A small part of a big project

[Bill Gruby]

I have thoughts of doing projects such as this but at this moment in time I lack the talent. Very nice!!

I have been at this machinist trade for over 40 years now. I have heard that line more times than I can count. Talent is a natural ability that allows someone to do something well. Go back over that and stop at the word "Natural". To me that means it is either there or it is not. You will never find out if you can swim till you get into the water that is deeper than you are tall. My suggestion to you is to find a project that seems unreachable and take it on. You will find out in short order where the Talent is. All to many times it is there and the individual will never realize it. I have seen many newcomers say I can't do that and never reach their full potential.

I'm not saying take on a project that has an unreasonable end. Just find one that taxes what you know at this point. You can't learn if you don't try.

"Billy G"

Sorry for the Hi Jack, you can have it back now.

 

[GA Gyro]

I have been at this machinist trade for over 40 years now. I have heard that line more times than I can count. Talent is a natural ability that allows someone to do something well. Go back over that and stop at the word "Natural". To me that means it is either there or it is not. You will never find out if you can swim till you get into the water that is deeper than you are tall. My suggestion to you is to find a project that seems unreachable and take it on. You will find out in short order where the Talent is. All to many times it is there and the individual will never realize it. I have seen many newcomers say I can't do that and never reach their full potential.

I'm not saying take on a project that has an unreasonable end. Just find one that taxes what you know at this point. You can't learn if you don't try.

"Billy G"

Sorry for the Hi Jack, you can have it back now.

Thoroughly agree with Bill...

One has to be willing to be 'stretched'... to grow their talents.
And there may be short term failures within the stretching... kinda like this:
Hitting a point where it looks like a total waste...
Then sleeping on it...
And the next day it seems easy, and is accomplished.
The process of learning is more important that the finished product... the finished product will happen when one reaches that stage of hands on learning.

Seems to me the best way to learn, is by doing...

 

[cjtoombs]

I have thoughts of doing projects such as this but at this moment in time I lack the talent. Very nice!!

Lol, for me, it's at this moment in talent that I lack the time. Most of the talent comes from having lots of tools and just diving in. I had never welded aluminum, or Tig either, for that matter before I bought this welder. I had taken Vo Ag shop class in high school where we learned oxyacetylene and stick. I bought a Ron Covel video on Tig welding and went out and gave it a try. Before this project I probably hadn't run more than 4 feet total in Tig aluminum beads, and some of the beads I ran (especially the first ones) were a bit rough, but they have improved. The great thing about metalwork in relation to woodwork is that you can weld up your mistakes in metalwork. If you have it available, you can take welding and machine shop classes (usually at night) at your local community college. We don't have machine shop available at our local, but we do have welding. I would like to take it, just for a refresher, but I tend to travel a lot with work. It's nice to have a pro looking over your shoulder and correcting your technique, but there are plenty of pros on the web that can look at pictures of your beads and give you some idea where you are going wrong or right. This is the largest welding project project that I have undertaken so far, and requires not only a lot of welding, but a lot of machine work as well. The worst problem in reality is distractions that pull you off in other directions and slow the progress on the main project. Like having to fix the bandsaw .