Todays DUMBO award

[Former MemberParticipant @formermember19781]

[This posting has been removed]

[Former MemberParticipant @formermember19781]

Todays DUMBO award.

[Mike PooleParticipant @mikepoole82104]

Just turn the tool upside down

Mike

[Paul KempParticipant @paulkemp46892]

That would do it! Did something similar with a home made spot facing cutter in the mill! Realised I had ground the bit the wrong way round, reversing the spindle made a significant difference . It happens lol.

[Brian GParticipant @briang]

I wanted to reduce the diameter of a spigot but the part was too big for the lathe. "I know, I'll use the boring head" I thought. Set the tool facing inward, put the mill in reverse and got on with it. When I finished the job I removed the head from the arbor and started sweating. It was only hand tight but luckily hadn't unscrewed.

Brian

[Brian OldfordParticipant @brianoldford70365]

Posted by Mike Poole on 04/04/2019 18:17:58:

Just turn the tool upside down

Mike

That's the "putting on" direction.

[Jon LawesParticipant @jonlawes51698]

If it makes you feel any better I've done the same thing. I don't remember having set the lathe to reverse but I know it took me ages to work it out…

[mark costello 1Participant @markcostello1]

Whew, for a minute I thought I was going to get nominated for an award, thought no one was watching.

[Boiler BriParticipant @boilerbri]

Nice one for owning up 👍👍👍

[Sam StonesParticipant @samstones42903]

My claim to ‘Jumbo of the day’ goes back many years to when I decided I needed to drill a ¾" hole under the corner cupboard in the kitchen. It was a real sod to reach and I struggled for ages thinking that the wood bit was blunt or I’d hit something hard.

Like Bill, I stopped for a cup of coffee, while I gathered my thoughts.

And, like Bill, I noticed that the battery driven drill was running …… you guessed it ………. backwards.

Sam

[I.M. OUTAHEREParticipant @i-m-outahere]

How many times have you put a hacksaw blade on backwards and only realised it when it wont cut , i worked out the other day that coping saws work better if i put the blade on so it cuts pulling the saw towards me – takes The springiness of the frame out of the equation !

i was turning a piece last weekend and it wasn’t going well ended up I hadn’t tightened the clamping lever on my QCTP . I was also using the tailstock centre to set the tools on centre but for some reason it kept changing ,one tool would be too low next tool on centre and it ended up that the centre was just sitting in there and every time i moved the tailstock the centre changed position a small amount !

There are others but i feel i have shamed myself enough for one day !

Murphys law for model engineers :

if it takes days or weeks to make a part it will only stuff up on the last operation !

If it has to be shiny you will polish it to perfection then drop it damaging the finish !

if it is to be painted you will choose a day of low or little wind but this will change by the time you finish painting it and a hurricane will appear out of nowhere !

The more determined you are not to lose something the quicker it will disappear !

All springs can fly and always further than you think !

and the list goes on .

[HopperParticipant @hopper]

I worked with Swiss engineers who always fitted hacksaw blades "backwards" because thats the way they do it there. They swear it works better.

[AdrianRParticipant @adrianr18614]

Ah drills running backwards, that reminds me. I had to drill a hole in a CI soil pipe for a new sink. I bought a hole saw and started. Pilot went in easy, but the saw just wouldnt cut, pushing hard made it cut slowly. After a long time I stopped for a cupper. Looking at the worn the teeth I realised something. The blade had been welded on backwards. Flipping the drill into reverse and the hole was finished in seconds.

[Nicholas FarrParticipant @nicholasfarr14254]

Hi. yea, I've done the battery drill one, even when it's in full view.

Regards Nick.

[Sam StonesParticipant @samstones42903]

And today, my claim to the 'Dumbo of the day' award comes from seeing that I referred (with apologies) to JUMBO.

How daft is that?

Sam

[Chris TriceParticipant @christrice43267]

Yep, I've done the cordless drill in reverse thing too except I was trying to push an apparently sharp 10mm drill through a piece of steel. Made no difference how hard I pushed for two minutes before the penny dropped.

[vintage engineerParticipant @vintageengineer]

You can buy lefthand drills. I have a set but they are kept well away from my other drills!

[Howard LewisParticipant @howardlewis46836]

As an Apprentice, once ran a face mill in reverse, and wondered why it didn't cut well.

Much more recently, modified the lathe to halve the feed rate. Trying to cut a 1.5 mm pitch thread, but could not get it right. Reason: obsessed with the 3 setting, so set 3 on the Norton box instead of the correct setting. Funnily, once the proper setting was used; the nut screwed on. Strange?

"The man who never made a mistake, never made anything"

Howard

[Russell EberhardtParticipant @russelleberhardt48058]

Posted by Hopper on 05/04/2019 07:49:27:

I worked with Swiss engineers who always fitted hacksaw blades "backwards" because thats the way they do it there. They swear it works better.

I've done that for years. Try it! I think it's because the centre of push on the handle is higher than the blade teeth. So if the teeth catch the push makes them dig in more. If pulling to cut the pull tends to lift the teeth if they catch.

. . . or perhaps it's because I have Swiss ancestors

Russell

Edited By Russell Eberhardt on 06/04/2019 11:07:03

[KWILParticipant @kwil]

That is why fret saws work better teeth down and Japanese wood working saws are all draw saws, thin and pulled towards you.

[Andrew TinsleyParticipant @andrewtinsley63637]

My claim to fame must beat everyone else. I was putting in a sink and assorted kitchen units. I had a pipe (cold water) running down the wall, but proud of it. So I decided to make a channel in the wall and bury the pipe. I then thought I could run an electric cable in the channel. All was then plastered up, so far so good.

I had to fasten the sink unit base and units to the wall. So I put a horizontal batten along the wall. I drilled the fixing points for rawplugs carefully marking each position before hand . I even marked where the water pipe was.

You guessed it I drilled along the line of marks including that which marked the pipe. There was a flash and a bang and I pulled the (thankfully double insulated) mains powered drill out of the hole and got a jet of water straight in the face!

So don't cut corners as I did. The drill was quite interesting the carbide(?) cutting edge was quite fused!

Andrew.

P.S. How is that for being honest and admitting to Wally status?

[Former MemberParticipant @formermember19781]

[This posting has been removed]

[Andrew TinsleyParticipant @andrewtinsley63637]

Thank goodness I am not alone in the Wally stakes! There are so many experienced and erudite people on this forum, that I never expected my 1st class Wally status to be challenged!

Andrew.

[Dave TParticipant @davet19446]

Posted by Hopper on 05/04/2019 07:49:27:

I worked with Swiss engineers who always fitted hacksaw blades "backwards" because thats the way they do it there. They swear it works better.

Junior hacksaw blades definitley cos it tensions the frame when cutting – never tried it with bigger

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