Ok, lets face it... getting old sucks!

[Technical Ted]

Ted, after 3-days of trying trying to download the Fusion 360 programme and looking at three beginners YouTube videos I have managed to just get started this afternoon with following the first video. Many thanks for your suggestion.

Awesome! That's great to hear. When I was first learning it, and even sometimes now when designing things, you'll need to exercise your patience and stick with it! It can get frustrating when you are trying to do something that seems so simple and things just don't work the way you think they should.

There's always a reason and sometimes a very simple one.

Stick with it! You can do it!

Have fun!
Ted

 

[Mike_Mac]

Ted, many thanks for your encouragement. I will try and learn a bit each day. I find that I can only take in a certain amount of information at 'one sitting'. Computer programmes do annoy me sometimes when you get used to how a programme works and then the company does an update and you have to get used to it all over again. Sometimes I find Adobe Illustrator and Excel spreadsheets frustrating when you have done something in the past, know you can do it and now can't remember how the hell you did it. Mike

 

[Mr.Miz]

3d Printing? Just started this myself and after the initial setup it's a lot of fun. Initial cost minimal compared to machining, but you can crank out a load of useful parts just by downloading things off the internet and you don't need to do a lot of CAD drawing.

If your already good at CAD drawing then you can create files of people like me that are still not so great in the programs. I think a lot of experienced machinist could be a HUGE help with this kind of thing and you can sell your drawings on the web.

I think 3d printing is a really really good transition from shop to in home shop work.

Yes, getting old definitely sucks! Since retiring 15-years I have greatly enjoyed myself with old cars and motorcycles. About 10 or 12-years ago I was diagnosed with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Up until last September, I found I could work around the problem and work in my workshop/garage in the mornings and write reports on the work I was doing, on a couple of forums, to help others, and to keep me amused. In the last couple of years, I got increasingly more into machining and have had a pleasant time learning about machining on my lathes and mill on this forum.

At the end of last September I was taken into hospital after waking up at 2am in the morning not able to breath and the sweat pouring off me. Since then I have had two more short hospital stays. After attempting to venture out to the workshop on numerous occasions, in an attempt to do some ‘proper’ work, since my last visit to hospital, and speaking with my medical practitioners, it looks as if I am ‘flogging a dead horse’. My breathing is just not up to doing any actual work anymore. The COPD is not going to get any better, I now have had to come to the realisation, that my messing about with cars, motorcycles and machines is over. I will have to try and find something else to keep me amused and the old brain active.

To date, I am just managing to keep myself amused with reading others posts, but I feel I need to get my teeth into something more productive. Anybody got any sensible suggestions? I am sure there are many others who may have had, or have, the same quandary.

 

[projectnut]

3d Printing? Just started this myself and after the initial setup it's a lot of fun. Initial cost minimal compared to machining, but you can crank out a load of useful parts just by downloading things off the internet and you don't need to do a lot of CAD drawing.

If your already good at CAD drawing then you can create files of people like me that are still not so great in the programs. I think a lot of experienced machinist could be a HUGE help with this kind of thing and you can sell your drawings on the web.

I think 3d printing is a really really good transition from shop to in home shop work.

I'm betting 3D printing will overtake standard machining within the next 10 to 15 years. It seems to me it's a lot more economical and efficient than creating the bulk stock in hundreds if not thousands of different shapes and formulas, then whittling it down to 1/2 or less the volume. There's little or no scrap with 3D printing and you can make just about any shape imaginable.

 

[Mr.Miz]

I agree. I think standard machining will be relegated to people like me that live in the middle of no where and it still makes sense to make a part for a specific application. Like a "quick" fix for a tractor, trailer, or something really random that the "masses" won't ever use. It won't ever go away there will decline. Additive manufacturing does have it's benefits. However I think that standard machining knowledge and the people that can do this work will become more valuable than ever because of this. ESPECIALLY their knowledge!

Since this post is about "getting old sucks" and nobody disagrees with that. I want to point out to you old timers that you've NEVER been more valuable to us young stupid people than the present. Especially the present and all that includes.

I'm betting 3D printing will overtake standard machining within the next 10 to 15 years. It seems to me it's a lot more economical and efficient than creating the bulk stock in hundreds if not thousands of different shapes and formulas, then whittling it down to 1/2 or less the volume. There's little or no scrap with 3D printing and you can make just about any shape imaginable.

 

[Buffalo21]

Since this post is about "getting old sucks" and nobody disagrees with that. I want to point out to you old timers that you've NEVER been more valuable to us young stupid people than the present. Especially the present and all that includes.

Apparently you either know of or are part of a different group of youngsters, than I have a work. I’m tired of telling them constantly to put their phones away and work, they believe it’s their God given right to be able to text and check emails constantly. Half of them are afraid to get dirty or only want to do the computer side of the job, no actual manual labor. We went through roughly 50 kids, to get one that actually want to work, learn and better himself, the rest were hopeless bodies going through the motions, with the minimal amount of effort, until I either made live so miserable they quit or I got them fired. I’m not paid to baby sit, if that necessary, it going to cost ownership at least another $25K a year.

 

[Mr.Miz]

I guess it depends on what age the cut off is for "youngsters", but yes I'm a little older than that. It also helps that I grew up on a feed lot where dirt and oil where the cleanest things I touched all day. Most kids now don't get hungry till there late twenties. It takes a lot of pain and suffering to get tired enough to stop caring what you get on your hands as long as their is food on the table. I'm not smart enough to know the fix but I recognize the symptoms of lack of motivation.

Apparently you either know of or are part of a different group of youngsters, than I have a work. I’m tired of tell them constantly to put their phones away and work, they believe it’s the God given right to be able to text and check emails constantly. Half of them are afraid to get dirty or only want to do the computer side of the job, no actual manual labor. We went through roughly 50 kids, to get one that actually want to work, learn and better himself, the rest were hopeless bodies going through the motions, with the minimal amount of effort, until I either made live so miserable they quit or I got them fired. I’m not paid to baby sit, if that necessary, it going to cost ownership at least another $25K a year.

 

[mikey]

The older I get the better I was

This has to be the quote of the year! Many of us are old enough to know that this is sooo true!!!

 

[mmcmdl]

I'm betting 3D printing will overtake standard machining within the next 10 to 15 years. It seems to me it's a lot more economical and efficient than creating the bulk stock in hundreds if not thousands of different shapes and formulas, then whittling it down to 1/2 or less the volume. There's little or no scrap with 3D printing and you can make just about any shape imaginable

Back in the late 90s I was working as a model / prototype machinist in a top secret DOD lab . We were told this exact statement way back when . They designed and produced a tank tread which most likely would have taken our large crew weeks to produce and the printer did it in 1 day . I see it everyday at this point .

This , and the easy access to Chinese manufacturing ( and machinists never made the big bucks ) were the two three biggest reasons I left the full time machinist positions and went into more of a maintenance troubleshooting role . I still get to make parts , but my income isn't dependent on it .