How do you drill through stainless steel at home?

[Michael A. Terrell]

Jeff Liebermann wrote:

On Fri, 8 Mar 2013 17:08:39 +0000 (UTC), "Danny D."
danny@pleasedontemail.com> wrote:

Funny you mention your floor-sweeping past, as I also had
a summer job at a "plant" filled with metalworking machines
and Germans running them (real Germans, with heavy accents).

I was born in Germany. Sorry, no accent left.

They 'drilled' .010" holes in jet turbine blades using a machine
they called the "EDM" machine. It never once broke a bit because
it drilled by automatic feed in a bath of kerosene dialectic
simply by shooting electric current through the bit which was
merely very close to the steel being 'drilled'.

Today, they use a laser.

I think the EDM stood for Electro Dialectric Machining, and
the concepts were that the sparks "ate away" the metal.

I think you might mean Electrical Discharge Mangling:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrical_discharge_machining

Needless to say, I didn't bring one home with me...

During my Cal Poly Pomona daze, part of the general engineering
curriculum was to run the prospective engineer through every possible
metal working machine available. If they had it, I tried (to destroy)
it. My favorite was the submerged arc welder, where I successfully
created a hot powdered metal and flux volcano. Another was a rather
large spot welder, where I convinced a not very swift student to apply
grease to his sheet metal parts before welding. The result was a
small grease explosion, and a burn line across his shirt from elbow to
elbow. My councilor decided that electronics would be a safer major
for me.

Little did he know how dangerous you would be in that field. ;-)

 

[Ed Huntress]

On Fri, 08 Mar 2013 19:43:07 -0500, Uncle Steve <stevet810@gmail.com>
wrote:

On Fri, Mar 08, 2013 at 03:13:02PM -0500, Jim Wilkins wrote:
"Delvin Benet" <DB@nbc.n?t> wrote in message
news:97b4b$513a2c7e$414e828e$14484@EVERESTKC.NET...
On 3/8/2013 8:44 AM, Jim Wilkins wrote:
You just don't understand the self-reliant philosophy of R.C.M.,
do
you?

Actually, and being serious myself here, I think a lot of people in
r.c.m. take the self-reliance thing too far. They use bad judgment
in determining whether to make or buy. It would probably be a
better use of their time in many instances to buy rather than make a
part, or to hire certain work out to specialists. There is virtue
in being *able* to do a lot of things for oneself, but not always in
actually *doing* it.

I can't speak for anyone else, but I will try a job once to learn how
before I send it out. Then I can understand the fab shop when they
suggest changes to ease production. That mattered when we were trying
to push the state of the art in aircraft digital radios while staying
with commercial process limitations.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commercial_off-the-shelf

Too often electronic designers know nothing of creating the package
their brainchild must live in. Several times I've entered a project as
the lowly lab tech and bootstrapped myself up to systems integrator
after showing the engineers I could handle every aspect beyond their
initial schematic design, freeing them from its drudgery.
Proof-of-concept models I machined at home helped enormously.

Then I have to switch from building to buying as much as possible
because I'm swamped with designing and assembling all the circuit
board and coordinating the interfaces between each engineer's part of
the circuit.

The difference as a hobbyist is that I allocate more time and less
money so the balance shifts toward building. Plus each task I can
learn to do on the car brings me closer to truly owning it, instead of
it (and the dealer) owning me. My shop may have paid for itself by
making special tools from scrap to let me do dealer jobs like $600
timing belt replacements.
jsw

The difference between the men and the boys is the boys can maybe
afford to run out and buy every shiny tool on the market, but the men
can make their own tools.

Recently I had to drill through a short length of tool steel. Needless
to say, titanium-nitride coated bits didn't even start the hole. I
found some advice on a web-site which suggested using a torch to
remove the temper in the area of the workpiece to be drilled, which
was not an option in my case since the item I was working with was
about 1" x 1/2" x 1/16". Plus I don't have a forge yet. Another
suggestion was to use a wooden dowel and some grit, which is going to
take a while.

I ended up hanging a jar of coins from the drill-press handle in
conjunction with the dowel method. Periodically you have to replenish
the grit under the dowel, but it went through in a few hours.
Stainless steel is softer than tool steel, so a carbide tile bit might
work instead.


Regards,

Uncle Steve

Here's a thought to keep in mind for the future. It's the way that
gunsmiths annealed spots on (case hardened) '03 Springfield receivers,
for drilling to mount a scope.

Cut the head off of a 12d nail, or use other appropriately sized
pieces of mild steel bar. Chuck the nail or bar in your drill press
and mount the work firmly in your vise.

Get the spindle turning at a medium speed, bring the nail down onto
the work, and press down firmly. You want to make a spot glow at least
dark cherry red from friction.

Take the nail out of the drill chuck and chuck your drill bit. Drill
as deep as you need, or as deep as you can. If necessary, remove the
bit, re-chuck the nail, and do the whole thing again. The annealing
doesn't run very deep.

I've used this method to drill flat springs, and it worked great for
me. It also leaves a minimum amount of distortion and a minimal
heat-affected zone.

--
Ed Huntress

 

[Danny D.]

On Fri, 08 Mar 2013 14:52:24 -0600, Vic Smith wrote:

Hang this on the BBQ.

Interesting, they call it a "Church Key".

I have an old (way way way old) one, Ballantine stamped on it,
stored somewhere in the garage.

 

[Gil]

Why did you cross-post this to can.politics??? This is the second time
- the first one was the Chevy Volt!



On 08/03/2013 11:11 AM, Delvin Benet wrote:

On 3/8/2013 7:50 AM, Denis G. wrote:
On Mar 8, 2:30 am, "Michael A. Terrell" <mike.terr...@earthlink.net
wrote:
"Danny D." wrote:

What's the trick to drilling a hole through 1/2" thick stainless steel?

From my guardrail experience, I had bought titanium coated drill bits.

So I thought it would be easy to drill a hole in a stainless steel can
opener (for hanging on a loop outside by the BBQ cooler).

Nope!

I can't make a dent!
http://www5.picturepush.com/photo/a/12362068/img/12362068.jpg

What's the trick to drilling through stainless steel?

news:rec.crafts.metalworking would be a better place to ask. (Added)

I'd grind a very small flat spot with a Dremel tool (to prevent the
drill bit from skating) and anneal the end with a propane torch. You
can remove any discoloration with polishing.

I would go to the Sandia National Laboratory and get them to use a
powerful laser to burn a hole through the fucker.

 

[Denis G.]

On Mar 8, 10:38 am, "Jim Wilkins" <muratla...@gmail.com> wrote:

"Denis G." <guillemd53...@gmail.com> wrote in message

news:bc5768a5-40b2-48ee-a27e-236f4e56c7bc@c6g2000yqh.googlegroups.com...
On Mar 8, 2:30 am, "Michael A. Terrell" <mike.terr...@earthlink.net
wrote:









"Danny D." wrote:

What's the trick to drilling a hole through 1/2" thick stainless
steel?

From my guardrail experience, I had bought titanium coated drill
bits.

So I thought it would be easy to drill a hole in a stainless steel
can
opener (for hanging on a loop outside by the BBQ cooler).

Nope!

I can't make a dent!
http://www5.picturepush.com/photo/a/12362068/img/12362068.jpg

What's the trick to drilling through stainless steel?

news:rec.crafts.metalworking would be a better place to ask. (Added)

-I'd grind a very small flat spot with a Dremel tool (to prevent the
-drill bit from skating) and anneal the end with a propane torch.  You
-can remove any discoloration with polishing.

Can openers are hard enough to keep their edge while puncturing steel
cans, such as tomato juice comes in..http://www.metalsuppliersonline.com/propertypages/302.asp
"Cold working will dramatically increase the hardness of this
material,"

I've seen tensile strength listed as high as 200,000 PSI for Type 302
used for pallet strapping.

You could hang the can opener by a Prusik loop of fancy boot lacing
etc around the middle:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prusik

This knot survives handling better than a square knot:http://en.wikipedia..org/wiki/Fisherman's_knot

If you use braided Nylon cord you can melt and fuse the ends of the
loop and roll the warm joint flush so it nearly disappears.
jsw

I'll see your nylon and raise you a pliable vinyl end cap.

 

[Delvin Benet]

On 3/8/2013 5:23 PM, Gil wrote:

Why did you cross-post this to can.politics??? This is the second time
- the first one was the Chevy Volt!

Because Karen Gordon asked me to do it.

On 08/03/2013 11:11 AM, Delvin Benet wrote:
On 3/8/2013 7:50 AM, Denis G. wrote:
On Mar 8, 2:30 am, "Michael A. Terrell" <mike.terr...@earthlink.net
wrote:
"Danny D." wrote:

What's the trick to drilling a hole through 1/2" thick stainless
steel?

From my guardrail experience, I had bought titanium coated drill
bits.

So I thought it would be easy to drill a hole in a stainless steel can
opener (for hanging on a loop outside by the BBQ cooler).

Nope!

I can't make a dent!
http://www5.picturepush.com/photo/a/12362068/img/12362068.jpg

What's the trick to drilling through stainless steel?

news:rec.crafts.metalworking would be a better place to ask.
(Added)

I'd grind a very small flat spot with a Dremel tool (to prevent the
drill bit from skating) and anneal the end with a propane torch. You
can remove any discoloration with polishing.

I would go to the Sandia National Laboratory and get them to use a
powerful laser to burn a hole through the fucker.

 

[Danny D.]

On Fri, 08 Mar 2013 15:27:27 -0800, Jeff Liebermann wrote:

Form follows function.

This is an important point!

< begin embarrassing truth >

First, I tried shoe goop + leather strips. Disaster.
Luckily, the shoe goop cleaned off the stainless perfectly.

Then I tried rubber strips (made by cutting a 26"
length of bicycle tube strips about 1/2" wide.
Wouldn't stay on even though I used glue (it unwound
while the glue was setting.

Then, in frustration, I simply used electrical tape
and hanging wire! Butt ugly!

But, as Jeff said, form follows function ...
And, as Oren is fond of saying, "looks fine from far away!".

Here's a picture of the abomination!
(Drilling would have been prettier!).
http://www2.picturepush.com/photo/a/12369220/img/12369220.jpg

Notice the Ballantine Church Key from the 60s' next to it.
At least they had holes in the ends way back then.

I'll probably unwrap the electrical tape when I find
something better - but - for now - it should work
(but it's fuuuugly).

 

[Danny D.]

On Fri, 08 Mar 2013 15:17:01 -0800, Jeff Liebermann wrote:

Wood handle.

I like that idea best!

I can easily find a piece to fit, and it would
look nice too!

I'd have to varnish it (it's going to hang outdoors,
but then, I can at least DRILL the hole in the wood!).

That's the best idea of all!

 

[Jim Wilkins]

"Delvin Benet" <DB@nbc.nýt> wrote in message
news:97b4b$513a2c7e$414e828e$14484@EVERESTKC.NET...

On 3/8/2013 8:44 AM, Jim Wilkins wrote:
You just don't understand the self-reliant philosophy of R.C.M.,
do
you?

Actually, and being serious myself here, I think a lot of people in
r.c.m. take the self-reliance thing too far. They use bad judgment
in determining whether to make or buy. It would probably be a
better use of their time in many instances to buy rather than make a
part, or to hire certain work out to specialists. There is virtue
in being *able* to do a lot of things for oneself, but not always in
actually *doing* it.

I can't speak for anyone else, but I will try a job once to learn how
before I send it out. Then I can understand the fab shop when they
suggest changes to ease production. That mattered when we were trying
to push the state of the art in aircraft digital radios while staying
with commercial process limitations.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commercial_off-the-shelf

Too often electronic designers know nothing of creating the package
their brainchild must live in. Several times I've entered a project as
the lowly lab tech and bootstrapped myself up to systems integrator
after showing the engineers I could handle every aspect beyond their
initial schematic design, freeing them from its drudgery.
Proof-of-concept models I machined at home helped enormously.

Then I have to switch from building to buying as much as possible
because I'm swamped with designing and assembling all the circuit
boards and coordinating the interfaces between each engineer's part of
the circuit.

The difference as a hobbyist is that I allocate more time and less
money so the balance shifts toward building. Plus each task I can
learn to do on the car brings me closer to truly owning it, instead of
it (and the dealer) owning me. My shop may have paid for itself by
making special tools from scrap to let me do dealer jobs like $600
timing belt replacements.
jsw

 

[Baron]

Jeff Liebermann Inscribed thus:

On Fri, 8 Mar 2013 16:28:36 +0000 (UTC), "Danny D."
danny@pleasedontemail.com> wrote:

On Thu, 07 Mar 2013 19:08:10 -0800, Jeff Liebermann wrote:

see if it's magnetic. If it's been work hardened, it will be
slightly magnetic. If not, it will be non-magnetic. If it's very
magnetic, it will be 400 series stainless (contains no nickel).

Interesting diagnostics. The flat part (where I don't want to
attach a cord) is slightly magnetic. The cylindrical handle
(where I do want to drill) is not magnetic at all.
http://www2.picturepush.com/photo/a/12366090/img/12366090.jpg

Both parts are the same material, probably something in the 300
series. The flat part has been stamped or punched, which work hardens
the part, and produces the slight magnetic effect. Nothing pounded on
the handle, so it's not magnetic.

I had not realized how hard stainless steel is!

Hardly and that's NOT your problem. Trying to drill a rounded surface
directly is going to cause a very different problem. Visualize what a
cross section of the contact area at the round stainless handle and
drill interface. The only point of contact is at the very tiny tip of
the drill, where there's no cutting edge. You can spin that all day
long and never get the drill bit to cut any metal.

Take a bench grinder and put a flat area where you want to drill.
Grind or punch a starter hole. That will give the drill bit cutting
edge something to bite into. After that, you should be all right.

Incidentally, you haven't suffered until you've tried to machine
titanium.

Now now... He definitely doesn't want to do that :-(

--
Best Regards:
Baron.

 

[Jim Wilkins]

"Ed Huntress" <huntres23@optonline.net> wrote in message
news:m7fkj8pji0b04hp4gtlv514sa6pk27v5gp@4ax.com...

It may be that his only problem is with the initial state of the
stainless,

He did assume that titanium coating implied quality.

 

[The Daring Dufas]

On 3/8/2013 12:51 PM, Delvin Benet wrote:

On 3/8/2013 10:28 AM, The Daring Dufas wrote:
On 3/8/2013 12:23 PM, Delvin Benet wrote:
On 3/8/2013 10:15 AM, Delvin Benet wrote:
On 3/8/2013 8:44 AM, Jim Wilkins wrote:
"Delvin Benet" <DB@nbc.nýt> wrote in message
news:2631a$513a0d56$414e828e$15973@EVERESTKC.NET...

I would go to the Sandia National Laboratory and get them to use a
powerful laser to burn a hole through the fucker.

You just don't understand the self-reliant philosophy of R.C.M., do
you?

I was just making a joke. You take things too seriously.

Actually, and being serious myself here, I think a lot of people in
r.c.m. take the self-reliance thing too far. They use bad judgment in
determining whether to make or buy. It would probably be a better use
of their time in many instances to buy rather than make a part, or to
hire certain work out to specialists. There is virtue in being *able*
to do a lot of things for oneself, but not always in actually *doing*
it.

Back around 1977 or so, I had a colleague who constantly prattled on
about the virtue of working on one's car. He not only considered it a
virtue to do so, he considered it a moral failing in those who didn't.
In that era, business attire - suits - was still standard. One time
when this goof was nattering on about fixing one's own car and
expressing his disdain for those who didn't, I said, "Well, you could
always buy a couple of gallon cans of dry cleaning fluid and dryclean
your own suits, too. Do you?" He just gave me a dirty look and turned
away.

I suppose you would criticize a cowboy who tried to repair his horse? ^_^

LOL! Maybe not if he was a veterinarian.

Cowboy...reminds me of a couple of good jokes.

An old cowboy sat down at the bar and ordered a drink. As he sat sipping
his drink, a young woman sat down next to him. She turned to the cowboy
and asked, "Are you a real cowboy?" He replied, "Well, I've spent my
whole life breaking colts, working cows, going to rodeos, fixing fences,
pulling calves, baling hay, doctoring calves, cleaning my barn, fixing
flats, working on tractors, and feeding my dogs, so I guess I am a cowboy."

She said, "I'm a lesbian. I spend my whole day thinking about women. As
soon as I get up in the morning, I think about women. When I shower, I
think about women. When I watch TV, I think about women. I even think
about women when I eat. It seems that everything makes me think of women."

The two sat sipping in silence.

A little while later, a man sat down on the other side of the old cowboy
and asked, "Are you a real cowboy?"

He replied, "I always thought I was, but I just found out I'm a lesbian."

There is even a YouTube about it. ^_^

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1vm2jPM4ee8

TDD

 

[The Daring Dufas]

On 3/7/2013 3:46 PM, Danny D. wrote:

What's the trick to drilling a hole through 1/2" thick stainless steel?

From my guardrail experience, I had bought titanium coated drill bits.

So I thought it would be easy to drill a hole in a stainless steel can
opener (for hanging on a loop outside by the BBQ cooler).

Nope!

I can't make a dent!
http://www5.picturepush.com/photo/a/12362068/img/12362068.jpg

What's the trick to drilling through stainless steel?

I had a thought that if you're wanting to attach a chain to it and it
has a hollow handle, you could use an expanding concrete anchor and
a bolt with Loctite 262 to keep the bolt/screw from coming out. ^_^

TDD

 

[Jeff Liebermann]

On Fri, 08 Mar 2013 19:49:02 -0500, "Michael A. Terrell"
<mike.terrell@earthlink.net> wrote:

Little did he know how dangerous you would be in that field. ;-)

Ever notice my domain name? The Cal Poly motto is "Learn by Doing"
(Discere Faciendo). I didn't quite get the translation from Latin
correct and ended up with "Learn By Destroying". It was appropriate
Destruction and resurrection form a great learning experience. At the
time, I think I held the record for maximum damage in a single
semester. At graduation time, the faculty committee could not decide
if they should require that I hang around another year as punishment
for past indiscretions, or to summarily graduate me in order to get
rid of me.

Working in electronics was somewhat less destructive mostly because I
decided that actually thinking before I did something was a good idea.

--
Jeff Liebermann jeffl@cruzio.com
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558

 

[Uncle Steve]

On Fri, Mar 08, 2013 at 07:54:54PM -0500, Ed Huntress wrote:

On Fri, 08 Mar 2013 19:43:07 -0500, Uncle Steve <stevet810@gmail.com
wrote:

On Fri, Mar 08, 2013 at 03:13:02PM -0500, Jim Wilkins wrote:
"Delvin Benet" <DB@nbc.n?t> wrote in message
news:97b4b$513a2c7e$414e828e$14484@EVERESTKC.NET...
On 3/8/2013 8:44 AM, Jim Wilkins wrote:
You just don't understand the self-reliant philosophy of R.C.M.,
do
you?

Actually, and being serious myself here, I think a lot of people in
r.c.m. take the self-reliance thing too far. They use bad judgment
in determining whether to make or buy. It would probably be a
better use of their time in many instances to buy rather than make a
part, or to hire certain work out to specialists. There is virtue
in being *able* to do a lot of things for oneself, but not always in
actually *doing* it.

I can't speak for anyone else, but I will try a job once to learn how
before I send it out. Then I can understand the fab shop when they
suggest changes to ease production. That mattered when we were trying
to push the state of the art in aircraft digital radios while staying
with commercial process limitations.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commercial_off-the-shelf

Too often electronic designers know nothing of creating the package
their brainchild must live in. Several times I've entered a project as
the lowly lab tech and bootstrapped myself up to systems integrator
after showing the engineers I could handle every aspect beyond their
initial schematic design, freeing them from its drudgery.
Proof-of-concept models I machined at home helped enormously.

Then I have to switch from building to buying as much as possible
because I'm swamped with designing and assembling all the circuit
board and coordinating the interfaces between each engineer's part of
the circuit.

The difference as a hobbyist is that I allocate more time and less
money so the balance shifts toward building. Plus each task I can
learn to do on the car brings me closer to truly owning it, instead of
it (and the dealer) owning me. My shop may have paid for itself by
making special tools from scrap to let me do dealer jobs like $600
timing belt replacements.
jsw

The difference between the men and the boys is the boys can maybe
afford to run out and buy every shiny tool on the market, but the men
can make their own tools.

Recently I had to drill through a short length of tool steel. Needless
to say, titanium-nitride coated bits didn't even start the hole. I
found some advice on a web-site which suggested using a torch to
remove the temper in the area of the workpiece to be drilled, which
was not an option in my case since the item I was working with was
about 1" x 1/2" x 1/16". Plus I don't have a forge yet. Another
suggestion was to use a wooden dowel and some grit, which is going to
take a while.

I ended up hanging a jar of coins from the drill-press handle in
conjunction with the dowel method. Periodically you have to replenish
the grit under the dowel, but it went through in a few hours.
Stainless steel is softer than tool steel, so a carbide tile bit might
work instead.


Regards,

Uncle Steve

Here's a thought to keep in mind for the future. It's the way that
gunsmiths annealed spots on (case hardened) '03 Springfield receivers,
for drilling to mount a scope.

Cut the head off of a 12d nail, or use other appropriately sized
pieces of mild steel bar. Chuck the nail or bar in your drill press
and mount the work firmly in your vise.

Get the spindle turning at a medium speed, bring the nail down onto
the work, and press down firmly. You want to make a spot glow at least
dark cherry red from friction.

Take the nail out of the drill chuck and chuck your drill bit. Drill
as deep as you need, or as deep as you can. If necessary, remove the
bit, re-chuck the nail, and do the whole thing again. The annealing
doesn't run very deep.

I've used this method to drill flat springs, and it worked great for
me. It also leaves a minimum amount of distortion and a minimal
heat-affected zone.

Sounds reasonable. I'll test that out one day soon.


Regards,

Uncle Steve

--
Love is a snowmobile racing across the tundra and then suddenly it
flips over, pinning you underneath. At night, the ice weasels come.
-- Friedrich Neitzsche

 

[pyotr filipivich]

Jeff Liebermann <jeffl@cruzio.com> on Fri, 08 Mar 2013 18:43:03 -0800
typed in rec.crafts.metalworking the following:

On Fri, 08 Mar 2013 19:49:02 -0500, "Michael A. Terrell"
mike.terrell@earthlink.net> wrote:

Little did he know how dangerous you would be in that field. ;-)

Ever notice my domain name? The Cal Poly motto is "Learn by Doing"
(Discere Faciendo). I didn't quite get the translation from Latin
correct and ended up with "Learn By Destroying". It was appropriate
Destruction and resurrection form a great learning experience. At the
time, I think I held the record for maximum damage in a single
semester. At graduation time, the faculty committee could not decide
if they should require that I hang around another year as punishment
for past indiscretions, or to summarily graduate me in order to get
rid of me.

Graduated "Please Go Quietly" eh?

--
pyotr filipivich
"With Age comes Wisdom. Although more often, Age travels alone."

 

[Martin Eastburn]

What would be nice is a solid carbide drill.
With it you simply apply power and the drill starts
to cut. I have had mine red hot when it started to cut
when drilling lathe bits. Those made of cobalt and are tough.

I made a forming bit. Drill and grind.

I bought mine from MSCdirect.com -

Martin

On 3/8/2013 2:30 AM, Michael A. Terrell wrote:

"Danny D." wrote:

What's the trick to drilling a hole through 1/2" thick stainless steel?

From my guardrail experience, I had bought titanium coated drill bits.

So I thought it would be easy to drill a hole in a stainless steel can
opener (for hanging on a loop outside by the BBQ cooler).

Nope!

I can't make a dent!
http://www5.picturepush.com/photo/a/12362068/img/12362068.jpg

What's the trick to drilling through stainless steel?


news:rec.crafts.metalworking would be a better place to ask. (Added)

 

[Jeff Liebermann]

On Fri, 08 Mar 2013 20:34:16 -0800, pyotr filipivich
<phamp@mindspring.com> wrote:

Jeff Liebermann <jeffl@cruzio.com> on Fri, 08 Mar 2013 18:43:03 -0800
typed in rec.crafts.metalworking the following:
On Fri, 08 Mar 2013 19:49:02 -0500, "Michael A. Terrell"
mike.terrell@earthlink.net> wrote:

Little did he know how dangerous you would be in that field. ;-)

Ever notice my domain name? The Cal Poly motto is "Learn by Doing"
(Discere Faciendo). I didn't quite get the translation from Latin
correct and ended up with "Learn By Destroying". It was appropriate
Destruction and resurrection form a great learning experience. At the
time, I think I held the record for maximum damage in a single
semester. At graduation time, the faculty committee could not decide
if they should require that I hang around another year as punishment
for past indiscretions, or to summarily graduate me in order to get
rid of me.

Graduated "Please Go Quietly" eh?
pyotr filipivich
"With Age comes Wisdom. Although more often, Age travels alone."

Yep. However, it was more complexicated than that. This was 1971.
The war in Vietnam was going full blast. I drew a low draft lottery
number, which meant that as soon as I lost my student deferment, I
would be drafted. If the college held me for another year, the draft
board indicated that they would NOT give me a student deferment.
However, if I graduated, I had other options, like working in a
military related industry. Given the opportunity, I'm certain that
the faculty committee would have wanted to arranged my execution.
Fortunately, the demand and backlog for admission to college, mostly
to avoid the draft, was sufficient that it didn't make any sense to
have me occupy a seat when there others that wanted it.


--
Jeff Liebermann jeffl@cruzio.com
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558

 

[Michael A. Terrell]

Jeff Liebermann wrote:

On Fri, 08 Mar 2013 19:49:02 -0500, "Michael A. Terrell"
mike.terrell@earthlink.net> wrote:

Little did he know how dangerous you would be in that field. ;-)

Ever notice my domain name?

Yes, and I've visited the site. Did you notice the emoticon that
said I was joking with you?

The Cal Poly motto is "Learn by Doing"
(Discere Faciendo). I didn't quite get the translation from Latin
correct and ended up with "Learn By Destroying". It was appropriate
Destruction and resurrection form a great learning experience. At the
time, I think I held the record for maximum damage in a single
semester. At graduation time, the faculty committee could not decide
if they should require that I hang around another year as punishment
for past indiscretions, or to summarily graduate me in order to get
rid of me.

Working in electronics was somewhat less destructive mostly because I
decided that actually thinking before I did something was a good idea.

At one job I had to take freshly minted techs and engineering
students to try to turn them into usable employees. One engineering
student started a fire by laying a hot soldering iron on a pile of paper
towels, then he stood there screaming "Run for your lives, we're all
gona die" He was standing in front of the fire extinguisher, so I
grabbed the pile of flaming towels and ran out the front door to let
them burn out in the parking lot. He had been shown where every
extinguisher was, and there were squeeze bottles full of window cleaner
that would have put it out. The last I heard of him was that he was
working for RCA designing TV tuners.. I was glad that I was out of the
TV repair business!

Another destroyed transistors by the handful buy putting them in
wrong, then laughing about it. The last I heard, he workes at WPAFB in
one of the labs. He was at R.L. Drake, till they got out of the ham
radio business.


They were the cream of the crop.

 

[Ed Huntress]

On Fri, 8 Mar 2013 15:37:13 -0500, "Jim Wilkins"
<muratlanne@gmail.com> wrote:

"Ed Huntress" <huntres23@optonline.net> wrote in message
news:m7fkj8pji0b04hp4gtlv514sa6pk27v5gp@4ax.com...

It may be that his only problem is with the initial state of the
stainless,

He did assume that titanium coating implied quality.

That's become a common misunderstanding.

Good marketing. Bad engineering.

--
Ed Huntress