The Case for Working With Your Hands

as a thank you

can send it to

Wes, _Buyology_ has been in transit to you for 13 days now. If it doesn't arrive in another week or so, let me know and I will send another copy more directly.

--Winston

Got it.

-- Ed Huntress

Boy, can I relate to that article - I worked part way through college as an auto mechanic. During 30 some years of physics teaching (which I mostly loved), but by living modestly, I kept on my mind that I could quit at any time and make a living as a mechanic - that limited how much cr.p I was willing to put up with. I ran the university machine shop because the professors of engineering felt it was below their dignity - I leaned a ton from our machinist.

After I retired I taught math and science in a parochial high school, but I made sure that all my kids could identify motor oil, brake fluid, anti-freeze, transmission and rear axle oil and battery acid by feel, smell, or taste, and knew how to take apart and fix a toilet. The finest moment came when one of the not so motivated students brought in the broken muffler from his scooter, and I ended up teaching him the basics of stick and oxy-acetylene welding - he went on to become a very motivated marine engine mechanic.

Now I want to re-read The Soul of a New Machine and Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.

Sorry for the long ramble.... Joel in Florida

I haven't made it to the post office in a few days. I was shocked to recieve a shipment from Harbor Freight today on a Saturday. I'd have thought Fedex would have taken this weekend off. Not a bad grinder for 20 bucks.

Wes

On motorcycle starting. All my bikes were kick started till the Hondas, but the worst was the Harley (Aermachi) Sprint H and the Ducati 250 Diana. Both my Harley Sportster and FLH had kick and electric, but if the tune was just right and you pushed them over by hand to the right place, they would fire right up on the first kick - the trick was using your weight and momentum. Then one of my Harley- riding students said "Why are you doing that with your knee?" And he was right... Joel in Florida, still with a bad knee (but that's another story, involving a submarine) =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D

That's almost as good as Christmas! OTOH, I just received a shipment from Northern Tool that was in transit for

10 (ten) days.

1) Man, am I ever spoiled by McMaster!

2) Makes you wonder if McMaster is a UPS subsidiary or vise - versa.

--Winston

Thanks Ed. another thoughtful piece that re-enforces my existing prejudices, and in a wordy, literate, articulate manner that I am not capable of. The paradox - the guy had to get a doctorate to write about the dignity of labour? Lots of bits resonated, especially the huge gap between theory and practice - I am a self employed electronics tech, and no school can ever prepare you for the reality of a dead piece of gear on your bench that doesnt obey the rules! Andrew VK3BFA

Wes,

Unless you have the name of the guy that is familiar with the piece of equipment you need information on, all you will get is someone reading out of the manual the same stuff you have already tried.

Repairing things is definitely a challange and gives you a sense of satisfaction when the piece of equipment is again doing what it was designed to do. I could have had a well paying job when I was young in broadcasting but it was one of the most boring jobs I ever did, running a commercial broadcast transmitter in NYC.

John

It's not easy to write about. As I said earlier, it's too easy to get sappy and sentimental, which will make any essay crash and burn. That's why I'm interested to see if he pulled it off throughout an entire book.

The kind of research and writing one does to reach that educational level is quite a training ground for a writer who leans toward original analysis, so it does give him some powerful tools. It's also interesting to hear why he made his choices, because, although he may have hit the job markets at difficult times, he could have chosen to go in any of several directions -- academic, business, or whatever. So it makes his point of view inherently interesting.

If it's a paradox, it's one that can tell us a few things. A guy with such a philosophy background probably has given it a lot of thought.

I know what you mean. Most good work requires a lot of thought.

My own point of view is not easy to project, which is that getting as much education as one can handle is good no matter what you're going to do. And I don't mean vocational training. I mean real perspective, something that gives you a completely different view of the world from an angle that's totally unrelated to the everyday facts of your work, like a motorcycle mechanic with a PhD. in political philosophy. 'Wish I'd gotten one, myself. It's something like living abroad for a few years, only better training for the mind.

-- Ed Huntress

Ed. it would be utterly presumptuous for me to criticize his writing (or thinking) - but then, if a philosophy doctorate doesn't teach you how to collect and analyse information,.........BTW, what happened to the time when universities were places where you went to learn how to THINK....

He has paid his dues, he describes the moments where its really good when you crack a difficult fault, you float across the room ..(you want to tell someone about it, but, working for yourself, there's only the dog, who thinks everything you do is wonderful anyway)

The times when there's a run of rotten jobs that take forever, you lose money on them in terms of time,and sometimes parts you have put into them. Get a long run, you start seriously questioning WHY you are self employed...

The stepping back, having a smoke and a coffee to clear your head - do that too - EXCEPT I HAVE BEEN OFF THE CIGGYS FOR 7 WEEKS NOW AND ITS DRIVING ME NUTS....I WANNA CIGARETTE..

The sense you develop of the nutty customer(s) who you (gently) decline to do anything for as you just instinctively KNOW their going to be bad news....or someone who brings in a job so covered in crap/ dirt/grease, its an insult to expect you to work on it. (I have a compressor and air gun just outside the door, I don't mind cleaning the dust from INSIDE something, before it goes into the shop, but draw the line at the crappy outside) And on this topic - manual work doesn't have to be dirty - remember the saying,"if you work in shit conditions then you do shit work". My mechanic charges me a nominal fee for steam cleaning the engine etc when he does any work - fair enuff, I wouldn't insult his professionalism by asking him to work in crap. I got a shop vac for the floors , I clean down my benches between jobs cause thats the way I was taught - that way, you know whats on the bench MUST be from the current job....

One thing I would disagree with - he mentions having to drill out screws (ah, sweet memories) from side covers as the 20 previous owners had only a 10inch shifter as a tool - usually, an impact driver will remove them, then replace with Allen head bolts..(you CAN be lucky and the thread is not stripped..you wanna be real fussy, then counterbore slightly to make it look shmick..)

Great article, It reaffirms what I've long felt, that the diagnostic skills of a good mechanic are not far removed from those of a good internist, and for the past fifty years or so I've watched with interest the increased technological diagnostic aids which have become available and are now practically indispensable to both those professions.

Me too on that starter bushing problem. I encountered it while helping my son fix his TR-6 about 25 years ago. I made a new bushing for the starter on my olde Stark lathe, from oilite bar stock. Occasionally, while searching through the "hell box" on my bench I come across the worn out starter bushing and proudly remember that "save" and the happy and appreciative thanks I received from my son.

Jeff

A very interesting read. Thanks, Ed, for posting that.

My view is slightly different than his, but only slightly. For me, satisfying work is that which produces something useful, improves something, or solves a problem, fixes a defect, provides a remedy. This certainly includes motorcycle repair, fabrication, etc but it also includes some forms of "white-shirt" work. Examples:

*engineers who design useful things that work *authors who write material that provokes thought *editors who make material written by others more useful by making it more readable, concise, etc. (You reading this, Ed?) *physicians who only diagnose and prescribe. (vs surgeons who are certainly "hands on") *about any craftsman whose craft is useful to or enjoyed by others

I think satisfying work is work that engages and challenges one's capabilities to achieve a result that is a contribution or is "productive". Since most of us need income, it's nice when one can find a way to enjoy a satisfactory income from satisfying work. When my kids asked me to define success, that was one of the things I told them. I also told them that only they could decide how much income was "enough" or "satisfactory", and if they allowed the opinions and ambitions of others influence that they were doomed to be frustrated.

The original essay from a few years back.

Closer to my idea of the truth than the original article. My thoughts ( probably someone elses that I agree with ) are that one is frustrated if one does not employ all of ones talents. Some jobs do not utilize all of ones talents, in that case one should have hobbies that employs those skills not used by ones vocation.

Dan

We already have them Ed, a Mechanic/Technician that takes pride in their work :)

Each buggered screw job has to be analyzed and then done accordingly. Experience and some decent tools (nothing all that exotic) helps...

I do not think that doing that stuff full time is nearly as glamorous as the article makes it sound. Factory jobs are not really all that appealing, either, based on a few dozen factories that I saw.

That said, the article correctly stated that troubleshooting stuff is an art, as well as a science, and here comes my question. Is there some good book that discusses troubleshooting in general. Having done quite a bit of troubleshooting, I would like to find something that would systematize this discipline.i

Or the "pros" recommend replacing a bunch of parts, at a great expense, without really trying to pinpint the issue.

i

I made some similar choices, also, when I declined to try being a "financial salesman" and continued my computer programming career. I have no regrets at all. At least I like what I am doing 8 hours a day (and do not work 14 hours a day either).

i

It's interesting to see how his thinking (or at least his writing) has evolved. In that early article he treated the subject more like a traditional philosophical question. In the NYT piece, it's more about his actual experience. He seems to have applied the idea of moving away from the abstraction and toward the individual, psychological effects.

-- Ed Huntress