Planning a manufacturing class for coworkers

Sparweb said:
any books, tech manuals or other kinds of "how-to" materials that might serve to get my students started?
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Too bad I finally tossed my books for when I got my A&P in ‘83. I would think the airframe book would be just the kind of basic overview you’d need. I don’t know if it’s changed but 99% of all questions on the A&P exams was based on our books which were about WWII era planes and systems.
 
I like to compare " book smart " and "street smart " . The company I am employed by now has a small shop with a couple of CNC and maual mills and lathes , SG , EDM , with full support equipment and 3 machinists all of which are 65 years old or older . We layed off a few older engineers recently and hired a few very young ones . I find them in the shop quite often fiddling around with the handles and trying to get feeds engaged the right direction etc . I don't say a thing as it is not my responsibility . I'm a machinist but with the maintenance dept and have completely different leadership and responsibilities . Not sure what will happen when everyone retires in the other group very soon . :dunno:

As far as books , it's hard to say . Basic safety and machine operation , mechanical assemblies , drive and gear assemblies , pnuematics and hydraulics ? I don't know if engineers have these any longer but these and many more were apprenticeship classes as well as Heat treating , Geometric Tolerancing and Dimensioning , gear cutting . Not that an engineer would need to be an expert on any of these , but he would at the very least have to have a clue or he would be lost .

I gave away most of my books from college and apprenticeship days . I kept the technical ones that I can still use today . I really don't need books to set up machinery any longer , choose tooling , set feeds and speeds etc . I will say this ..........................the best book that ever brought the newer engineers into the machinists terms was the GTD books . I've said it on here years ago and saying it now . If the engineers can't design things correctly , the machinists sure can't make it correctly .

mmcmdl said:
After the handbook , I recommend everyone reading the Ansi book on Geometric tolerancing and dimensioning . Novice as well as expert machinists and engineers will learn why things will or won't work . The cad cam programs will actually call out interference fits and such but most of us aren't fortunate enough to use these programs . I don't know if this book is available online . I have an extra copy if not , only requirement is return it when read . We could keep it moving around if we want too .
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FWIW . The last large job with AAI I completed was the trailer mounted catapult for the Shadow planes . Before these , the planes needed takeoff space which was a very big luxery . The prototype was done without prints , manufacturing engineering , supervision etc . We just made it work , on time and under budget ...........................and it sold and made big $$$$$$ to the company . Of course now , they have the VTOAL drones which don't need the space and are the size of a match pack . :grin:
 
Sparweb said:
I am indeed in aerospace.
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In that case, I think I can offer some useful input. For reference, I'm in aviation as well. Eight years working now (hard to believe how time flies) and moving from being the student to the teacher more often.

We had an elective at Embry-Riddle, ME 200, that taught the basics of aerospace fabrication. It was run by the aviation maintenance department, and was one of the most useful courses I took. The layout was roughly as follows:
  1. Intro sessions
  2. Composites classroom time
  3. Lay up a flat fiberglass panel
  4. Lay up a small wing section (apparently this was a Rutan practice part)
  5. Sheetmetal classroom time. Intro to solid rivets, what sheet metal is, types, how it can be formed, common tools, etc.
  6. Learn to cut a part. Teach measuring, layout, use of a shear, files, and burnishing tools.
  7. Learn to rivet. Cut two sheets roughly 2x5 and set a few dozen rivets. Learn how to drill out rivets. The exercise is complete when you have a panel with all acceptable rivets.
  8. Learn to bend. Apply bend calculations in practice. Bend an angle and rivet it to a flat sheet with another dozen rivets.
  9. Make a basic tray. The center is a U channel, the ends are bent and riveted on. This tray is beside me at my desk as I write this; I still keep my pens in it.
  10. Make a nicer tray. This one was two nesting four-sided boxes, slid over each other and riveted together. We used the turret punch and rivet squeezer on this one, and it was an opportunity to make something useful.
Assuming the composites content is out of scope for what you're trying to do, I think you could transcribe their lesson plan directly if you wanted to. I still have all the parts I made back then if you want photos or dimensions.

A few thoughts:
  • They taught the classroom content at a mechanic's pace, not an engineer's pace. They could have sped those portions up considerably. In your case, I think you can give them a little write up and some sample bend calculations on the subject as required reading and homework, and expect them to come in with a solid understanding of the theoretical side of things.
  • Have them do it until they can do it well. They will get more out of the class if they come away with the pride of producing a square part or a panel full of nice clean rivets. It will build a sense of camaraderie and understanding with the guys who do it every day.
  • If you want to add some machining content, I milled a little rivet check gauge for -3 to -6 bucktails that I used in class.
  • Some of the other really educational moments in my career have been the opportunities I've had to follow my own drawings. It adds a whole level of understanding to the design and drafting work. for their capstone project, I would give them a sample part, have them reverse engineer it, and then make them follow their own prints.
-Kyle
 
Thanks Kyle!

Jeppesen books are just the kind of thing I'm looking for. I've already got the A&P Technician's Handbook series on my wishlist. That's also an interesting choice.

Your class experience is very similar to many of mine when I was in college. My college offered many courses like this, one focused on sheet metal, and a later one focused on composites. After graduating, I returned for machine shop night classes. This afternoon, I just found that I still have some notes and handouts from these classes, including some drawings. Score!

Your comment about the Burt Rutan kit practice part has just triggered another interesting idea. I have a set of Van's RV kit plans somewhere. There are lots of part drawings in there. Perfect for a "neutral" activity that gets people away from reading their own drawings and making something from a fresh source.

I'm surprised by the number of suggestions for the group to make drawings of parts and back again. That's probably more advanced than the people I'm working with now. They're pretty fresh out of school and still make very elementary errors. I want to see them using measurement tools first. The re-drawing exercise does sound like a good follow-up, later. I'll keep it in the back of my mind and consider it again after doing this first pass through.
 
Is there one or posibly two problems prevalent in the shop that are predominately engineering related? If so , you have your subject. If these students are not machinists or technicians how much machine or function training will be required?
Having some front line supervisory experience it would seem beneficial to make teams of one engineer and one shop technician making each part. Most importantly is the purpose of this training be explained to the entire group at the same meeting. Your technicians are not illiterate and for the most part are highly skilled and are there due to different life experiences. They will probably contribute worthwhile information to your program.
Have a good day
Rock Breaker
 
Hi Rock Breaker,
That would be VERY interesting to try out. We actually have a different system in place, where our engineers are encouraged to visit the shop as often as possible. But it's in a separate building 10 blocks away. We also have designated "point of first contact" or in other words, liaison, engineer that regularly responds to manufacturing inquiries. On the other hand, the guys in the shop are rarely seen in our offices and the manufacturing manager has probably dropped by the engineering building only a handful of times in the last year. So on the matter personal contact, I think my engineering people are making the biggest effort.

That said, your idea changes the dynamic, making the team a regular part of daily work, rather than a "necessity when something goes wrong". There could be a big benefit from doing that. First, it would remove the burden of training from just a handful of people. Instead, the juniors would pick up best practices from the source, by problem-solving with the people who have the problem. It might also remove the imbalance that exists now between the perceived source of the problems (Mfg always complaining) and perceived effort invested (engineers driving over). It's the imbalances like these that have been leading to friction and discouraging people from building understanding.
 
Thanks for the response.
Have a good day
Rock Breaker
 
We obviously are on a different level of size and complication, but our engineering dept. was up stairs in a corner of the assembly building so it just took some ignorance or bravery to go up and talk to the guy who was working on my project. I was lucky or cursed to get the development projects. We headed off many a problem just because they could come down and look at how it was going and I could easily walk up the stairs and get clarity on something. 10 blocks away is another planet IMHO.
 
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