Tolerances And/Or Tolerance

[Buffalo20]

A guy I used to deal with, showed up at the shop this morning, acting like a long lost friend (his opinion), he was obviously looking for something, but I refused to take the bait, so he hemmed and hawed for 10-15 minutes, then left. Its been about 4-5 years since is last visit, I hoping for a lot longer span, before then next one. Here is the story that upset me up the last time.




- I quasi-friend showed up to the shop today and within 15 minutes had me so ****** off I almost threw him out the door. I've always work to the adage my grandfather and his brothers work to, who ran the local machine shop, "you machine to the level of quality the customer is willing to pay for". Ricks theory is you machine to NASA quality, because, you know more/better than the idiot who brought the piece in to begin with.

- This all started when he saw me repair a snowblower auger drive shaft (the neighbor had run over his dog's chain) and I got it where it was smooth enough to just slid through the bearing/alignment housing. As far as I was concern it was good enough for a 15 year old snow blower, it was for a neighbor who is getting on in age and has some health issues. Rick said that shaft had to be completely redone and with a new bearing and all new hardware then informed me it was a $150 to $200 job.

- As I was listening to him nattering on and on , I reassembled the drive, fired up the snowblower, tested the auger drive, then wheeled the unit over to the neighbor's garage. At that point I walked back to the shop, he went ape-****, that I didn't demand payment for the job.

I then told him that there were a few things he didn't understand

1 - it was my job, not his
2 - it was none of his business
3 - it was my shop, not his
4 - if he couldn't/wouldn't accept these facts, he could go screw himself.

He stood there making small talk for about 15 minutes, then "found" a reason to leave (quickly).

The neighbor was a head machinist for ALCO locomotive engines and has quietly (as not alarm his wife) given me in the range of $4000 of tools and equipment, he retired with. How do you charge a guy like that. Also they have a huge garden, the wife gets tomatoes, squash and green beans all summer long, so one hand washes the other.

So the thread title tolerance means numerous thing, the tolerances you work to and the tolerance needed to deal with asshats.




He also, always wants me to do the "rough" machining on his projects, as he doesn't want to dirty his own lathe or milling machine. Also, again I can not machine to his standard. He once took 3 weeks (yes, 3 weeks) to machine, (2) 4-1/2" OD x 3" ID x 3/8" steel spring spacers, for his car. He ordered the right spring weight ratio, but 3/8" too short. I did the first set, which were fully usable, in about an hour and a half. Because one of them was about .035" bigger than the other, and fully unacceptable to him. By the way the car hasn't moved in about the last 7 years.

I was thinking about this, after he left, my level of tolerance has gone down drastically in the last 5 years, if this incident happened today, I'd probably be facing a possible assault charge.

In a shop the word tolerance or tolerances can have multiple meanings.

 

[Rustrp]

Sometimes we need to vent and be validated and that's okay. Friends don't do what he did so he doesn't deserve the quasi recognition and he doesn't need an explanation, why, how, or (pun intended) Jack about what you do.

I have an ex-partner (10 long months) who thinks the reason for our split has somehow healed over. Every few years he will walk through the door long enough for me to give him the treatment that causes his exit. Two sentences is about all he's worth and this way no ill feelings are allowed to fester. -Russ

 

[LucknowKen]

my level of tolerance has gone down drastically in the last 5 years,
In a shop the word tolerance or tolerances can have multiple meanings.

My level of tolerance has gone down drastically as well.
Sometimes it is difficult to measure mettle.

 

[wawoodman]

I sometimes have to tell people: "Good, fast, cheap. Pick any two."

 

[hermetic]

One of my best friends has one of these characters, who comes around his workshop ocasionally now, but used to be frequently. I should explain my friend was apprentice trained as a precision engineer, and was in that trade till it dried up in the UK in about the early nineties, then bought a house and joiners shop complete with machinery and now, near retirement, but still working, makes bespoke woodwork. He would come around and ask for wood machined to impossible tolerances, seemingly unaware that wood is a natural material, and expands and contracts with season and temperature. He would machine things he made so tight that there was no room for lubricant, and once sent a piece of steel tube for a bicycle frame from the UK to Canada to have it accurately bent to his "exacting standards". What we have to remember about these people is that, to all intents and purposes, they are MAD, and their reason for existence is to draw other people into agreement with them, and thus draw them in to their madness. Do not give them the time of day, they will waste your time and money, spoil your day, and you effectiveness! Tell them if they want it done that way, to do it their fekkin selves!! Thats what he did, and his life is the better for it!

 

[joshua43214]

I know a guy just like him. He told me I was "deplorable" last time I saw him
I try keep a sense of humor about it, and be tolerant of wayward children, but it can be hard sometimes.

Either way, good job at not blowing up at him.