What Is A ==========

When you leave that shop it's gonna be hell around there.

"Billy G"
I don't know about that but thanks.
Just for giggles I thought about making an offset bar to hold the small toolpost in the large toolpost just because I could and it would look absurd, sadly the Boss was in today and he may not have seen the humor in that.
He was not terribly happy with the coolant that was flying out of the machine, at 40 RPM's at 27" Dia. it was smoking the oil out of the water and stinking up the place.
 
Any time you have a job like that one everything is give and take. The boss should know that by now.

"Billy G"
 
The only formal training that I had in the trades, (and I'm not sure that it even qualifies) was as an electrician in the Navy. When I got out, I could not find a job in the electrical field. I was told that what I was taught didn't cross over into the real world and I was devastated. After a few years of those type of job interviews I was desperate enough to take a job in a large grey iron foundry as an electrical/mechanical maintenance man. I still think that the only reason I got the job, was that not many people wanted to work there. I knew nothing about mechanics, hydraulics, ac electrical, machining or welding and fabricating. 10 years later, When I left I felt very comfortable with all those skills. Not as an expert, but as a machine repair jack of all trades. I like to think of myself as a S.O.T.P. machine repair guy. What I think doesn't really matter, but I do know the three most important things that got me there were curiosity, aptitude, and desire. With those three traits, I feel anyone can accomplish anything. (Might take you awhile tho).



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The only formal training that I had in the trades, (and I'm not sure that it even qualifies) was as an electrician in the Navy. When I got out, I could not find a job in the electrical field. I was told that what I was taught didn't cross over into the real world and I was devastated. After a few years of those type of job interviews I was desperate enough to take a job in a large grey iron foundry as an electrical/mechanical maintenance man. I still think that the only reason I got the job, was that not many people wanted to work there. I knew nothing about mechanics, hydraulics, ac electrical, machining or welding and fabricating. 10 years later, When I left I felt very comfortable with all those skills. Not as an expert, but as a machine repair jack of all trades. I like to think of myself as a S.O.T.P. machine repair guy. What I think doesn't really matter, but I do know the three most important things that got me there were curiosity, aptitude, and desire. With those three traits, I feel anyone can accomplish anything. (Might take you awhile tho).



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The only formal training that I had in the trades, (and I'm not sure that it even qualifies) was as an electrician in the Navy. When I got out, I could not find a job in the electrical field. I was told that what I was taught didn't cross over into the real world and I was devastated. After a few years of those type of job interviews I was desperate enough to take a job in a large grey iron foundry as an electrical/mechanical maintenance man. I still think that the only reason I got the job, was that not many people wanted to work there. I knew nothing about mechanics, hydraulics, ac electrical, machining or welding and fabricating. 10 years later, When I left I felt very comfortable with all those skills. Not as an expert, but as a machine repair jack of all trades. I like to think of myself as a S.O.T.P. machine repair guy. What I think doesn't really matter, but I do know the three most important things that got me there were curiosity, aptitude, and desire. With those three traits, I feel anyone can accomplish anything. (Might take you awhile tho).



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That's pretty much how I went about it but with a short 1 year @"Marquaint" Engineering intending to be a double E. I got some debris in my slipstick & instead pursued a career in art (commercial that is). I was raised by a family of blacksmith types and motor heads with a large engine lathe, drill presses. welders & a hot wrench. Later in my career I was promoted to Manager of R & D (rough & dumb). I could freely take pertinent short courses in any applicable disciplines and attend technical seminars. This caused me to be assigned to design processes and machines for mass production of products that were sold before their time and in very tight time frames.
That's when SOTP skills are needed to avoid being in the HSOTP (hot seat of the pants). I survived.
 
You guys have it all wrong.

You are simply referring to someone with "the knack"

Not\w that video is funny... gonna post it at the Heating and AC forum...
Many a service tech has 'the knack'... and yeah... they are short on social skills... <grin>
 
You guys have it all wrong.

You are simply referring to someone with "the knack"
That's great. I especially liked the part about social skills, or lack thereof. I think it comes with the knack. Most people I know with the knack are usually anti social. I had to work really hard at my social skills to be "presentable" to customers. The knack is natural, the social thing takes persistent work on my part. I tend to point out people's flawed emotional state, and if I'm not careful it'll come flying out of my mouth.

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As a budding machinist, amateur mechanic, adequate weldor, unrepentant tinkerer but a well-paid computer programmer, I do seat-of-the-pants work all the time.

Bill, as you described the industrial machinery repair, I can picture similar in my office. The ERROR 17 reported by the user (after it failed the same way 4 times) usually means an array isn't big enough (too long a list?). So the quick solution is to find the declaration and make it bigger.

Not on my watch. I run the program and have the offending pointer's value displayed. A zero or negative pointer is illegal in most of my work or an outrageous value: the real problem is elsewhere.

Or, it's just too long a list. Convert the program from using an array to use temporary file.

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I also noticed somebody mentioned "Not being afraid to fail". THAT is the most important life lesson ANYBODY should learn!

Many of my tinkering failures have gone to the scrapyard. I'm down to the last 12 payments on my divorce.

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I'd argue about "INSTICT" as an attribute for being capable of SOTP work. One has to be born with (God's Gift) the temperament to want to understand the full system. To enjoy how the whole thing works. To see the details and comprehend how they interact to create something beautiful...

Once one has a feel for what is "right", "smooth operation", "normal", etc. Any flaw or imbalance becomes obvious. After a few experiences with various flaws and failures, one 'just knows' what went wrong.

I'd say "INTUION" is closer to what makes a somebody a SOTP worker.
 
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