A YouTube channel for machinists who love to tinker with cars/motorcycles etc

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stioc

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I thought I shared one of my fav youtube channels. Unfortunately John (the owner) passed away a couple of years ago before I came across his channel but I really enjoy his videos. They're short (usually 2-5 mins long), to the point, may be a bit unorthodox sometimes in how he does things but if you read John's history he's been a machinist and machine shop teacher (and author) pretty much his entire adult life. He loved old classic cars and even raced them.

Here's a quick video boring a Harley cylinder on a lathe:

 
Yes I was sad to learn about it too. I'm glad and thankful that he posted so many great videos and made things look easy. I'm always impressed by how he managed to make fixtures etc to hold whatever random car parts that came through his shop.
 
This is the guy that used a carpenters level to do a set up.

He was a smart person, an accomplished author and a "can do" type, but his execution on lots of projects left me scratching my head.

Case in point, on his Harley bore he cuts to .120" in three full 40 thou cuts, then hones to finish. Pretty common procedure with one exception, the lack of a final shallow cut to finish size then hone for surface preperation insures a round bore.
 
IDK, if you're going to hone for surface prep and 40 thou isn't really that deep of a pass I'm not seeing a major issue. I think a general problem with the social media now (a few years ago people were grateful to find DIY type videos) is that unless you do everything text book perfect people are quick to call you a hack. In reality, who's to say that even the textbook process that was probably written over a 100 yrs ago wasn't just a best-effort process based on the engineering of that time? I'll just say that there's always room for improvement but in real life work I find things tend to be more forgiving and as an example there're plenty of 3rd world countries rebuilding engines with fewer and lower quality tools than many of us on this site :)
 
stioc said:
IDK, if you're going to hone for surface prep and 40 thou isn't really that deep of a pass I'm not seeing a major issue. I think a general problem with the social media now (a few years ago people were grateful to find DIY type videos) is that unless you do everything text book perfect people are quick to call you a hack. In reality, who's to say that even the textbook process that was probably written over a 100 yrs ago wasn't just a best-effort process based on the engineering of that time? I'll just say that there's always room for improvement but in real life work I find things tend to be more forgiving and as an example there're plenty of 3rd world countries rebuilding engines with fewer and lower quality tools than many of us on this site :)
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I totally agree. The proof is in the pudding. I think if his engines didn't hang together he'd not have as good a rep as he has. I couldn't believe the kibitzing he got when I'm sure he checked it with a bore gauge as he honed it in.
 
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If the end result is the same, Who's to say the route taken is wrong? Most of us are ameatures, and do not open the book and follow all the steps. Unless you are being paid by the hour, I bet many professionals do not either.
 
Being fairly new to this site, I was not aware of the particular site under discussion. But I would like to pass along a, common to me, expression. One generated by a fellow I used to work with, one Carlos Rivas, a second generation Puerto Rican. And a close friend... ... That being the reference to a Puerto Rican milling machine, a pair of files. A bastard cut and a second cut. To illustrate what can be accomplished with as little as possible in a "do it anyway" scenario. So, hats off to Carlos, if he's still alive.

Bill Hudson (from USSteel)​
 
Superburban said:
If the end result is the same, Who's to say the route taken is wrong? Most of us are ameatures, and do not open the book and follow all the steps. Unless you are being paid by the hour, I bet many professionals do not either.
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As one who used to work flat rate most mechanics look for shortcuts, not how it's done in the book. There's no room in flat rate for looking in a manual. I'd been in the field 5yrs when I decided to go back to school and get certificates to prove I was worth more than they were trying to give me. My engine machining instructor decided to take us through one of the two major engine rebuilders in Fresno. This was the "good" place.

As we were going around with the shop foreman we went into the cubby hole where the guy who was reconditioning rods. He was doing 4 rods at a time (!) and was checking them real quick and one of them he pulled apart with an air impact and walked by the cap grinder over to the bench grinder and took a couple of swipes on the rod and cap! I thought my instructor was going to have a stroke, he couldn't even speak. The foremen looked him and said "you get a feel for it after a while". We all walked away stunned. That whole place was on flat rate so it was how many units you could shove out the door.
 
stioc said:
Yes I was sad to learn about it too. I'm glad and thankful that he posted so many great videos and made things look easy. I'm always impressed by how he managed to make fixtures etc to hold whatever random car parts that came through his shop.
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I believe he wrote a book on the use of the Bridgeport mil
 
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