OT - What are you doing right now?

kl8ton

nolaegghead said:

Nothing at the moment but I have 4 or 5 of those and I use them all the time

I liked to screw with the newbies at the shop and randomly zero the calipers .040" ish from closed.  Teaches a valuable lesson.  Zero those things every time you are measuring something that costs more than a half hour of your wages to reproduce.  Slide them closed, see that it says zero and then measure.  Know where you are starting from!

Ozzie_Isaac

kl8ton said:

nolaegghead said:

Nothing at the moment but I have 4 or 5 of those and I use them all the time

I liked to screw with the newbies at the shop and randomly zero the calipers .040" ish from closed.  Teaches a valuable lesson.  Zero those things every time you are measuring something that costs more than a half hour of your wages to reproduce.  Slide them closed, see that it says zero and then measure.  Know where you are starting from!

And after they learn that lesson, teach them to leave a slight gap when you close them.  Should never store them with the faces touching.

kl8ton

Ozzie_Isaac said:

kl8ton said:

nolaegghead said:

Nothing at the moment but I have 4 or 5 of those and I use them all the time

I liked to screw with the newbies at the shop and randomly zero the calipers .040" ish from closed.  Teaches a valuable lesson.  Zero those things every time you are measuring something that costs more than a half hour of your wages to reproduce.  Slide them closed, see that it says zero and then measure.  Know where you are starting from!

And after they learn that lesson, teach them to leave a slight gap when you close them.  Should never store them with the faces touching.

ICASIL

kl8ton

@Ozzie_Isaac
Reminds me of finding torque wrenches wound way up that had been like that for months.  I don't regularly use one but have heard to unwind them (to zero) and other mechanics say wind them down to 20% of max.  Not sure what the current consensus is on that.  

I learned an expensive valuable lesson with the torque wrench.  My gut told me I was wrong, but I did it anyway.  Spec called for in-lbs and the 1/2 in drive torque wrench I had was in the ft-lb range.  Whoops.  Cracked whatever I was cranking down.  I think it was something on an outboard motor.  I was young and ignant.  

HeavyG

Ozzie_Isaac said:

kl8ton said:

nolaegghead said:

Nothing at the moment but I have 4 or 5 of those and I use them all the time

I liked to screw with the newbies at the shop and randomly zero the calipers .040" ish from closed.  Teaches a valuable lesson.  Zero those things every time you are measuring something that costs more than a half hour of your wages to reproduce.  Slide them closed, see that it says zero and then measure.  Know where you are starting from!

And after they learn that lesson, teach them to leave a slight gap when you close them.  Should never store them with the faces touching.

If one is really, really that concerned wouldn't they use a micrometer rather than a caliper anyway?

Ozzie_Isaac

kl8ton said:

@Ozzie_Isaac
Reminds me of finding torque wrenches wound way up that had been like that for months.  I don't regularly use one but have heard to unwind them (to zero) and other mechanics say wind them down to 20% of max.  Not sure what the current consensus is on that.  

I learned an expensive valuable lesson with the torque wrench.  My gut told me I was wrong, but I did it anyway.  Spec called for in-lbs and the 1/2 in drive torque wrench I had was in the ft-lb range.  Whoops.  Cracked whatever I was cranking down.  I think it was something on an outboard motor.  I was young and ignant.  

I have always split the difference and gone 10% of max.  I think main thing is not fully backed off and not fully cranked down.HeavyG said:

Ozzie_Isaac said:

kl8ton said:

nolaegghead said:

Nothing at the moment but I have 4 or 5 of those and I use them all the time

I liked to screw with the newbies at the shop and randomly zero the calipers .040" ish from closed.  Teaches a valuable lesson.  Zero those things every time you are measuring something that costs more than a half hour of your wages to reproduce.  Slide them closed, see that it says zero and then measure.  Know where you are starting from!

And after they learn that lesson, teach them to leave a slight gap when you close them.  Should never store them with the faces touching.

If one is really, really that concerned wouldn't they use a micrometer rather than a caliper anyway?

You can use mics and they definitely are more precise, but calipers hit the speed vs. accuracy ratio perfectly.

Botch

kl8ton said:
I learned an expensive valuable lesson with the torque wrench.  My gut told me I was wrong, but I did it anyway.  Spec called for in-lbs and the 1/2 in drive torque wrench I had was in the ft-lb range.  Whoops.  Cracked whatever I was cranking down.  I think it was something on an outboard motor.  I was young and ignant.  

An Odd, similar story:
I was passed over for Major in the USAF, and missed the AF so much I joined the Reserves, but they only allowed me in Enlisted (long story).
One weekend we were refurbishing Maverick missiles, and the torque values to re-attach plastic nose shrouds were clearly too high, the shells were splitting long before the "click".  At the time I was also the Director of Engineering (as a civilian) for the Missile Maintenance Group, OO-ALC.  I knew who the Equipment Specialist was for the Maverick, called him at home, and told him the torque values weren't right, but he only heard "Tech Sergeant down at Tooele" and he told me "Just follow the Tech Data!" and hung up.  Most of the guys on our Reserves team recognized the error, and we eyeballed the torque for the rest of the weekend.
On Monday, that Equipment Specialist, and his Maverick engineer, were told to recalculate those torque values, by their boss (who worked for ME, in my civilian job!), and the errors were corrected.   
Again, a very odd story, from a very odd period of my career.  

Ozzie_Isaac

Botch said:

kl8ton said:
I learned an expensive valuable lesson with the torque wrench.  My gut told me I was wrong, but I did it anyway.  Spec called for in-lbs and the 1/2 in drive torque wrench I had was in the ft-lb range.  Whoops.  Cracked whatever I was cranking down.  I think it was something on an outboard motor.  I was young and ignant.  

An Odd, similar story:
I was passed over for Major in the USAF, and missed the AF so much I joined the Reserves, but they only allowed me in Enlisted (long story).
One weekend we were refurbishing Maverick missiles, and the torque values to re-attach plastic nose shrouds were clearly too high, the shells were splitting long before the "click".  At the time I was also the Director of Engineering (as a civilian) for the Missile Maintenance Group, OO-ALC.  I knew who the Equipment Specialist was for the Maverick, called him at home, and told him the torque values weren't right, but he only heard "Tech Sergeant down at Tooele" and he told me "Just follow the Tech Data!" and hung up.  Most of the guys on our Reserves team recognized the error, and we eyeballed the torque for the rest of the weekend.
On Monday, that Equipment Specialist, and his Maverick engineer, were told to recalculate those torque values, by their boss (who worked for ME, in my civilian job!), and the errors were corrected.   
Again, a very odd story, from a very odd period of my career.  

I have always listened to my mechanics and techs.  They have saved me a few times, and usually have great ideas for how to improve a design, or avoid a maintenance nightmare.

A requirement for my younger engineers is to get feedback on their designs from specific techs.

Battleborn

Botch said:

kl8ton said:
I learned an expensive valuable lesson with the torque wrench.  My gut told me I was wrong, but I did it anyway.  Spec called for in-lbs and the 1/2 in drive torque wrench I had was in the ft-lb range.  Whoops.  Cracked whatever I was cranking down.  I think it was something on an outboard motor.  I was young and ignant.  

An Odd, similar story:
I was passed over for Major in the USAF, and missed the AF so much I joined the Reserves, but they only allowed me in Enlisted (long story).
One weekend we were refurbishing Maverick missiles, and the torque values to re-attach plastic nose shrouds were clearly too high, the shells were splitting long before the "click".  At the time I was also the Director of Engineering (as a civilian) for the Missile Maintenance Group, OO-ALC.  I knew who the Equipment Specialist was for the Maverick, called him at home, and told him the torque values weren't right, but he only heard "Tech Sergeant down at Tooele" and he told me "Just follow the Tech Data!" and hung up.  Most of the guys on our Reserves team recognized the error, and we eyeballed the torque for the rest of the weekend.
On Monday, that Equipment Specialist, and his Maverick engineer, were told to recalculate those torque values, by their boss (who worked for ME, in my civilian job!), and the errors were corrected.   
Again, a very odd story, from a very odd period of my career.  

Thanks for that story @Botch. I spent 8 years doing aviation ordnance in the Navy. Loaded a few Mavericks in my day. 

I always had a hard time believing torque values for the gun in the nose of the F-18. Four small bolts hold that thing in there, with what I always thought wasn’t enough torque. 

FarmingPhD

Johnny cash, Jimmy Dean, and John Prine rolling in the background. Nicest wether this spring, if the weather holds we’ll finally be planting Monday.

TEXASBGE2018

About to put this guy on. 1st Brisket in over a year. 11pds post trim. Holy Cow rub.

ColtsFan

Eggs are lit and there may beers already

GrateEggspectations

@SGH

Today I learned…..

johnmitchell

@Great_EGGspectations. This is why I love the forum👍

lkapigian

Dialing in my Chili Cheese Sausage 

JohnInCarolina

GrateEggspectations said:

@SGH

Today I learned…..

Only a marine biologist would watch a whale fart and think to try and put a horse inside the bubble.

lousubcap

Getting set up for a non mint julep blind bourbon taste test with my son later today:

Sazerac line-up.  Will provide feedback on the What Are You Drinking thread later.  Gonna be fun.

GrateEggspectations

johnmitchell said:

@Great_EGGspectations. This is why I love the forum👍

I know. Truly that place to be for elevated conversation amongst similarly-minded, advanced thinkers. 

Legume

lousubcap said:

Getting set up for a non mint julep blind bourbon taste test with my son later today:

Sazerac line-up.  Will provide feedback on the What Are You Drinking thread later.  Gonna be fun.

Nice lineup Frank.  I know how I think I would score them, but that’s the fun of doing it blind. I think a Blantons v EHT small batch would be interesting.

SGH

GrateEggspectations said:

@SGH

Today I learned…..

This is the sort of thing that should be on the news everyday and certainly taught in school. 

GrateEggspectations

lousubcap said:

Getting set up for a non mint julep blind bourbon taste test with my son later today:

Sazerac line-up.  Will provide feedback on the What Are You Drinking thread later.  Gonna be fun.

The bourbon is great. The familial time is better. Enjoy the great experience on all fronts. 

(For the record, I would love to engage in such an endeavour with my father. We share a lot of common interests, but unfortunately for me, bourbon is not one of them.)

JohnInCarolina

At the PhD hooding ceremony for one of my students, Tianchen Hu.  He leaves tomorrow to start a position at Argonne National Laboratory.

CPFC1905

Sharing adult beverages with SWMBO after a great day Grandparenting. 

lousubcap

@JohnInCarolina - extremely proud moment for your student to achieve that degree.  No doubt you played a significant role in guiding his research and thesis.  Congrats to you both.  
BTW- on a lighter note, tied for first (with two others) with the lengthiest paragraph.  

ColbyLang

Honey do list complete. Egret’s ham syruped and pasted as per instructions in the fridge. Prepping for sides for tomorrow while setting up dinner for tonight. Ribeyes. Simple

johnmitchell

@JohnInCarolina. Congratulations to you and your student 👏👏

GrateEggspectations

JohnInCarolina said:

At the PhD hooding ceremony for one of my students, Tianchen Hu.  He leaves tomorrow to start a position at Argonne National Laboratory.

Quite an accomplishment, John. Congrats. However, if I’m honest, I must admit that I am just slightly disappointed you didn’t supervise “Pheremone Gradients Guide and Stabilize Polarity Sites for Mating in Saccharomryces cerevisiae,” which I can only assume translates to “picking up in bars - how I do it” in laymen’s terms. 

GrateEggspectations

@CPFC1905

Heartwarming photo, right there. One of the best I’ve seen in weeks. You look too young and too energized to be a grandparent!! Congrats on living the good life. 

lkapigian

GrateEggspectations said:

@CPFC1905

Heartwarming photo, right there. One of the best I’ve seen in weeks. You look too young and too energized to be a grandparent!! Congrats on living the good life. 

Agree!!!

JohnInCarolina

the ceremony itself is being held inside the Duke Chapel