Thursday, February 20, 2020

Troubleshooting

When I was younger I was obsessed with the concept of troubleshooting.  I remember wondering what it was, how you did it.  I  knew it was a valuable skill, but I had no idea how to obtain it.

Like the Catch 22 I got into after high school:  I've worked as a farm hand, and a carpenter's helper.  Helped dad work on all our cars, house, and farm.  I know my way around welding, cutting, drilling, Farmall tractors, John Deere, running pto grinders and shredders, etc etc...

"I'm sorry, but that doesn't really count as work experience."  I needed references, work history, training documents, blah blah blah.....

Oh yeah, I fueled aircraft when I was 16, trusted with thousands of gallons of avgas and a fuel truck.  I had to radio the tower to get permission to enter the taxiway and cross the active runway.  Proves I'm responsible.

"Sorry."  You don't have relevant experience".  So hire me at bottom dollar, and I'll prove my abilities....  No can do.

So I did what I could, went to college, learned everything I could about things that were interesting.  And almost everything is interesting....

Then one day, it sorta dawned on me.  I could look at things and figure them out.  If they didn't do, I could usually come up with a reason why, and then fix them.

So, why bring that up?  Remember this picture?

a tad over-tightened



The vertical line on the barrel should line up with the line near the zero on the thimble (lower tube with the knurl).  And the edge of the thimble should line up with a horizontal line that is under the zero on the barrel.
 
Don't skewer me if I got the nomenclature wrong.  It's the lines that matter.  And since the edge of the thimble is past the zero, someone tightened the thimble too tight, driving the rod into the anvil and possibly springing the C shaped part.  That would kill it's accuracy.

How about the other two?

maybe 29.2 thousandths too tight?

 
maybe 10.5 thousandths too tight?
 Hey ma, where'd the zero go?



Bubba the muscle head got aholt of this whole set.  They look unused.  No real wear I can see.  I wonder what they'll look like if/when I get them apart?



And if you have good vision, you can see these are tenths reading mics.  For shame, Bubba, for shame.

2 comments:

  1. And just to be sure I went down to the basement and checked all the precision measuring tools.
    All of them were backed off.

    Waiting patiently for the next installment of the epic story, "Bubba's Glue Clamps: The Aftermath."

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  2. Hahahaha.... Yeah, no doubt. I saw the description and I just shook my head. After derusting, oiling and inspection, it all made sense.

    I don't know if they are cinched down so tight they can't move, or if the rust still has them bound up. I've had good luck with evaporust eating rust out of tight spots. But 40 tpi may be too tight.

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