SuzukiSavage.com - State of the mechanical world?

justin_o_guy2 Serious Thumper Offline What happened? Posts: 55279 East Texas, 1/2 dallas/la.	Re: State of the mechanical world? Reply #15 - 04/01/19 at 10:08:12 shop/welding/mechanics Will continue to be important for a while longer. The need to operate an IBM Selectric III, Notsomuch.
Back to top	The people never give up their liberties but under some delusion.- Edmund Burke. IP Logged

Dave YaBB Moderator ModSquad Offline SuzukiSavage.com Rocks! Posts: 17832 Camp Springs, Kentucky Gender:	Re: State of the mechanical world? Reply #16 - 04/01/19 at 10:13:30 justin_o_guy2 wrote on 04/01/19 at 10:08:12: The need to operate an IBM Selectric III, Notsomuch. Hey....I used to type on those - it was soooo much nicer than the ROYAL manual typewriters....it had a button that would erase your mistakes!
Back to top	Someday I will be old......But not today! IP Logged

justin_o_guy2

Serious Thumper

Offline

What happened?

Posts: 55279
East Texas, 1/2 dallas/la.

Re: State of the mechanical world?
Reply #17 - 04/01/19 at 10:30:26

That's what they used when I was fixing copiers and cash registers. The typewriter guy did almost no others. They would make triplicate copies and offered the quick change of font via that Frikken super lightweight ball. That machine, assembly line built, was so accurate and dependable, it's a marvelous piece of engineering. That ball rose up, twisted and tilted to drive the correct letter into the ribbon, and the text came out straight.. and a tiny ribbon of metal made it work.
I worked on some strange copiers, the strangest was probably an old Xerox, that used a roll of paper. Feed a roll of downhole data, and copy it. Today, the digital age has made such needs disappear.
Type in the information, get copies.

Run the logging instruments, and what?
For all I know there is no hard copy generated today..

Ohhh, BTW, we're old.

Back to top

The people never give up their liberties but under some delusion.- Edmund Burke.

IP Logged

Fast 650

Senior Member

Offline

SuzukiSavage.com
Rocks!

Posts: 396
Valrico, FL
Gender: male

Re: State of the mechanical world?
Reply #18 - 04/01/19 at 11:24:28

Eegore wrote on 04/01/19 at 09:05:36:

When I go to a mechanic, and I rotate my mechanics regularly, it is not as if every place I go to has a bunch of guys near retirement working there.

Same for service centers like Wal-Mart, Jiffy-Lube etc. that provide basic services. I see plenty of 20 year old's working on vehicles. the difference is that its at a company, not a driveway.

Also someone here mentioned how youth are very competent in things related to digital tech. One thing I have been looking at lately is augmented reality systems where a mechanic, and a customer wear a headset that digitally projects the repair process onto the physical machine the customer is looking at. This system works, and it works well.

This is what youth are interested in. That doesn't discount the value of traditional mechanic skills, but saying we should maintain a shop/welding/mechanics class in middle and high school as it has been done in the 80's - 2000's is like saying we need to have typing classes like they had in the 80's - 2000's.

Are we really going to bring back the typewriter someday? The full-size keyboard? The driveway mechanic?

The problem is that the tech is not allowing them to learn what we would consider to be very basic skills. I saw an article the other day saying that there are kids in med school who have all of the book smarts that they need to graduate but that they lack the physical dexterity skills to tie off surgical thread. They never learned the finger dexterity to tie the thread because they learned to swipe right on their devices instead.

I already work with a few kids who can't figure out how to use a screwdriver properly. To them, any size screwdriver should work equally well in any size screw slot and they can't understand why they strip the screw slot then. And lefthand threads are like some kind of black magic to them. It is great entertainment to watch them try to assemble something like a tie rod or a turnbuckle. They will almost always unscrew the lefthand threaded end while having this confused look and saying "but it is righty tighty, lefty loosey" and watching the part unscrew as they turn it to the right. I would love to watch them try to rotate tires on a 60's Chrysler product. Grin

Back to top

IP Logged

jcstokes

Serious Thumper

Offline

SuzukiSavage.com is
very useful

Posts: 2119
Mauku New Zealand
Gender: male

Re: State of the mechanical world?
Reply #19 - 04/01/19 at 12:09:33

I was travelling on one of our small motorways the other day, thousands of cars around, saw two breakdowns, one a 'sixties Morris Minor, google Morris Minor if unsure and a later Japanese import. What if you live in an innercity apartment with nowhere to work on a vehicle. If your vehicle is reliable and regularly serviced by some mechanic who knows his stuff do you need or want to work on it. I've no doubt you can buy OBD1 and OBD2 scanners to tell you where the fault codes are, but where do you plug them in?

Back to top

Completely stock 2010 S40, aftermarket rev counter and back pack, Airhawk seat pad

IP Logged

Armen

Serious Thumper

Offline

Half-Witted
Wrench-Jockey from
Jersey

Posts: 1432

Re: State of the mechanical world?
Reply #20 - 04/01/19 at 17:41:59

Apparently, there was a high level meeting of Home Depot mucky-mucks a while ago. The stores pride themselves in offering pretty serious home repair classes. One VP suggested that many of the millenials don't know how to use a tape measure, screwdriver, or ratchet. At first she was laughed at, but she presented data that proved her point.. She further theorized that these kids can't admit how clueless they are, so they wouldn't come to the store to learn and let others see them. So, the solution will be to offer online tutorials/Youtube type stuff and help out the kids.

Back to top

In theory, theory and reality are the same. In reality, they aren't...

IP Logged

Fast 650

Senior Member

Offline

SuzukiSavage.com
Rocks!

Posts: 396
Valrico, FL
Gender: male

Re: State of the mechanical world?
Reply #21 - 04/02/19 at 12:13:36

That is a brilliant idea putting up howto videos. Now if the kids will only sit down and watch them.

I had to help a millenial replace the hose on the sandblaster at work the other night. I told him to get a screwdriver to take the hose off and he came back with a chisel. His explanation was "well it fits the slot". I sent him back for a real screwdriver then. He came back with one that someone had reground to a chisel shape because they needed a chisel. While that sounds bad enough as is, the screws were Phillips heads. I am glad that retirement is so close now.

Back to top

IP Logged

DragBikeMike

Serious Thumper

Offline

SuzukiSavage.com
Rocks!

Posts: 4222
Honolulu

Re: State of the mechanical world?
Reply #22 - 04/02/19 at 12:22:47

The vids are great. My son-in-law is a lawyer. He's not super mechanically inclined but he gets by. He really has almost no experience working on cars. He had an old Ford Ranger and the gas gage crapped out. He went on line and found a YouTube vid that gave him the low down on changing the float on the sending unit. He went out in his driveway, pulled the bed off his truck, removed the pump assembly from the tank, replaced the defective float, and got it all back together just fine. Pretty cool.

Back to top

Knowledge is power.

IP Logged

verslagen1 YaBB Moderator ModSquad Online Where there's a will, I want to be in it. Posts: 28787 L.A. California Gender:	Re: State of the mechanical world? Reply #23 - 04/02/19 at 13:17:04 My daughter is doing a dental on a rabbit today. She reviews the Youtubes for the latest tips.
Back to top	Versey's Place Tech Section Index IP Logged

Ruttly

Serious Thumper

Offline

Thumpers Rule

Posts: 5008
Manteca , CA
Gender: male

Re: State of the mechanical world?
Reply #24 - 04/02/19 at 13:53:44

I hear you all , but I'm here to stick up for some young mechanics. Where I work there is no faking it , either your good or your down the road. We have several under 30 techs that are very talented. At the same time the same age group amazes me that they can wipe themselves and tie their shoes. Any group that thinks beer pong should be a Olympic sport doesn't show much promise. Me being a wrench all my life and as a job for 31 years , I know the difference between a labor faker and a talented wrench.

Back to top

The Topic Terminator

IP Logged

madmikesmech Full Member Offline SuzukiSavage.com Rocks! Posts: 227 Olean ny Gender:	Re: State of the mechanical world? Reply #25 - 04/03/19 at 07:43:30 Hello all👋 Great topic! I'll turn 55 this June, just so you all know what generation I am. IMHO, we ( my generation) were raised and grew up in the best times. Most of us just became mechanically inclined... why 🤷‍♂️, but thank God we did!!! I think this T-shirt says it all
Back to top	1999 Savage, basically stock, except drag bars, 4"risers,Jardine turn out muffler, Raptor petcock, Verslagen modified cam chain adjuster,4" forward controls IP Logged

Eegore

Serious Thumper

Offline

SuzukiSavage.com
Rocks!

Posts: 8017

Re: State of the mechanical world?
Reply #26 - 04/03/19 at 16:31:11

The Home Depot approach of using videos to show basic home improvement skills is a good idea. People complain that younger generations spend too much time watching videos on there phones. Incidentally these tend to be the people that grew up being told they watch too much TV by the generation that grew up listening to too much radio.

What I find interesting is the complaints that shop/metals etc. classes are less available in public education, yet somehow also wonder why fewer youth don't know how to use a tape measure. If they shouldn't watch it on YouTube, and don't learn it in school, where do they learn it?

Back to top

IP Logged

Ruttly Serious Thumper Offline Thumpers Rule Posts: 5008 Manteca , CA Gender:	Re: State of the mechanical world? Reply #27 - 04/03/19 at 17:01:21 Madmike, Where can I find that shirt ? I got to have one.
Back to top	The Topic Terminator IP Logged

madmikesmech Full Member Offline SuzukiSavage.com Rocks! Posts: 227 Olean ny Gender:	Re: State of the mechanical world? Reply #28 - 04/03/19 at 19:36:40 Ruttly, stumbled on it on one of those pop up ads on the Facebook. Get a size BIGGER than you normally wear!! The XL I ordered looks like a tight belly shirt on me! ;🤣🤣 I'm 6' 210lb, an XL usually fits me perfect
Back to top	1999 Savage, basically stock, except drag bars, 4"risers,Jardine turn out muffler, Raptor petcock, Verslagen modified cam chain adjuster,4" forward controls IP Logged

madmikesmech Full Member Offline SuzukiSavage.com Rocks! Posts: 227 Olean ny Gender:	Re: State of the mechanical world? Reply #29 - 04/03/19 at 19:44:09 Ruttly wrote on 04/03/19 at 17:01:21: Madmike, Where can I find that shirt ? I got to have one. Ruttly, not the exact skill and cross wrench logo mine has but the same logo!!👍 https://www.google.com/search?q=old+school+mechanic+t+shirt&client=ms-android...
Back to top	1999 Savage, basically stock, except drag bars, 4"risers,Jardine turn out muffler, Raptor petcock, Verslagen modified cam chain adjuster,4" forward controls IP Logged