tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-294049032011-11-27T06:20:16.578-05:00Some thoughts on the making of things and an engineer's job. Written by a mechanical engineerJBChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07332480877881304442noreply@blogger.comBlogger531100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29404903.post-22195484877924149662008-09-05T16:14:00.008-05:002008-09-05T16:35:33.707-05:00

We - the group at my work - purchased a rapid protoping machine a few years back. The machine, a Dimension 3D printer, makes parts out of ABS plastic. We do use it for making sample prototypes to show customers. Our main use however is to make functional parts for actual use.Parts made with it include electronic boxes, mounting brackets, drilling jigs, joystick controller handles. Some sample

JBChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07332480877881304442noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29404903.post-57150694181617847822008-07-22T15:35:00.001-05:002008-07-22T15:37:34.451-05:00

I designed an airlock for a high tempereature furnace this past winter. One of the key components is a cooling flange that fits between the furnace and a vacuum gate valve.The cooling flange is made of copper. It has a cooling channel cut into it with a copper plate welded over the channel. There are additional features for sweep gas connections, mechanical connections for actuating thermal

JBChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07332480877881304442noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29404903.post-79072701017217861092008-05-18T19:13:00.003-05:002008-05-24T18:10:52.150-05:00

Creating and Maintaining a World Class Machine Shop: A Guite to General and Titanium Machine Shop Practices, Edward Rossman, 2007.As the title implies the book is about machining practice. It is written to the shop owner/foreman and assumes a detailed knowledge of machining practice and shop management. As the title implies a large section of the book is about speeds and feeds for titanium

JBChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07332480877881304442noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29404903.post-10212053782882180662008-03-20T12:12:00.007-05:002008-05-13T16:46:42.296-05:00

When I need to locate material properties I look on the web. The most comprehensive single place I look is MatWeb. MatWeb includes metals and plastics. A useful feature of MatWeb is the ability to locate materials by their UNS numbers which makes ordering the correct grade easier.For plastic properties only, a comprehensive site is IDES Prospector.A useful site when I need to make quick rough

JBChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07332480877881304442noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29404903.post-65171022058953027262008-03-14T15:37:00.002-05:002008-08-08T08:57:27.595-05:00

A poster on an office door:Cowboy wisdomCowboys know that when you discover you are riding a dead horse the best strategy is to dismount and change horses. In business, however, it seems that we try other strategies with dead horses:1. Buy a stronger whip.2. Change riders.3. Say things like, "This is the way we always have ridden this horse."4. Appointing a committee to study the horse.5.

JBChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07332480877881304442noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29404903.post-4690310840361403712008-03-13T10:22:00.009-05:002008-03-18T13:35:23.955-05:00

In keeping with my last post on process capability, here is some software that helps automate tolerancingWhat I design is produced in low quantities. Consequently tolerancing does not get close attention. The items that are produced from my designs typically have 100% inspection. When I design I base my tolerances on published handbook values for the production process being used. My sources

JBChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07332480877881304442noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29404903.post-42012951456892827332008-03-10T12:50:00.010-05:002008-03-12T10:23:18.734-05:00

I had some parts made recently that were formed on a press brake. There was one critical dimension, the width of an opening. The specification limits on the width of an opening was 3.13" to 3.19". The limits were decided as most of these things are by a long meeting.The fabricator made an initial three items to tune the press brake settings. The opening width on the first three items was 3.1870,

JBChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07332480877881304442noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29404903.post-91538798027414322172008-03-06T10:39:00.007-05:002008-03-06T11:08:19.578-05:00

When working in a domain outside one's experience one should proceed carefully. There could be unexpected surprisesI have recently finished a project designing an airlock for a high temperature furnace (1600 C, the melting point of steel is ~1500 C). The airlock is a commercially available vacuum gate valve. To protect it from the furnace heat flux there is a set of thermal barrier shutters which

JBChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07332480877881304442noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29404903.post-66489276219892482152007-12-31T22:46:00.000-05:002007-12-31T23:13:36.299-05:00

As an engineer I take satisfaction in designing an elegant solution to a problem. Elegance in engineering design is somewhat hard to define. Appearance contributes to elegance but is not essential. Elegance in an engineering sense is developing a solution to a design problem the requires as few components as possible. An elegant solution often has components that serve multiple functions.A recent

JBChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07332480877881304442noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29404903.post-10731172094327299342007-12-07T12:48:00.000-05:002007-12-07T14:56:17.675-05:00

Two years ago I designed the hydraulic system for a large component tester. The unit is driven by a 150 horsepower hydraulic unit. The main hydraulic pumps supply 100 gpm at 2000 psi. All the axes on the unit use hydraulic servo-valves, the largest taking 60 gpm flow. Some of the supply lines are two inches in diameter. The hydraulic system is equipped with air bleed fittings, manual override

JBChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07332480877881304442noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29404903.post-15212326174272213912007-11-03T16:24:00.000-05:002007-11-03T16:40:31.707-05:00

You know the children's game: One individual says, "Guess what what I'm thinking!" The players then ask yes or no questions to figure out what it is."Is it big?""No""Is it an animal?""Yes""Is it gray?"...And so on until the item is guessed.Working with people outside your discipline to develop a design is like that. They have no idea what matters to you in your engineering discipline. The line of

JBChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07332480877881304442noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29404903.post-41038639846847166242007-08-14T09:24:00.000-05:002007-08-18T11:37:16.039-05:00

An occasional commenter to my blog wrote an entry on "Where is engineering going". One of the subtopics in that was the on use and abuse of computers. In particular the use of computers as a black box. I have a cautionary tale about using computers as a black box.About ten years a nuclear facility, "the customer," was buying a deployment system from a vendor. The vendor was a well known name in

JBChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07332480877881304442noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29404903.post-27089862889835313192007-08-08T13:33:00.000-05:002007-08-08T13:36:02.934-05:00

This reminds me of sales presentations I have been to. Once you pin the salesman down and start asking questions they have no idea what they have just said.

JBChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07332480877881304442noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29404903.post-74079699765109800882007-08-04T22:04:00.000-05:002007-08-07T15:52:22.968-05:00

Today I replaced an outdoor light for a friend of my wife's. I figured it would take two hours or so. I took my tools and headed over to install the light. It turned out I needed some conduit, a junction box, some toggle bolts, and a few other tools. I headed out to Home Depot and back home to the tools I needed. I started installing the light. It turned out the toggle bolts were too short. I

JBChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07332480877881304442noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29404903.post-77144207042126788782007-07-23T14:24:00.000-05:002007-07-23T14:33:04.349-05:00

There are a few vendors that every engineer ought to be familiar with whether you do design, fabrication, or operational support. These vendors carry a wide variety of parts or tools within their particular market niche. They have good web sites and good paper catalogs. Personally, I recommend getting a copy of their paper catalogs and browsing them. Every time I browse their catalogs I find

JBChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07332480877881304442noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29404903.post-25581429338547240972007-07-03T11:24:00.001-05:002007-07-05T11:35:20.227-05:00

I am designing a material storage container. One of the design requirements is that it can latch closed to prevent inadvertent opening. I came up with a design that utilizes the locking pawl shown in the picture above. There is a locking pawl at one end, an actuation arm on the other end, and a shaft connencting the two ends. The question now arises, "How do I have such an odd looking part made?"

JBChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07332480877881304442noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29404903.post-78476967731669582812007-06-28T15:59:00.000-05:002007-06-28T16:06:28.152-05:00

I'm currently working on six projects:1. reviewing specifications for a federal project2. completing building and equipment upgrades for product analytical testing3. designing a material storage can4. following fabrication of a radiography scanner5. working on design of some process equipment6. mechanical design of an electro-acoustic sensorThis descriptions are somewhat obfuscatory but that

JBChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07332480877881304442noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29404903.post-45473989553508415362007-06-01T16:38:00.000-05:002007-06-01T16:42:28.416-05:00

I discovered this site today. It has animations and explanations on how different kinds of engines work. It has steam engines, internal combustion engines, and stirling engines.technorati tagengines

JBChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07332480877881304442noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29404903.post-50764028723628838192007-05-31T12:06:00.000-05:002007-05-31T12:20:36.793-05:00

This past week I was cleaning some Tupperware containers that had had moldy food in them. I have discovered that one of the best way of cleaning stained/smelly plastics is household hydrogen peroxide and sunshine. I had put the containers on roof of my car in the sun and then filled them with hydrogen peroxide. After leaving them outside for an hour or so I brought them in.On the way inside

JBChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07332480877881304442noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29404903.post-11207178963780967552007-05-16T14:40:00.000-05:002007-05-16T15:01:20.198-05:00

This morning I was fixing breakfast for my son. The flat griddle we use for cooking bacon and pancakes had been left on the stove and not put away after being washed the day before. I decided to use the griddle instead of getting out a frying pan to scramble some eggs. Being in a hurry I didn't wait for the griddle to get completely hot before pouring on the eggs.The stovetop is not quite level.

JBChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07332480877881304442noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29404903.post-25267410552846675482007-05-04T16:37:00.000-05:002007-05-04T16:58:30.128-05:00

I recently designed a bracket to hold some scintillation detectors. The detectors were not all uniformly sized. To determine the opening size to make for the detectors I followed the procedure outlined below.I measured the detector widths from a sample and collected the data listed in the table 1. The data has a mean of 1.192 inches (3.0277 cm) and a standard deviation of 0.008071 inches (0.0205

JBChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07332480877881304442noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29404903.post-15814879322565542832007-04-25T08:19:00.000-05:002007-04-25T08:31:42.681-05:00

Real education is difficult to attain in an academic setting alone. If you have ever taught or studied Kerouac’s On the Road, for example, you will know that it is impossible not to look out the window at some point, and consider the futility of trying to grasp in a classroom what could better be grasped in a boxcar. "In theory, there’s no difference between theory and practice – in practice,

JBChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07332480877881304442noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29404903.post-79518225815397719382007-04-23T15:49:00.000-05:002007-04-23T16:00:10.827-05:00

Chauncey Starr died last week at the age of 95. He was a nuclear energy consultant. He had worked with Robert Oppenheimer during WWII on the Manhattan Project. He was a pioneer in the field of risk assessment. At the age of 95 he was still working six days a week. His heart stopped beating during his morning nap before he went in to the office.You can read a fuller obituary and description of his

JBChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07332480877881304442noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29404903.post-58348473796056986312007-04-19T08:25:00.000-05:002007-04-19T08:38:51.572-05:00

I started working in the early days of CAD and these were still in common use. They were left from the old days of manual drafting. It is a bolt calculator. It is kind of like another old tool the slide rule.It is used to determine the dimensions relevant to the size screw or bolt you have selected. To use it you pull the slider until the size you are interested in shows up in the SCREW SIZE

JBChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07332480877881304442noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29404903.post-1175710097424452162007-04-04T12:51:00.000-05:002007-04-04T13:08:17.436-05:00

Sorry I haven't written in a while. I've been busy at work. The work has not been onerous but it has been primarily all on the computer. This has left me disinclined to spend my spare time on the computer to blog.I've finished design on what amounts to a mirror positioned to look down a hole at a radioactive source. When I started I thought this would be a quick project. A mirror, a mounting

JBChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07332480877881304442noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29404903.post-1170265232783424272007-01-31T12:27:00.000-05:002007-01-31T12:40:32.796-05:00

“In theory, theory and practice are the same. In practice, theory and practice are not the same.”I worked on a project building a large hydraulic manipulator arm (7500 lb payload). Assigned to the project was a post-doctoral fellow in robotics. He had the idea of mounting a proximity detection system on the arm. He proposed that as soon as the proximity sensors detected an imminent collision the

JBChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07332480877881304442noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29404903.post-1169138951743633472007-01-18T11:40:00.000-05:002007-01-18T11:55:37.850-05:00

I have two web sites that might be of interest to engineering and metalworking types.The first is a web site that has mechanism animations. Go here. It features animations of classical mechanisms such as the Geneva escapement, four bar linkages, and the Watt straight line generator.The second is web page with metal working links. Go here. No graphics or anything just a long list of metal working

JBChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07332480877881304442noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29404903.post-1167842527415505592007-01-03T11:41:00.000-05:002007-01-03T11:49:24.486-05:00

In my previous two posts I described two different experiments in which variation was not properly considered. The first experiment failed to consider variation altogether. The goal was to identify a material resistant to cavitation erosion. Only one sample of candidate material was run. The hidden, underlying assumption by the experimenters was that the coefficient of variation ( standard

JBChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07332480877881304442noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29404903.post-1166735173949483312006-12-21T15:46:00.000-05:002006-12-21T16:09:31.253-05:00

My last article discussed the failure to consider variation in an experiment. I had no part in the project running that experiment. I will now discuss an experiment I conducted where I neglected to consider variation.The experiment was to test the susceptibility of optical fibers to gamma radiation. I measured the attenuation (loss of optical transmittance) of the optical fibers as a function of

JBChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07332480877881304442noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29404903.post-1165529111901467312006-12-07T17:04:00.000-05:002006-12-07T17:05:11.916-05:00

This post is for linking to technoratiTechnorati Profile

JBChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07332480877881304442noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29404903.post-1165525824633441622006-12-07T16:03:00.000-05:002006-12-07T16:31:34.556-05:00

A common mistake in conducting experiments is to neglect variation. Engineers are quite prone to this. We tend to think in deterministic formulas. This leads us to ignore the effects of variation in conducting experiments. To best explain this I will give an example.Please note: I was not involved in this experiment. I am recounting the events of the experiment as well as I observed them from the

JBChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07332480877881304442noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29404903.post-1164044701499950662006-11-20T12:36:00.000-05:002006-11-20T12:45:01.516-05:00

I just discovered Slideshare, it's like Youtube but for presentations. I like it because it will allow me to more easily share presentations I give. You post your powerpoint presentation and they become available worldwide.The site is searchable by tags (topics) and by author.In perusing it I discovered a series of talks on basic statistics here. While not useful for someone ignorant of

JBChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07332480877881304442noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29404903.post-1163778873174473772006-11-17T10:52:00.000-05:002006-11-17T13:13:50.086-05:00

I'm trying out embedding Youtube videos. Below is a fitting video for an engineering blog - a video of a crane collapse. A reminder of what can go wrong.Here is a summary statement from OSHA (web link here) about the accident:Miller Park, in Milwaukee, opened a year late after a crane collapsed during the construction killing three workers.... On July 14, 1999, three iron-workers, in a suspended

JBChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07332480877881304442noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29404903.post-1163604004326479792006-11-15T10:19:00.000-05:002006-11-15T10:21:04.426-05:00

An engineer I work with recounts a story from when he was a new engineer. “R” was asked to design a bracket to hold a thermocouple in a process tank. He quickly designed it out of sheet metal and submitted it for approval. His supervisor told him to redesign it using quarter inch steel plate and .375 diameter bolts to hold it to the tank.He was puzzled and asked why a bracket holding an item

JBChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07332480877881304442noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29404903.post-1163093782659290102006-11-09T12:24:00.000-05:002006-11-09T12:36:22.673-05:00

I stumbled onto two interesting web sites this week. The first is of practical value, the other is purely for entertainment.The firstweb site is transmaterial. It has information and web links on new materials. Are you looking for fiber reinforced flexible concrete, light emitting tiles, vacuum insulated insulating panels, "green" recycled laminate? This is the place. Some of the materials

JBChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07332480877881304442noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29404903.post-1161893313771715042006-10-26T15:01:00.000-05:002006-10-26T15:08:36.756-05:00

I have used rapid prototypes to create masters for aluminum castings, I have used them directly as actual parts in low stress environments, and I have used them for helping conceptualize a project.For low stress applications I have used parts directly off our Dimension rapid prototyping machine in the field. Applications have included cable and hose mounts, or electronic boxes. The ABS material

JBChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07332480877881304442noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29404903.post-1161791931517425422006-10-25T10:52:00.000-05:002006-10-25T10:59:37.376-05:00

Here is an interesting article on the general state of the American economy from the German magazine Der Spiegel. The general tone of the article is that in aggressive promotion of globalization the United States has undermined itself. In globalizing, the U.S. has deindustrialized itself. Consequently, the American middle class is starting to decline relative to the middle class of other

JBChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07332480877881304442noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29404903.post-1161437239693793732006-10-21T08:04:00.000-05:002006-10-21T08:27:19.723-05:00

Some eight years ago I did the mechanical design for a robotic manipulator. It was built. The project then ran out of money. So it was run once and then mothballed. Now for a different project it is desired to restart that robotic manipulator.Several individuals worked on the design and controls when it was built. The CAD files and control software were all properly archived. Today, however, I

JBChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07332480877881304442noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29404903.post-1160766640751149672006-10-13T13:51:00.000-05:002006-10-13T14:10:41.246-05:00

One of my recent projects involved multiple disciplines: Operations, civil engineering, mechanical design, and R&D. My role was to turn to the desire of R&D for test equipment into reality. I did not do any classical "engineering" on this project. Rather I negotiated competing requirements into specifications for equipment that could be designed and installed.On this project I truly learned the

JBChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07332480877881304442noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29404903.post-1159484820433843012006-09-28T18:05:00.000-05:002006-09-28T18:21:19.030-05:00

I use primarily SolidWorks for CAD. I occasionally use AutoCad. I have added links to bloggers on the two CAD programs I use. These links have useful tips and tricks.

JBChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07332480877881304442noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29404903.post-1158765611727795542006-09-20T10:15:00.000-05:002006-09-21T08:48:19.473-05:00

Safety of the systems you design is your responsibility. You cannot rely on others to ensure that your systems are safe.When I designed my first large hydraulic system I asked our division safety officer for some assistance in reviewing the system. At that time hydraulics were in the spotlight. A few months earlier a fitting blew off an accumalator missing a technician's head by a few inches. The

JBChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07332480877881304442noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29404903.post-1158075382206190242006-09-12T10:33:00.000-05:002006-09-13T09:15:35.560-05:00

I firmly believe that goal of an engineer is the design of, oversight of manufacturing, or oversight of operation of physical items. All else computer modeling, mathematical analysis, CAD modeling is in support of that first goal.The design of and oversight of manufacturing is greatly aided by knowledge of the physical processes used to make the part. I have taken some night classes in welding

JBChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07332480877881304442noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29404903.post-1157553818381519852006-09-06T09:06:00.001-05:002006-09-06T10:25:09.150-05:00

An interesting article on the application of origami to automotive air bag folding is here. Robert J. Lang, the gentleman in the article, has a personal web page on origami here. Lang developed software to find the creases to flatten a shape.His personal web page shows origami that he has designed. His origami creations include insects, people, dinosaurs, fish and more. Amazingly, most of the

JBChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07332480877881304442noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29404903.post-1156880584253225492006-08-29T14:36:00.000-05:002006-08-29T14:43:04.276-05:00

When we go out of town we turn off the water to the house. We once had a flush valve on a toilet fail and flood the bathroom. Fortunately we were home when it happened. I know people who had the valve on their icemakers fail when they weren’t home and have their homes flooded. So to avoid a potential problem we simply turn the water off.We also unplug the coffee maker and toaster. A friend of

JBChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07332480877881304442noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29404903.post-1155829025763933712006-08-17T10:30:00.001-05:002006-08-17T10:37:05.776-05:00

At work I have a copy of Omer Blodgett's Design of Weldments. I occasionally refer to it when designing weldments. I have found it quite useful because it stresses developing a mental image of the flow of loads in welded structures. It helps to develop a way of thinking about weldment design beyond just presenting formulas, though it has those too.Omer Blodgett has a column, "Blodgett's Basics,"

JBChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07332480877881304442noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29404903.post-1155131740993643562006-08-09T08:52:00.000-05:002006-08-09T08:55:41.010-05:00

New technology improperly implemented can be worse than old technology that is already functional. From the Rockford Register Star:BELVIDERE — Last winter, contractors installed more than 700 robots in theDaimlerChrysler assembly plant’s body shop as part of a $419 million investmentto make the plant the most flexible and automated of the company’s 14 NorthAmerican factories.The

JBChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07332480877881304442noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29404903.post-1154968516495546342006-08-07T11:23:00.000-05:002006-08-07T11:36:17.130-05:00

Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) is a metric that captures how well a piece of equipment or an entire plant is operating. The formula for OEE is given below:OEE=equipment availability X performance X qualityBy monitoring a single value, OEE, changes in any of the three factors in the formula above can be detected.For a fuller description and a discussion on how to assign numerical values to

JBChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07332480877881304442noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29404903.post-1154620584358594042006-08-03T10:47:00.000-05:002006-08-03T11:15:13.123-05:00

Some time back I designed a machine with a stepped shaft. The shaft was stepped to make assembly easier. In order to mount the shaft two different size bearings were specified. The two bearings were by the same manufacturer and in the same series. Both bearings were shown in the local bearing distributor catalog as being stocked. A schematic of the arrangement is shown above.The drawings were

JBChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07332480877881304442noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29404903.post-1154535698625106322006-08-02T11:12:00.000-05:002006-08-02T11:21:38.636-05:00

"...[T]he mathematician lives in an ideal world, and the practical importance of his conclusions must depend on the essential similarity of his world to ours. Now as practical engineers it is our business to assess this similarity and never to mistake the mathematical abstraction for reality.... "page 3, The Design and Use of Instruments and Accurate Mechanisms, T.N. Whitehead, MacMillan, 1934,

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Whatever your specialty of function in engineering I recommend cultivating a relationship with the salesmen selling items that you use. This offers a number of professional and personal benefits.A good salesman will be able to match your needs with their products. Now note that I said good. There are salesmen whose sole goal is to make a sale to you whether you need their product or not. You

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Some thoughts on estimating costsI recently completed the design and installation of a large hydraulic system. At no point in this project was I asked for input on costs. As the project neared completion it overran its cost estimate. What happened?I will not go into all the details because some of what occurred is business confidential. I will discuss one item that is specific to my portion in

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About Me I have eighteen years experience in the analysis, design, making, testing, and startup of equipment. I am a mechanical engineer by training. This blog is to share some of my experiences in dealing with the design and making of equipment. It is also to discuss aspects of engineering that are not taught in school. I currently work designing and building mechanical hardware for a large

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There are some tools that I recommend every mechanical engineer have. These tools should be of value whether you are in design, or manufacturing. This list is intended to be a general list of simple tools that you have ready access to. The list is not an all inclusive list of every tool that you will ever use or intended to cover specialty applications.Electronic calipers – Whether you are

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