flinging it across the shop

[BMyers]

I have been making parts for the poppin heat engine. I was on the last cuts for the standard when i realized i bored the holes for the crank bearings wayyy off. After I tossed the part across the shop, I felt a little better, but now I am thinking about chuckin' the whole mess in and selling my shop off... Anyhow, I think I am done venting. What does everyone else do to cope with messed up parts and a lack of motivation to pick up and start over ? Or am I the only one who screws up ???

 

[ksouers]

I screw up all the time.

Just last weekend I needed to drill three pockets, two for pins and one threaded, about a 1/4 inch deep. After spending the time and effort to square up a piece of stock, laying out the holes, punch-marking everything, edge-finding and getting lined up I proceeded to drill three of the most beautiful through holes you've ever seen.

Then immediately realized my mistake. After everything was done. Oh well.

Yeah, I can really screw em up...

I just cut another chunk of aluminum and did it all again, except I drilled the holes correctly this time.

Never thought about giving up though, just how to do better the next time.

 

[rake60]

BMyers there are many nicks in the paint across the basement from my shop area.
Even a few gouges in the concrete! :big:

It happens even when it's your occupation.
You can still throw it across the shop, but then you have to make that long
lonely walk to the office of the guy who's in charge of that project to try to
explain what went wrong.

There's a saying that goes "Mistakes are not carved in stone."
Sometimes that ARE carved is steel...

Every mistake is a learning opportunity.
Will you ever make that same mistake again? Probably!

If it were easy, would it be worth bothering with?

Go ahead and throw one that got away.
The next time it will go better.

Rick

 

[Brass_Machine]

BMyers there are many nicks in the paint across the basement from my shop area.
Even a few gouges in the concrete! :big:

...

I can vouch for that. I have seen Rick's shop! :big: :big:

Seriously. It is important to look at failures a couple of different ways. They can be either learning experiences (assuming you learn from your mistakes ;D) OR the can become machine ART!

Don't let it get you down... We ALL make mistakes.

Eric

 

[Bogstandard]

BM,

Unless you can walk on water, you are just like the rest of us.

As has been mentioned, count it as part of the learning curve.

If the part can be rescued, it was never wrong in the first place. If it can't, pop it into the recycle bin, and modify it to make another engine at a later time.

Welcome to the ever growing club, where few things go right first time around.

Bogs

 

[Cedge]

BMyers
Don't need to be feeling lonely. This month's engine of the month was not a perfect linear project either. If you read the Water engine project thread, there were 2 complete cylinders and saddle sets built during the project, simply because some dummy forgot to lock down the vise. I'm not a thrower, but I have to watch and make sure the grandsons are no where near before I turn the air in the shop blue from time to time.

In the early days I often got frustrated that most of my parts were less than perfect. I soon learned that it was not just me, but everyone, who had scrap boxes full of screwed up attempts. I make fewer blown parts these days, but it's far from any zero failure rate. These days I just stop and study things a bit. Quite often taking a break will give me a chance to spot an avenue by which to correct the problem or at least to figure out how to avoid it happening again, as I begin the part once again with fresh metal. I simply no longer take it personally when things go awry.

Keep going...
Steve

 

[tmuir]

I find I always learn more from mistakes than if everything goes perfect.

After ruining two simple parts parting them off I actually took the time to learn how to part off properly.

If I hadn't screwed up on the simple parts I still wouldn't know how to part off and would probably end up ruining a part that took me a lot longer to make.

I don't like making mistake but I can live with a bit of trashed brass but what really scares me is when I do a bit of goldsmithing and I'm soldering that up. A few seconds of lack of concentration can turn $700 worth of formed 18K gold wire to $450 worth of scrap gold and that really hurts. Thankfully I've not ruined any gold yet just a couple of bits of silver. :big:

 

[Tin Falcon]

BM

like I have said before the home shop is like a college Engineering lab not mistakes just lessons learned.
here are the ways I have coped with the frustration of blowing a tolerance or doing a duh.
a small part like a screw or bushing that I am working on a piece of rod I will just face off or part off the unusable piece and make another and keep going.
I have turned my "mistake " into a design change for instance one of my engines is a mirror image of the original print because I threaded the wrong side of the engine block.
I have set aside parts for use in later projects. (Sometimes after bouncing them off the floor.)
I have set projects aside for months sometimes many months then completed them. after working on other projects.
Remember if it was easy lots of people would do this and it would not be as rewarding.
remember priorities
1) Work Safe
2) have fun
3) learn something new
4) build skills
5) make some parts for tools or engines
6) build a few engines
7 ) show off said engines
8) Have fun.

Tin

 

[GailInNM]

After you have been building for a while you will have a well stocked box of "extra" parts. I think most of us consider them a part of our education, but they can be a part of others education also.

I used to display at a number of model engineering shows that were open to the public. Many of the models there will have "look but don't touch" signs on them. I always took a pile of these extra parts for people to look at and hold. I would take ones that were dimensionally off, but looked OK. If one got dropped, or "misplaced" it was no big deal. If you don't go to shows the same thing works for visitors in the shop. If you have a youngster, say any one under 60, in the shop you might even let them have one to take with them to help keep them interested in model engineering. It all helps to promote the hobby and the more people who build things the more fun we all have.

It's amazing what being able to touch and play with a part will do the peoples attitude about the type of toys we play with.
Gail in NM,USA

 

[tmuir]

Great idea Gail. Not that I've made enough to display anything yet or any of my stuff ups so far are worth displaying except maybe as modern art but worth remembering all the same.

 

[wareagle]

BMyers, hang in there! If I had a nickel for everything that I have screwed up in my shop, then I certainly would have a lot more play toys!! It's sad to think on the money that has been wasted for seemingly stupid mistakes, but as the others have said, I chalk it up to the price of education. Nothing in life is free, including experience!

When I make a error (a mistake is when you don't learn from it) in the shop, I do two things. One, I analyze what went wrong in the first place, and two I try to come up with a method of "rescuing" the item from the scrap bin. Many times, whether it is salvageable or not, I find that I have come up with creative ways to accomplish a task that I would have not otherwise taken the time to ponder. I can always point to the thing that caused me the error in the first place, and all of this has improved my confidence and skills over the years.

On throwing stuff; I try to refrain from that. Admittedly I have done it before, and likely will in the future, but I view it as a bad habit to be in. Flinging an item across that shop may get you or someone else hurt one day, or maybe destroy an object of value. In my humble opinion, it isn't worth the risk.

So, take this instance and charge forward. Don't let it discourage you. Learn from your error and apply it to your future work. In the end, errors will make you better at your craft!

 

[mklotz]

I've said it before here but it bears repeating...

When you screw up, don't attempt to "fix" things immediately. Set the job aside (you're not on a schedule) and do something else. Come back to it tomorrow. This will give you a chance to calm down and allow your mind to dwell on what went wrong, whether and how the part can be fixed and how you can avoid making the same mistake again.

 

[bronzecaster]

When I mess up a casting and the quiet profanity subsides, I just throw the piece that annoyed me into the crucible. There's a certain glee that comes watching the thing melt into a pool of metal. Then it's onto the next mistake