-thanh (Jun 19, 2022)

GreenTwin said:


> I have seen the same thing with motors.
> It often costs more to rebuild a motor than to buy a new one.
> Labor costs I guess, and OSHA, EPA, and a slew of other business regulations.
> 
> ...


With special motors I don't know,
  But most electric motors in large industrial workshops, from 1/2 hp to hundreds of hp.., from Chinese motors to big brands like ABB, are rewound with copper wire and have a very long life. ( Of course, that depends on the worker, how to rewind the copper wire, the type of copper wire, the brand of the wire, the insulation glue....when assembling, all bearings should be replaced )
  And I can assure you that in my country, rewinding is always a lot cheaper than buying new and I am sure of their durability. Sure !
   Every place is different, so I won't discuss this anymore


----------



## GreenTwin (Jun 19, 2022)

In the old days, you could often walk into a foundry or manufacturing plant without too much trouble.
I got to tour a large local foundry many years ago, as well as a large tire manufacturing plant.

It is very difficult to get into any plant these days, for tours or anything else, and thus I guess the reason people travel to India, Pakistan, Malasia, etc. to see how things are actually built/made.

The client wanted to scrap those motors and use new ones with gearboxes.  I told them "No Way !".
I was able to convince them that rebuilding these motors would give then a configuration that would last another 110 years, which is how old these motors are.
There is no new motor that will last 110 years.

Allis Chalmers is an iconic brand for sure.

There are some interesting sugar mill videos out there.
Check out the big Corliss.  Still going strong after who knows how many years (100 +).

A large machine shop in the second video at 23:25.
You can bet there are some talented machinists and mechanics working in that mill.




.


----------



## GreenTwin (Jun 19, 2022)

I have seen several repairs of truck drive shafts that have sheered off.
They just weld the two pieces back together, and put it back on the truck.
I have to guess that the axle is a very high strength piece of steel, and so I question if just welding it back would give the necessary strength for a truck axle.
I have seen a lot of cast iron truck blocks welded back together rather haphazardly, and while I know you can weld/braze cast iron, there is a certain method to prevent cracking.
And wherever a motor is rebuild, much depends on the person doing the rewinding, and the materials used.

A motor guy told me an interesting story about a steel mill that had a moving gantry crane, and they would pick up a huge piece of steel, roll it to another area very quickly, and use the motor to brake.  They kept burning up motors.
My motor buddy rebuilt his motor using very high temperature windings and insulation, and state of the art vacuum epoxy impregnation technology.
The motor did not fail anymore under load, but the two large shafts connected to the motor sheered off.

The motor rebuilding industry is an interesting one.
Cast iron motor end bells make for good consistent gray iron scrap, to use in casting engine parts.

And you can build up babbitt bearings with a torch.
I saw this method in use, and never new you could do this (photo below).

And the blue thing below is a 10 foot diameter vacuum chamber.


----------



## Richard Hed (Jun 19, 2022)

Whoa!  I'd like to have that in my back yard.  Does it run off 110?




GreenTwin said:


> I have seen the same thing with motors.
> It often costs more to rebuild a motor than to buy a new one.
> Labor costs I guess, and OSHA, EPA, and a slew of other business regulations.
> 
> ...


----------



## GreenTwin (Jun 19, 2022)

12,500 volt.  Pretty high for a motor, generally speaking.
Most I see are 5KV.

.


----------



## stevehuckss396 (Jun 19, 2022)

Not high for a large motor. I hooked up 3 at marathon in Detroit. 13,800 volt. 2 were 7,800 hp and one was 10,000 hp. The largest motor I have hooked up was at national steel in Delray. It was 22,500hp. They had to give detroit edison a 30 minute heads up before starting that one.


----------



## GreenTwin (Jun 19, 2022)

I have worked on some 5,000 hp at 4,160V, and they have to notify the utility company when they start them.
About 500 amperes or so, and so the cables are not excessive.

As you go up in horsepower, the cables would get rather large at 4,160, and so the higher voltages would be worth the trouble for the extra insulation.

I use 5kv above 200 hp.  I have not had to go above 5kv for the largest motor, which was 5,000 hp.
The local refinery has blower motor, I think rated 20,000 hp and 40,000 hp.  I have seen then from a distance.  Big as a house.

The big Allis Chalmers motor above is a wound rotor induction motor.
I went back and checked, and the voltage is 6,250 v, 750 hp, 115 rpm.
I think when they were installed in 1915, the local power system was probably not very stiff, and thus the wound rotor to minimize the starting surge.
I recall the incoming switchgear operating at 12.5 kv, so I guess they moderized the power system, and installed step-down transformers.

The Allis Chalmers motors are a beauty to watch run.
Runs as good as it did when installed in 1915.
The three brushes are for the wound rotor.
You can see that the base is designed to allow the stator to slide over off the rotor.





Your browser is not able to display this video.


----------



## William May (Jun 19, 2022)

I used to drive by a "General Electric Heavy Apparatus" repair facility in Tucson.  I think most of the motors were from the huge electric dump trucks they used at the local copper mines and some equipment from rail locomotives. I know every day when I went past, there were a couple of semis pulled up, with a giant shop crane hooked up to them to lift the motors and other drive parts off, and transport them into the shop for repair. The last time I went by it, the signs had been changed to "ABB Heavy Apparatus", so I guess the Swedes bought the place.


----------



## GreenTwin (Jun 19, 2022)

Looks like about 420 amps for a 10,000 hp induction motor at 13.2 kv.
You could feed that with one cable run.

Several of the 4,160v motors I have dealt with are synchrounous, with exciters on the shaft, and remote.
Seems like a large motor would have to be synchronous to avoid a big power factor charge that could occur with an induction motor.
.


----------



## GreenTwin (Jun 19, 2022)

GE (at least the electrical division) is not doing so well these days, so I heard, thanks to some folks who got in their and ran it into the ground for short term profit.

Westinghouse turned into Eaton, and you can still buy products that are much like Westinghouse equipment, and probably a lot of them still use the old Westinghouse designs.

ABB is big in the worldwide transformer market, and no doubt some other markets.

I mainly deal with Eaton, since they give good support, and I guess are based in the US.

Square D makes a lot of electrical equipment, but Eaton has a wider selection of medium voltage gear, due to buying or merging with Westinghouse.

Westinghouse was the original 3-phase power distribution company, and employed Tesla, who came up with much of the 3-phase designs.
Most of the modern 3-phase power distribution systems used today are very much like the original Westinghouse 3-phase systems.

Westinghouse 3-phase was installed at Niagra Falls in 1896, and after that, nobody took DC power distribution seriously.

.


----------



## William May (Jun 20, 2022)

Henry Ford, due to his long friendship with Thomas Edison, equipped his plants at Piquette Ave, and then the huge Highland Park Complex, with only DC motors for every machine. I'm not sure if they put DC or alternating motors in when they built the Rouge complex. It cost him a LOT of money to do that, when most of U.S. industry had converted to AC power exclusively.


----------



## Steamchick (Jun 21, 2022)

Edison made a LOT of money from his mate Henry....His old workshop is now an exhibit at the Greenfield museum.
Visit Greenfield Village in Dearborn, MI | The Henry Ford  A nice place to visit next to the Ford test track at Dearborn... I had friends living there so it was a regular visit before they moved away.
I worked on Power Station busbars, so 4kV and a few KA are smaller than I regularly had on my desk. The nearest I managed was the starter busbars for the motor-generator sets at Dinorwic Power station. A stationary water turbine, connected to another to be used for pumping water up the mountain (pumped storage site) used my busbars at 18 kV and  a lot of kA! to generate the slow AC increasing in frequency to synchronous speed while starting the second Motor/genset. When up to synchronous speed, the pump would be connected to the grid to use power from the nearby nuclear station, fed from the main 18kV busbars. 2 years of my life involved designing & building equipment for that place, now approaching end of life....(?) - not me, the turbine pump-gensets!
Dinorwig Power Station - Wikipedia
K2


----------



## Dubi (Jun 22, 2022)

pengxing10 said:


> I'm Chinese, it's hard to see female mechanical maintenance technicians in China, my job is ENGEL injection molding machine maintenance, but the salary is not high


Hello Peng. What is the average salary for manual machine workers (Lathe, Mill etc) and for CNC (Machine Center etc) workers in China. 
Does that apply across the country or different areas have different pay scales? 
best regards, Dubi


----------



## pengxing10 (Jun 30, 2022)

Dubi said:


> Hello Peng. What is the average salary for manual machine workers (Lathe, Mill etc) and for CNC (Machine Center etc) workers in China.
> Does that apply across the country or different areas have different pay scales?
> best regards, Dubi


Different regions have different pay grades, I am in Chengdu, China, the hometown of giant pandas. CNC operators here, the average monthly salary is about 8000RMB


----------



## Dubi (Jul 1, 2022)

pengxing10 said:


> Different regions have different pay grades, I am in Chengdu, China, the hometown of giant pandas. CNC operators here, the average monthly salary is about 8000RMB


Thank you very much for the information, most useful.


----------



## animats (Sep 20, 2022)

GreenTwin said:


> It appears to be pretty primative in that area, very hilly, house is somewhat primitive.
> Edit:  Upon futher viewing, it seems pretty modern.  She drives a nice gas 3-wheeler (that I would like to have), and a local sawmill has a powered bandsaw.  Sort of a mix of light industrial, and primitive moutainous terrain.


Those little 3-wheeled trucks are called tuk-tuks. Very common basic transportation in most of the third world.


GreenTwin said:


> There is a rather stark contrast between her somewhat primitive living conditions, and the polished and rather sophisticated videography, with nice drone shots of the area, etc.  Someone has some pretty expensive video equipment, satellite uplink, video editing software, etc.
> It is like a pro is doing the videography.  This is not amateur stuff.


The videography is really good, especially in the later videos. The early ones are more basic, just a fixed camera. And her clothes have improved.


GreenTwin said:


> It is a pretty unique combination of interesting terrain, working under semi-primitive conditions, different culture, and movie star face.
> 
> Reality is always stranger than fiction, and if I had to guess, the "poor village girl" is probably from a wealthy family.
> Many of the clothes she wears in the videos are brand new.


Most of this does seem to be her own work. She went to a  trade school for hydropower, which is where she learned to rewind motor and generator armatures. She's not self-taught.

Her skills are clear. She's really good at armature rewinding. Her welding is so-so. She knows all the tricks for getting rusted things unstuck, from WD-40 to welding a broken screwdriver onto a broken bolt. She is an artist with an angle grinder. She makes parts by drawing a pattern on sheet metal, cutting out the pattern, welding the pieces together, and grinding everything smooth. Her electrical wiring needs more strain relief and gasketing, especially for wet location equipment. She sometimes will bash on ball bearing with a claw hammer to get them on a shaft. A wooden block in the middle would reduce bearing damage.

All those Diesel engines are of the same design, in different sizes. Classic design, rugged, simple, and repairable.  Probably a design from the Mao era. You can buy one on Alibaba for about US$210. No pollution controls, so you can't use it in the US. "If you have fuel, air, and compression the engine will run", as is said of similar marine engines. She goes through a standard refurbishing drill on each engine, and then they work.

She's been written up in People's Daily, so the Party approves of her. But she doesn't seem to have been created for propaganda purposes. Other than having support for camera, editing, and laundry, she seems to be doing it herself. She's going through a lot of white sneakers and denim overalls. You can buy those in bulk cheaply in China. Her earliest videos show her slogging through water in dirty pants, so she's upgraded a bit over time.


----------



## Andy Munns (Sep 21, 2022)

I volunteer on a non-profit volunteer based ship museum. Many of the people who volunteer are in their 60s and 70s plus. I often marvel at their skill sets and not you couldn't find guys with these mechanical skills if you advertised.


----------

