waggy
Statesman
Posts: 744
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Post by waggy on Mar 7, 2007 19:40:00 GMT
After all the banter and bashings of some recent threads, I have a whim to start a thread that asks some of those "unanswerable" questions. ie .......... When one of the flutes on a centre drill gets blocked with swarf, why is it always the flute you can't see? Why can't I find anything after I've tidied up? Why do small items bounce so far when dropped? Any more worth pondering? Waggy.  |
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Post by GWRdriver on Mar 7, 2007 20:21:42 GMT
Why do small items bounce so far when dropped? The following treatise, which I wrote several years ago and which has subsquently appeared in a number of US club newsletters, should answer your question: P.I.L.A.F.B.S. A group of us were chatting awhile back about workshop disasters, although I suspect that none of us were telling the worst of things we'd done, and most of us had many of them in common, such as finding "lost" chuck wrenches, usually immediately after powering up a machine, and playing "Whirl the Vise" on the drill press, and so on. However, although it shouldn't actually be categorized as a disaster, our discussions reminded me of another problem that doesn't seem to get very much attention, at least as far as an attempt to find a cure. Although I've become much more aware of it and careful about it, I've always seemed to have occasional spells of the "Dropsies" which come on when I least expect it. You know what the Dropsies are, when you accidentally drop little parts (or big ones for that matter) while you are filing, fitting, or transferring them from the lathe or vise, or in some other way have them suspended in your fingertips in mid-air. But the Dropsies problem is one that in the end we can have control over and can take steps to improve or eliminate. The more universal problem is one that is quite beyond our control and comes into play after the precious part has left your fingertips and lept to freedom. I've named this phenomenon PILAFBS, or the "Post-Impact Lateral Acceleration of Falling Bits Syndrome". For the scientifically challenged, this curious phenomenon would be defined as follows: "The tendency, when dropped on the workshop floor, and upon impact, for a very small but crucial part to (a) accelerate laterally with several times the energy that it could ever possibly have developed during its fall, and (b) at an angle that is completely random and bears no relationship whatsoever to either the dropped object, it's dropping point, the floor surface, the obstructions thereupon, or position of your feet". A perplexing subtlety of the problem, not evident from the definition above, is that the more time invested in the part, the faster it will accelerate laterally thus compunding the problem. PILAFBS continues to perplex and exasperate scientists (and MEs) the world over and at the moment no preventative or cure is known. The second part of the inquiry has been to quantify and develop an equation for determining "MCT", or Maximum Crawl Time. This would be the maximum amount of time one is justified in spending crawling about on hands and knees in the chips and dust on the workshop floor looking for the lost bit, often with a magnifying glass, before finally coming to one's senses, regaining one's dignity, and beginning work on a replacement part. From my own experience, the more times you have been struck with PILAFBS, the less likely you are to expend valuable time in on a search which you will inevitably come to the conclusion that it's a fruitless waste of energy. The only consolation you will have is the knowledge that years from now, when your heirs clean out the workshop, a treasure trove of beautiful, tiny, but unexplained bits will be found behind and under this bench or that machine. In closing I have to say that you may be comforted to know that there is a single exception to the PILAFBS phenomenon which is summed up in "The Chuck Corollary", which states simply that "A chuck, when dropped upon one's foot, tends to stay there, at least until the damage is done." Of course for the purposes of this inquiry "rotary table" or "dividing head" can be substituted for "chuck" in the equation with no loss of effect. Further reports of my inquiry will be posted as work progresses. H. Wade, Professor Emeritus Dept. of Unexplained Workshop Phenomenon © 2004 H. Wade |
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Post by Laurie_B on Mar 7, 2007 20:23:49 GMT
Why is it...... .......you think to yourself......you've got an hour or two........you go in the workshop......you get going on some part or another......and as soon as you get really absorbed in what you're doing....... ....the phone goes.......it's someone from India trying to sell you a double glazed mobile phone or something else that you really don't need.  |
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Post by ron on Mar 7, 2007 20:30:12 GMT
Laurie, why do you have a phone in the workshop? and more to the point why do you bother answering it? The telephone is one of the great plagues of modern life  Anyway back to the topic, how come no matter how many drills or milling cutters I have, it's always the one I don't have that's needed, same applies to flowerpots for some strange reason  Ron |
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John Lee
Part of the e-furniture
Posts: 375
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Post by John Lee on Mar 7, 2007 20:35:05 GMT
After all the banter and bashings of some recent threads, I have a whim to start a thread that asks some of those "unanswerable" questions. ie .......... When one of the flutes on a centre drill gets blocked with swarf, why is it always the flute you can't see? Why can't I find anything after I've tidied up? Why do small items bounce so far when dropped? Any more worth pondering? Waggy. There is certainly a market for a low bounce not "where is the bu***r" floor surface Dirty knees.... and much blue language.. I am glad its not just me. Flower Pots Ron?? Ahh one of the Flower pot Men?? Regards, John |
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Post by Laurie_B on Mar 7, 2007 20:53:33 GMT
Laurie, why do you have a phone in the workshop? and more to the point why do you bother answering it? The telephone is one of the great plagues of modern life They certainly are,Ron.Actually,the workshop's too near the phone,and you never know,it might be an important call . And why is it..... ....if I inadvertently leave the top off the bottle of marking out fluid.....I knock the bottle over? :(This never seems to happen when I've replaced the top of course! |
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Post by the_viffer on Mar 7, 2007 21:28:07 GMT
Mrs the_viffer. Need I say more?
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paul
Member
Posts: 8
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Post by paul on Mar 7, 2007 21:32:24 GMT
Why does the urge to machine any part however simple outweigh the urge to clean & de-swarf the expensive lathe?
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Post by Nexuas on Mar 7, 2007 21:59:21 GMT
It must have taken ages for Warco to perfect this, but on my BV20 lathe there is a cast recess in the stand under the chuck, whenever I part off any small item it falls off, hits the saddle and always shoots straight to the back of this unaccessable black hole. To retrive said item I have to break my fore-arm in two places to obtain the correct angle of attack and stir through 2" of swarf, which generally comes out stuck in the back of my hand.
Also this only happens with Brass, bronze and copper, as I have a bendy magnetic arm for retriving steel parts, these always hit the saddle and sit there in broad day light ready to be picked up (Generally burning my fingers as they are hot!!!)
Also if you have a spare you will never break a drill bit, but if you don't it will always snap two holes before completion of the job!!!
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waggy
Statesman
Posts: 744
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Post by waggy on Mar 7, 2007 22:24:52 GMT
Thankyou all for joining the spirit of things! Love the P.I.L.A.F.B.S., Harry! My dad always wore trousers with turn ups, these being the only device known to man for preventing total loss of small parts! Re Laurie-B's 'phone, thats not a problem here, it's the "unmissable" bits of a TV programme that my better half insists on me seeing! She has a "workshop door knock" that would wake the dead, guaranteed to frighten the life out of me in a quiet moment. Waggy. |
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Post by Shawki Shlemon on Mar 8, 2007 6:48:19 GMT
The switch on my lathe gave up the ghost a few days ago . To replace it I must get access to the back of the machine to get to the wiring panel to identify the wires. A hard job to do in a small workshop like mine but what has to be done must be done . Guess what did I find there after 26 years ? I am keeping it a secret never to be told .By the way I am still waiting for the supply of the switch ,these days they don't stock anything before they sell it .  |
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Post by Tel on Mar 8, 2007 8:00:16 GMT
You gotta show some initiative you blokes - you will NEVER drop small parts if you dip your hands, up to the elbows, in a bucket of honey before handling them.
Sheesh - I gotta tell yers everything??
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Post by Tel on Mar 8, 2007 8:03:49 GMT
Guess what did I find there after 26 years ?
Your wedding ring?
Watch?
other hand?
lunch?
The_viffer's hangover cure?
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Post by thefodenman on Mar 8, 2007 9:50:15 GMT
Why is it?
10BA taps always break?
The battery drill is always flat?
Theres never a match to light the propane?.
Things always move when your soldering?
Why does the 1/8 reamer hide in the bottom of the box?.
Why are all lathe tools are always blunt?.
Why is there never enough time?.
Where does all the time go?
Why do hacksaw blades break?
Where do small drills go?
Why do parting off tools aways dig in?.
Why does paint always run?.
Why do centre punch marks never go exactly where the cross is?
Why is it you can never read the size on number drills?.
Hmmm, frustration must be a model engineers thing!!!!
I'll still be in the workshop tonight again.
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Myford Matt
Statesman
There are two ways to run a railway, the Great Western way, and the wrong way.
Posts: 621
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Post by Myford Matt on Mar 8, 2007 10:09:20 GMT
The switch on my lathe gave up the ghost a few days ago . To replace it I must get access to the back of the machine to get to the wiring panel to identify the wires. A hard job to do in a small workshop like mine but what has to be done must be done . Guess what did I find there after 26 years ? I am keeping it a secret never to be told .By the way I am still waiting for the supply of the switch ,these days they don't stock anything before they sell it . The chuck key? ;D |
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nbmike
Active Member
Posts: 20
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Post by nbmike on Mar 8, 2007 10:18:56 GMT
How about a few jars of treacle poured on the workshop floor to prevent P.I.L.A.F.B.S problems. You can get some of those handy rubber clogs to wear and kick them off before leaving the workshop!
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nbmike
Active Member
Posts: 20
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Post by nbmike on Mar 8, 2007 10:21:14 GMT
I was amused to see Google promoting flutes and saxes after picking up "Flutes" in the first post
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abby
Statesman
Posts: 927
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Post by abby on Mar 8, 2007 10:30:26 GMT
So that is where that copy of "health and efficiency " went shawki !
Abby
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Post by Laurie_B on Mar 8, 2007 11:03:44 GMT
And why is it.... That mugs of tea seem cool at a much quicker rate in the workshop than in any other part of the house?You make a mug of tea,put it on the end of the bench and just finish off what you were doing,before having a refreshing slurp.And lo and behold the tea has mysteriously gone stone cold! |
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Post by Nexuas on Mar 8, 2007 12:49:24 GMT
And why is it.... That mugs of tea seem cool at a much quicker rate in the workshop than in any other part of the house?You make a mug of tea,put it on the end of the bench and just finish off what you were doing,before having a refreshing slurp.And lo and behold the tea has mysteriously gone stone cold! I had a feeling this was happening, but could not be sure, glad someone else experiences this!!! |
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