Is it Just me?

Yesterday I went into the workshop to turn up a new pillar for my tool post and try as I might I could not get a decent finish or achieve acceptable accuracy even to my standards. On top of that everything seemed to take twice as long as it should despite being in the right frame of mind for a workshop session.

Today a fresh start with the same piece of material and tools and a decent job finished in no time. OK, I did check a few things before I started but nothing I hadn't considered the day before.

Why does this happen, is it just a combination of minor things that come together by coincidence to make a big difference? If I believed in luck or Gremlins I could blame them but as I don't I have only myself to blame!

John

No it's just you.

Not just you John.... happens to all of us I think.

I was in the workshop the other day trying to make the webs for a built up crankshaft, couldn't get the holes in the right place, couldn't drill square to the stock,,, just made swarf and scrap!!

Went out there this morning and just took that bit more care and thought through what I was doing, and hey presto just turned out quite a neat job. OK so the throw is short by 10 thou but I can live with that.

I think we get a bit complacent at times and think that just because the job is a "simple" one we don't need to put so much effort in to get it right.

Same problem i had with my stanchions. I think sometimes you get set on a path and carry on in the hope it will turn out OK, of course it rarely does.

I'd love to know what does it.

Neil

Happens everywhere - not just in the workshop. Best thing is to go away, have a cuppa and forget it. I find that, when returning, most things fall into place and problem solved.

N

John,

This seems a good time to share my favourite quotation.

MichaelG.

Edited By Michael Gilligan on 08/04/2012 21:32:21

In the old days, we would sit back and roll a smoke or fill the pipe and think about it. Can't do that these days and there really doesn't seem to be any good substitute.

Ah well ...

Jim

You'v just got to have more faith in the gremlins, and if they feel like it they might help you. Ian S C

No John

It is not just you been there etc; and as for these damned workshop gremlins have tried to tempt them out of the workshop to no avail. But reckon I can catch them before another screw up.

Have a good break everyone.

Bob

There I was working away and all around me was misery, darkness and gloom. Cheer up I said to myself things could be worse. So I did and sure enough things got worse.

Dick

Michael - Thanks for sharing that quote, it is so true.

I counted some of the things that we need to consider to do even a simple turning job

1. Tool sharpness, 2. Tool type and geometry 3. Tool setting, 4. Material properties 5. Work holding 6. Need for a centre in tailstock 7. Turning speed 8. Depth of cut 9. Lathe condition and set up 10. Use of coolant / lubrication. 11. Need for a steady. 12. Speed of feed

Not forgetting peace of mind

Any one of those things can cause a problem, so imagine what happens if some or all of them come together.

Add upsetting the Gremlins by saying you don't believe in them and who knows what will happen!

John

Chin up Dick, you just need more of that anti-freeze.

Jim

Reading John Shepherd's post just above made me think of my present project which is to extend the column of my bench drill by adding a suitable sized lump into the top of the column. Simple, one might think, but....

Obtain lump of suitable steel. Stick in chuck - don't like 6" of 2" dia whirling about unsupported whilst facing the end so use the fixed steady. Er, haven't got one. So make one.

Now need a clamping sleeve. Use a bit of old metal clothes post which needs boring out. And at 4" long I think it needs the boring bar. Er, haven't got one. So make one.

And then there is the cutting tool to grind up.

Need to mount the clamping sleeve on the cross-slide. But no T slots, but I do have a T-slotted cross-slide which has never been used. Trouble is that it doesn't have a handle, so I'll have to transfer the existing handle across. But that requires some careful measuring and marking out to drill and tap the fixing holes.

Also needs some T-nuts. Not got any, so make them.

Realised that the existing gib strip screws are too short, so make new ones.

Should be getting ready to clamp up the tube now, but how to set it up both for height and parallelism. Ok, support it from the chuck and the tailstock whilst setting it up. But this requires tube adaptors. So make them.

Finally, I will require clamp bars and studs for the T-slotted cross-slide. Will use studding for the studs, but will have to make the clamp bars.

And then, finally, I may be able to get on with the drill column extender. Provided, that is, that I don't find something else required first.

"It all makes work for the (non-)working man to do!"

Regards,

Peter G. Shaw

I know just how you feel Peter but consider - you could be digging the garden or helping with the housework or, heaven forbid ( and I think it was you), still battling with the day to day frustrations of life at BT.

Those little challenges in the workshop seem positively theraputic by comparison surely?

Regards,

Norman

Norman,

Gardening. When we got married some 41 years ago, I laid down the law. (Oooh, that'l have our female members biting, but please read on first.) I said that I would cut the grass, and that if you want anything more, then you will have to do it yourself. And I've stuck to that. So, so far this year I have done one cut!

Housework. Well, she expects. Well, she CAN expect. But it doesn't mean that I will help!

BT. Ah yes, good old BT. Well it was good 50 years ago. And even 25 years ago. But just before I took early retirement 17 years ago it all started to change, something which my recently retired brother has confirmed. I enjoyed my time with BT, and it has given me a good life and retirement, but today's BT is a totally different animal to what I knew. Afterall, there was no such thing as broadband, VOIP, and mobile phones were the size of housebricks - large ones at that.

The big thing about the present project is that I have not yet come to a complete halt in that despite all the trials and tribulations, I have managed to find a way round them. Mind you, I have yet to see what the end result will be!

Regards,

Peter G. Shaw

Last night was struggling to get two little self-tappers into a storage heater. After cutting my finger decided to give up and go for a pint. This morning both screws went straight in by hand and without even looking at the job. Good stuff that Guinness.

Jim you know what that tackle is like. The Hazi (home brew moonshine is 100 times worse) I will not use it until it is at least -15C.

When it was -8C at night and -5C at Noon that was chilly now it is as now 18C in the day and -2C at night it is warm and soon it will be 15C at night and 28-30C during the day I get eye strain as all the lassies are bouncing about independently. I will stick to the 'Sor'

By the way how do we cope with -20C. I use a Kandelo they are easy to build -when you know the trick(s). The last one i built was in an old 50 gallon kreosote drum.

If any one wants to know how i did it i will write it up - your workshop can become an all year round business.

Rdgs

Dick

Ok Dick, I'll be the mug; what's a Kandelo?

I looked on Google and all the hits were from music groups and such like that would not keep me warm (I'll have to think about that).

My workshop only gets down to about -5C. At least I think that is as low as it gets, I bail out at +10C coz I'm a wimp.

You certainly have a range of temperatures in the middle of the country where you are. +30C sounds pretty good if it lasts long enough.

Jim

What about those jobs which become so awkward you seem to need every applicable tool you can imagine to accomplish. The tools, etc., cover all working surfaces to such an extent that ultimately you can't find what you were working on.

I've long since recognized the fatigue factor - knowing when to stop ( i.e. before you make a mistake) is a useful thing to learn.

Chris

.........."The tools, etc., cover all working surfaces to such an extent that ultimately you can't find what you were working on."

I didn't know that you had seen my workshop!!!

N