Reply #5 - February 27, 2008, 01:22:19 PM
Thanks for being so kind everyone. As for what I do, it's sort of tough to explain if you don't know what machining is, but I'll do my best.
Most people know how to cut and make things out of wood (carpentry); you use saws, drills, routers, and various other tools to shape and form the wood and fit pieces together. I do basically the same thing, only with metal. And instead of tolerance of 1/16" or even 1/32" of an inch; I usually have to repeatedly maintain tolerances of around .0003" (regular paper is around .004" thick). Part after part, tool after tool, everything has to be nearly perfect. I currently do a lot of engineering and programming to make the machines and the cutting processes as bullet-proof and consistent as possible. I mostly make parts that go into landing gear and control systems on aircraft. The mechanical and hydraulic systems of many of the largest jet companies in the world have parts in them that I have made. It's a really cool job!
What you see in this particular image is a series of 4 parts held on to a plate (called a workholding fixture), each of the parts is in a separate stage of its manufacturing process. So the top part has only been cut from one side (so you can hold on to the other), the next part down has additional features and the excess material has been removed, and so on down the plate. The tool you see is a drill with a carbide end on it that can be replaced with the twist of a wrench, every second counts. This particular drill is 9/16" diameter and will drill holes at an unbelievable rate in some of the hardest metals known to exist. In this case, it's actually just aluminum, but still...
Bob, as for the computer controlled machines (lathes and mills), that is almost all we use anymore. We have a couple manual machines, but it's almost all done with computers now.
Anyway, that's part of the reason for keeping my day job; it's really cool also. And not everyone can do a really good job at it, so it's a pretty valuable skill as well.
OK then, so back to photography...
Thanks for the interest and for letting me tell you some about it.
Travis
Logged
