Just (successfully) tore down my laptop to bare board and rebuilt (plus resolder power connector and add RAM). Very satisfying. Fortunately had enough info (teardown guide from internet).
I make my living being a wiz at virtual building. It's the REAL building that is most memorable and satisfying.
The reason I went into manufacturing/industrial engineering is that I get to learn and build/troubleshoot/develop the first initial new products and then pass them on to the shop. Interesting article.
Thanks Jabberwocky- an interesting read. Definitely some good points in there.
Why parents would allow their kids to be so vulnerable by virtue of total ignorance in relation to how the world works is a mystery to me. Yes, human advancement means necessarily that much of the world we encounter in the future will be essentially hidden and beyond our understanding- but the basics are always there, accessible to us- if we have the knowledge and inclination to look and understand. Forcing kids to live entirely in the land of abstraction from day one isn't building us a better society in my view.
Every year I signed up for the 'machine shop practices' elective and every year they cancelled the class. It was in our brand new Engr. building on the ground floor with big glass windows so everybody could walk by and see how empty it was...Frustrating!
Especially now that I deal with suppliers and machine shops, it would've helped to have a better background to start from.
For whatever reason I'm much more comfortable tearing open my computer case and replacing everything than I am under the hood of my car. So far I've been lucky enough to have some friends with the opposite problem so between us we work out well.
I want to thank you for sharing an excellent article, it was definately worth the read!
I started my toolmaking apprenticeship some 22 years ago with the hopes of someday advancing into a design position.
Seven years ago I "advanced" into the engineering room and am currently a tool designer. Although I am not a formally schooled engineer (ie university) my "hands on" toolmaking experience has been invaluable in my walk from the shop to the desk.
I went to a technical high school in the early '70s. Everyone took one of patternmaking and foundry classes, one year of machine shop, and two years of elective shop work. I took steel fabrication and survey.
Students were also required to take a minimum of three terms of mechanical drawing and one term of free-hand drawing, followed by at least one more year of mechanical drawing or steel detailing.
