2015 POTD Thread Archive

I bet I'm the only idiot who's ever done such a stupid thing.


Franko, we're machinists, we don't make mistakes, we make prototypes! ;) And the mark of a good machinist is to be able to screw it up and then make it look like it was supposed to be that way :grin:

Nice work anyway.
 
Heck, I remember guys making a part for a special machine wrong and coming up to me and saying they needed to make it over. 9 out of 10 times the mating part was made yet so I would just change dimensions on the mating part so the part that was made would fit and work. Then just tell engineering what we did so they could change the original blueprints.
 
Heck, I remember guys making a part for a special machine wrong and coming up to me and saying they needed to make it over. 9 out of 10 times the mating part was made yet so I would just change dimensions on the mating part so the part that was made would fit and work. Then just tell engineering what we did so they could change the original blueprints.

It was always easier to make engineering "modifications" with an eraser in the good old days !
 
Yup. The reason I've never messed with explosives is because I make mistakes. A man's gotta know his limitations.

Apparently I didn't have that wisdom when I inadvertently made an oxy-acetylene bomb while burning steel wool in an oxygen atmosphere. I learned about that phenomenon while watching an early live TV broadcast of Mr Wizard. Having used my Dad's oxy-acetylene torch for the oxygen was a success. But, when I mixed in a little acetylene, I was not able to observe the results until I regained awareness of my surroundings. The glass vinegar bottle was well distributed over a large area of the shop & only 2 large shards "nested" in my right palm.

The evidence (scars) remind me to be much more careful with combustibles. It didn't stop me from engaging in bonfire parties, on the other hand.
 
Apparently I didn't have that wisdom when I inadvertently made an oxy-acetylene bomb while burning steel wool in an oxygen atmosphere. I learned about that phenomenon while watching an early live TV broadcast of Mr Wizard. Having used my Dad's oxy-acetylene torch for the oxygen was a success. But, when I mixed in a little acetylene, I was not able to observe the results until I regained awareness of my surroundings. The glass vinegar bottle was well distributed over a large area of the shop & only 2 large shards "nested" in my right palm.

The evidence (scars) remind me to be much more careful with combustibles. It didn't stop me from engaging in bonfire parties, on the other hand.
 
The glass vinegar bottle was well distributed over a large area of the shop & only 2 large shards "nested" in my right palm.

The evidence (scars) remind me to be much more careful with combustibles. It didn't stop me from engaging in bonfire parties, on the other hand.


I prefer a different kind of glass bottle in my hand around bonfires......and I use the phrase "in my hand" differently.......;)
-brino
 
Franko, we're machinists, we don't make mistakes, we make prototypes! ;) And the mark of a good machinist is to be able to screw it up and then make it look like it was supposed to be that way :grin:

Nice work anyway.
When I was working for a consumer electronics design company when we would discover the prototype did things that were unintended they became "Added Features" of the programming. :)

Franko: I would have been inclined to make your bushings out of brass or bronze just to be extravagant. Nice work!
 
Thanks, MWS. I might have, but I had a section of 3/8 OD aluminum tube that was 1/4 ID. By that time, I was a bit irritated with myself and just wanted to get the durned thing done.
 
Back
Top