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Survey Says... / Re: Dave Wilson (fc60) Master Machinist

« on: March 15, 2013, 12:33:22 pm »

Greetings Larry,

Thanks for the kind words.

Cheers,

Dave

Hi Dave,                               
          So very good to hear the praises a fellow machinist that has been around for a good while.  This September will mark my 40th year in the shop.  Becoming a machinist for me was like a duck taking to water.  I earned a Class A rating in only five years by watching and listening to the old masters in awe of what they knew.  An old machinists could do wonders with a piece of worn 120 or 180 after grinding their own tool steel.  Of course I entered the craft between two eras, the end of the manual machines and true skill, and the beginning of the computer age where everything is driven by software.  It is amazing what we can do now in such a short period of time.  I now focus on programming machining centers and other CNC equipment and most of my approach is purely mental now.  I miss the days of feeling what the machine was doing and how the metal was coming off by just listening with my ears to the sounds and listening to the handles and levers with my hands.  Even the different smells would tell you something if you paid attention.   
        I remember the names like Bridgeport, Index, Cincinnati, Clausing, Le~Blond, South Bend, Morrisieki.  All names I am sure that you know by heart.  Names like the Star Progressive Re-loader that are passing with the annuls of time. Every good machinist owned a Kennedy filled with L.S. Starret or Brown & Sharp.  If you couldn't afford the good stuff you at least had Mitutoyo that was almost as good.  I lived and worked by the standards passed down to me from your generation and those before you.  Today's young men in the business just don't seem to care about what we held dear in the way of standards.   Management pushes for cycle time and profits and all too often forget about quality and pride that made the American machinist a man that was respected around the world.  For the guys with skill and talent machining was never hard work and you never minded getting out of bed for another day in the shop.  I think the best compliment I ever received was from a salesman that said to the owner, "If you want it right and you want it fast give it to Don."  So much for the trip down memory lane I was just remembering the names like R.D. Wilson, Logan Grey, Joe Davis, Jim Waters and others that taught me so much.  I just wanted to drop a few lines to someone that shares my passion.  You don't stay in the shop as long as we have and not love what you do.
Blessings and Peace, 
Don