DR-Woes.... Discuss design tweaks for anytool - simple refinements to make more better!

M

MERLIncMan

Registered
Registered
Joined
Oct 15, 2020
Messages
208
Not Dr. Woes DDS, but rather the woe of the DRO.... :adore:

Please don't misinterpret - I am ecstatic to have the high-quality problem of installing a DRO on my brand-new PM-727V - YAY!!! But, the obvious has struck me yet again:

Engineering practice and design has been a bit of a thorn to me for many years - having been the guy who actually has to build the tool or gizmo or house - or fix them - or put out a fire in them... reading blueprints that resemble "thought experiments" more than a representation of a physical object (a 45 degree chamfer at the BOTTOM of a blind, 0.030" hole, that is 3" long; a hallway that ends in a 12 degree angle; an inaccessible void full of wood, over a bedroom; a bathtub surround MADE OF PAPER!?!?!?!)....

If there are dovetail ways, there are sliding surfaces yes? One side is rigid, the other side is a gib, yes? There is a hollow in the base, saddle, table, and column yes?

Ahem... hey machine designers...

PUT A FREAKING DRO SCALE ON THE WAYS!

Just stick a scale on a part of the ways, or in a hollow, with the reader adjacent, and run the cables up through the hollows to a connector on the top-rear of the machine. Treat the DRO as though it were simply part of the machine - not as an aftermarket addon.

Methinks a bunch of MBA's design by committee and mock the MAE's (Master of Applied Engineering) with graphs showing the demand of a sample of the Asian market....

A bit like 37 ads on a webpage covering up the news-article and freezing the computer.... (Not you HM, I like your unintrusive ads here... well done!)

Anywho - got any other observations that engineers can take to the MBA's and say "SEE! Market demands what I've been trying to design!"?
 
I always thought that automotive designers should spend three years fixing cars before they should be allowed to design them, and after every design, spend another year fixing them. I think we'd have some different design habits from folks.

joe
 
silverhawk said:
I always thought that automotive designers should spend three years fixing cars before they should be allowed to design them, and after every design, spend another year fixing them. I think we'd have some different design habits from folks.

joe
Click to expand...

Agreed. I once did an oil change on my boss' new(ish) Ford. The filter was in a retarded location - normal enough - but would dump oil on the suspension so some genius at Ford Motor Co. decided to include an injection moulded part to deflect the oil. I bet he thought he was clever.

Any other toolmakers here recognize the investment of time and cash required to make a single injection-moulded part? It is horrendous - unless you intend to make 350,000 parts, then it averages away.
Someone had to draw it, then make a p-type, then test and revise the p-type, then make a pattern, then make a series of dies, then set up a place in the plant to set up the machine, then set up the machine, then ensure materials supply, then set up a standard procedure for the die, then train or move around some technicians to run the machine....

All to solve a problem that doesn't exist in older vehicles due to simple engine and filter placement in design....

I even had to cut the handle off of a filter-wrench to get the thing out of there - no room to poke it with a screw-driver or get a better grip on it some other way...

For autos, I thought - Mechanical bits bolted to the frame, body is a separate unibody with electrics. Body on rising hinges, with cables. Change out the crankshaft-sensor (nightmare on my Durango)?

Remove 6 - 8 bolts and the body pivots up and away from the frame, revealing the entire mechanical set right there in front of you like a workbench...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top