1P = 1000W

....where P is equal to Picture and W is equal to Word(s).

Building an engine -- or an airplane -- there are times when I fail to
provide a lot of detail, partly because I ASSUME everyone KNOWS those
pesky little details. Which makes me something of a fool.

How much black-powder makes a safe load.

Rig-stitching uses a net-knot.. or a seine knot, the SAME knot you use
to make the net for a basketball hoop. Or a laundry bag. Or a
grocery bag. Or an abalone bag... And I grew up assuming EVERYONE
knew that stuff because I knew it, as did all the kids I grew up with.

Melting lead to make bullets.

Figuring out how much Wheel-Weight Lead you had to mix with Plumber's
Lead to get a bullet that would be hard enough to NOT lead the barrel
of your Springfield, for which you paid all of $17.95 from Monkey
Ward. (How? You cast your alloy into a .50 cal. BALL then dropped it
from a height of seventy-two inches... then measured the width of the
flat spot. Soft, as in pure lead, your flat spot was as wide as it
could be. Hard, as in pure wheel-weights, your flat spot was a LOT
smaller (Why? Because they add antimony to the lead to give it more
structural strength). So you melt a five-pound slug of Plumber's lead
[which you usta be able to buy at any hardware store] then you add
freshly scrubbed [and DRY!] wheel-weights to the pot. Used your Lymen
ladle to cast a couple of .50 balls, dropped them onto the top of the
anvil [rig a piece of water pipe as a 'bomb sight' so the ball starts
out centered on the anvil]. )

Didn''t EVERYONE do those things?

Apparently not.

Because I get messages asking... How do you...do this...or that.

And I tell them. But sometimes it takes a LOT of typing to tell
someone how to do something because there is never a straight line
between "How do I..." and having the guy actually DO IT.

Hand-propping an engine, 200cid or less... Mother's milk! Meaning
even BABIES can do it!

Welding. You only need a teacher to tell you when you've got the
flame just right. There it is! Just like that! Look at it! How can
you NOT remember it? It's the ONLY flame that does.... THIS... to the
edge of your practice coupon... Okay? And in fifteen minutes OR
LESS, he (or SHE! ...some of the better weldors are females. I don't
know why, they just are ).

See the puddle? Golden little pool. Watch how your perfect flame
creates and maintains your perfect puddle. You are in control of the
UNIVERSE when you can make that puddle, because once it is made, it
can be moved and married and made larger or smaller. RAISE the
perfect flame and the puddle cools... LOWER the perfect flame and the
puddle becomes a crater, is liable to erupt or do other strange
things. ANGLE your perfect flame and see Katrina right there in front
of you! Angle the flame and you've got Tidal Surge! The puddle is
the Eye of the Dragon and you are its master.

How long? Another fifteen minutes or so. Okay, sure; some people,
you show them once, they never forget. Other people, they learn it
like climbing stairs, needing a lot of little steps but that's the
Basics: Flame + Pool. After that, it's just a matter of Practice.

Doing just one airplane? Prolly take you about two weeks, working
full-time.

-Bob

On Jan 4, 12:35 pm, " wrote:
...where P is equal to Picture and W is equal to Word(s).

Building an engine -- or an airplane -- there are times when I fail to
provide a lot of detail, partly because I ASSUME everyone KNOWS those
pesky little details. Which makes me something of a fool.

I've taught a college course on Aircraft Systems for Pilots for
maybe ten years now. I found early on that I had to back up a long way
into some basic stuff, since most young folks now have no frame of
reference regarding mechanical, electrical or hydraulic devices, or
even basic hand tools, let alone specialty tooling. I often resort to
using the water-in-a-garden-hose idea to illustrate electrical flow
(pressure, volume and resistance) and have received a few blank looks
from a few who appear never to have fooled with such a thing. City-
bound apartment dwellers, I guess.
So it's not unusual to get questions on really basic stuff. The
problem is to determine how much you really need to cover to get the
most students through without boring the bright ones or dumping vast
volumes of information on them or spoon-feeding the lazy ones.
Students, especially adults, should know enough that they have the
responsibility to go look things up when they don't have enough
background to understand the course.

Dan

wrote in message
...
| On Jan 4, 12:35 pm, " wrote:
| ...where P is equal to Picture and W is equal to Word(s).
|
| Building an engine -- or an airplane -- there are times when I fail to
| provide a lot of detail, partly because I ASSUME everyone KNOWS those
| pesky little details. Which makes me something of a fool.
|
| I've taught a college course on Aircraft Systems for Pilots for
| maybe ten years now. I found early on that I had to back up a long way
| into some basic stuff, since most young folks now have no frame of
| reference regarding mechanical, electrical or hydraulic devices, or
| even basic hand tools, let alone specialty tooling. I often resort to
| using the water-in-a-garden-hose idea to illustrate electrical flow
| (pressure, volume and resistance) and have received a few blank looks
| from a few who appear never to have fooled with such a thing. City-
| bound apartment dwellers, I guess.
| So it's not unusual to get questions on really basic stuff. The
| problem is to determine how much you really need to cover to get the
| most students through without boring the bright ones or dumping vast
| volumes of information on them or spoon-feeding the lazy ones.
| Students, especially adults, should know enough that they have the
| responsibility to go look things up when they don't have enough
| background to understand the course.
|
| Dan
|
|

"Maxwell" #$$9#@%%%.^^^ wrote in message
...
|
| wrote in message
| ...
|| On Jan 4, 12:35 pm, " wrote:
|| ...where P is equal to Picture and W is equal to Word(s).
||
|| Building an engine -- or an airplane -- there are times when I fail to
|| provide a lot of detail, partly because I ASSUME everyone KNOWS those
|| pesky little details. Which makes me something of a fool.
||
|| I've taught a college course on Aircraft Systems for Pilots for
|| maybe ten years now. I found early on that I had to back up a long way
|| into some basic stuff, since most young folks now have no frame of
|| reference regarding mechanical, electrical or hydraulic devices, or
|| even basic hand tools, let alone specialty tooling. I often resort to
|| using the water-in-a-garden-hose idea to illustrate electrical flow
|| (pressure, volume and resistance) and have received a few blank looks
|| from a few who appear never to have fooled with such a thing. City-
|| bound apartment dwellers, I guess.
|| So it's not unusual to get questions on really basic stuff. The
|| problem is to determine how much you really need to cover to get the
|| most students through without boring the bright ones or dumping vast
|| volumes of information on them or spoon-feeding the lazy ones.
|| Students, especially adults, should know enough that they have the
|| responsibility to go look things up when they don't have enough
|| background to understand the course.
||
|| Dan
||

It amazes me how uninformed (or just down right stupid) young people are
today. They grow up in a world today with absolutely no exposure to anything
mechanical.

I walked in to an auto parts super store last summer and asked for 15" inner
tubes. Not one person of the 6 or 7 on hand (including the manager), had the
slightest clue what I was talking about. After describing an inner tube in
great detail to the manager and a couple of other totally shocked
by-standing salesmen, I was informed "I would have to look elsewhere, we
never put anything in our tires". They were in complete disbelief that any
such thing existed.

I can't imagine trying to hire a green mechanical engineer today. It must
really be a challenge.

"Maxwell" #$$9#@%%%.^^^ wrote in message
...

"Maxwell" #$$9#@%%%.^^^ wrote in message
...
|
| wrote in message
| ...
|| On Jan 4, 12:35 pm, " wrote:
|| ...where P is equal to Picture and W is equal to Word(s).
||
|| Building an engine -- or an airplane -- there are times when I fail
to
|| provide a lot of detail, partly because I ASSUME everyone KNOWS those
|| pesky little details. Which makes me something of a fool.
||
|| I've taught a college course on Aircraft Systems for Pilots for
|| maybe ten years now. I found early on that I had to back up a long way
|| into some basic stuff, since most young folks now have no frame of
|| reference regarding mechanical, electrical or hydraulic devices, or
|| even basic hand tools, let alone specialty tooling. I often resort to
|| using the water-in-a-garden-hose idea to illustrate electrical flow
|| (pressure, volume and resistance) and have received a few blank looks
|| from a few who appear never to have fooled with such a thing. City-
|| bound apartment dwellers, I guess.
|| So it's not unusual to get questions on really basic stuff. The
|| problem is to determine how much you really need to cover to get the
|| most students through without boring the bright ones or dumping vast
|| volumes of information on them or spoon-feeding the lazy ones.
|| Students, especially adults, should know enough that they have the
|| responsibility to go look things up when they don't have enough
|| background to understand the course.
||
|| Dan
||

It amazes me how uninformed (or just down right stupid) young people are
today. They grow up in a world today with absolutely no exposure to
anything
mechanical.

I walked in to an auto parts super store last summer and asked for 15"
inner
tubes. Not one person of the 6 or 7 on hand (including the manager), had
the
slightest clue what I was talking about. After describing an inner tube in
great detail to the manager and a couple of other totally shocked
by-standing salesmen, I was informed "I would have to look elsewhere, we
never put anything in our tires". They were in complete disbelief that any
such thing existed.

I can't imagine trying to hire a green mechanical engineer today. It must
really be a challenge.


While there does appear to be some merit to your basic complaint--that most
people under about thirty, and who have grown up in major cities, have no
experience in building or repairing anything--they were also right that you
were looking in the wrong place unless they also install tires on split rims
or on wire wheels.

Nearly anyone in a tire store would have known about inner tubes and their
basic sizes--which I believe are a little like the sizes of sweaters and
socks. They would be a slow selling item in most places, and would probably
need to be ordered in; but they will be in use as long as there are wire
wheels and split wheels.

Peter

P.S.: I was going to just let the earlier, and related, matter drop. But,
there are two common fomulations for wheel weights; and the clip-on variety
do have a hardener added which is usually atimony. Lin-O-Type alloy has
much more antimony, plus tin for better mold fill-out, and does not shrink
during while cooling; but does have other quirks.

On Jan 5, 6:26 am, "Maxwell" #$$9#@%%%.^^^ wrote:

It amazes me how uninformed (or just down right stupid) young people are
today. They grow up in a world today with absolutely no exposure to anything
mechanical.


On the other hand, if I have a computer problem those young
guys come and fix it and look at me is if I'm totally clueless.

Dan

On Jan 5, 7:28 am, "Peter Dohm" wrote:

Nearly anyone in a tire store would have known about inner tubes and their
basic sizes--which I believe are a little like the sizes of sweaters and
socks. They would be a slow selling item in most places, and would probably
need to be ordered in; but they will be in use as long as there are wire
wheels and split wheels.

And even then they will be a rare item for vintage vehicles.
Earthmoving and heavy equipment has been using multi-piece wheels for
many years, but the rings have seals under them to enable tubeless
operation. Sold a whack of that stuff in the '70s.

"Peter Dohm" wrote in message
...
| While there does appear to be some merit to your basic complaint--that
most
| people under about thirty, and who have grown up in major cities, have no
| experience in building or repairing anything--they were also right that
you
| were looking in the wrong place unless they also install tires on split
rims
| or on wire wheels.
|
| Nearly anyone in a tire store would have known about inner tubes and their
| basic sizes--which I believe are a little like the sizes of sweaters and
| socks. They would be a slow selling item in most places, and would
probably
| need to be ordered in; but they will be in use as long as there are wire
| wheels and split wheels.
|
| Peter

It was a PepBoys auto super center, with about 6 maintenance bays and all of
one wall dedicated to tire and wheel sales. I had bought them there before
about 6 months earlier. But since none of the employees present at the time
believe auto tires were ever equipped with inner tubes, they wouldn't even
check their catalogs. I went down the street to a local O'Reilly's.

Maxwell schreef:

I went down the street to a local O'Reilly's.

One of these?

http://www.oreillys.com/

wrote in message
...
| On Jan 5, 6:26 am, "Maxwell" #$$9#@%%%.^^^ wrote:
|
| It amazes me how uninformed (or just down right stupid) young people are
| today. They grow up in a world today with absolutely no exposure to
anything
| mechanical.
|
|
| On the other hand, if I have a computer problem those young
| guys come and fix it and look at me is if I'm totally clueless.
|
| Dan

Then shame on you for not keeping up. These things have only been around for
25 years.