Machinists Expect Tighter Tolerenences

Many of the Amish are still good old craftsmen. If there are any in your area you would do good by hiring them.They are good roofers as well. They still believe in giving an honest days work. That has been my expierience anyhow.
 
682bear said:
I've heard my dad say many times that good machinists don't make good carpenters... I resemble that remark.
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Does this go the other way too? I was a pretty good carpenter many years ago. But learning machining has been a real effort thus far.

To the OP, I’d say I haven’t experienced the same at work. Although I have become somewhat of a sounding board for those with questions about metal, a fill in machinist on days when the tool room is off work, and I’ve been able to impress some very experienced old mechanics with my ability to remove broken or stripped socket head cap screws. As far as table legs, I’m still in the “fill the gaps with wire, and put adjustable feet on it” camp. Lol
 
jwmay said:
As far as table legs, I’m still in the “fill the gaps with wire, and put adjustable feet on it” camp. Lol
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THIS is the crux of the biscuit right there IMHO. In the limited carpentry I've done I've ALWAYS had to adapt to the things that came before. Out of square walls, un even cement etc. Machining in my limited experience is working with more absolute and more controlled tolerances on a much smaller scale. So in the case of table legs I'm also in the wire gaps and adjustable feet camp too because houses and garages just can't hold to that expectation and it makes me crazy to expect it.
 
I have the machinist disease for precision.
I was working with a neighbor/friend one time building our boat dock. One measuring, one cutting. I took a measurement and called out 67 and thirteen sixteenths, ... and leave the line. He was a carpenter and that drove him crazy. He cursed me and informed me that we were building a boat dock and not a spacecraft.
 
jwmay said:
Does this go the other way too? I was a pretty good carpenter many years ago. But learning machining has been a real effort thus far.
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I think my dad was trying to make me feel better about my incompetence as a carpenter. We built my house ourselves... mostly... we hired out the HVAC, the brickwork, and the roofing. Me and dad did all the framing, wiring, plumbing, sheetrock, etc.

I'm still a lousy carpenter... but I'm not afraid to try when I need to.

-Bear
 
I drive my son crazy. We often renovate rental units together. He'll grab 4 2x4's, stack them up and wack them all with a chop saw in one hit. I'll set up a stop on the fence and cut each one individually and they will all be precisely the same length. He works a bit faster than me most of the time. If something is off a bit, it drives me crazy and I can't help but look at it even months later. I'm sure nobody else notices. We had to hang a bunch of doors once and we had a competition to see who could do it faster. I used a different technique but that day I kept up with him. I like the precision of fine furniture building and metal work. I think it's my engineering training.
 
Interesting that you brought this up. A couple of weeks ago I spent 3 days helping a friend work on his barn.
He needed to jack up and shim a wall, rebuild some stairs etc. It became a joke between us that he was always
trying to knock stuff out faster and I was always slowing us down to do things more accurately. He told me I was
trying to do it to thousandths. But, he was happy with the results...
 
I make industrial cutting tools. For 23 years I made special cutting tools for Pratt, Pratt Canada, Allison, Rolls, and others and always worked to a .001" or less. So now when I make anything, I always shoot for perfection which doesn't exist.
 
C-Bag said:
THIS is the crux of the biscuit right there IMHO. In the limited carpentry I've done I've ALWAYS had to adapt to the things that came before. Out of square walls, un even cement etc. Machining in my limited experience is working with more absolute and more controlled tolerances on a much smaller scale. So in the case of table legs I'm also in the wire gaps and adjustable feet camp too because houses and garages just can't hold to that expectation and it makes me crazy to expect it.
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Wow- "The crux of the biscuit"! I have been quoting that phrase for years. My brother was the Zappa fan, but I surely did appreciate the humor, and the intellect. That said- I worked in the construction trades for years, and it taught me many things. The lesson that probably sticks most tenaciously is this- "You GOTTA work within the tolerances required by the person cutting the check." If you work to YOUR tolerances, you either make little dough/hr, or you don't work there long at all.
The same applies across all trades, really. The beauty of all this comes when YOU are the one "cutting the check", so to speak. I really enjoy the work I do, building things FOR ME. Myself and I frequently discuss quality control, and the debate can get lively. But the "check" always clears:eek 2:
 
I've always noticed, a carpenter makes a better welder than a welder makes a carpenter.
 
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