What has model/hobby engineering taught you? (other than the obvious of how to make stuff)

[PatJParticipant @patj87806]

Posted by An Other on 09/01/2023 14:09:25:

I learnt never to tell anyone what I've been doing – inevitably, someone will tell you :

a) that you have done it wrong or

b) complain that it is unsafe or

c) provide links to someone who did it all years before.

I can manage quite well without either brickbats or compliments.

Interacting with folks on the internet is definitely an art.

Its a mixed bag for sure.

One has to become adept at filtering out the unnecessary items from the useful items, and doing so in a diplomatic fashion.

It has been a learning experience for me, and I have become much better at it than when I got on forums in 2011.

There are definitely the armchair folks on the internet who just throw out ideas somewhat without merit, and I am a bit guilty of that myself.

Looking back on 11 years of interacting on multiple model engine forums, there was the good, the bad and the ugly.

But overall, I learned a tremendous amount about model building, and backyard foundry work.

I highly value the knowlege base that is on this forum, and the information I have gotten from folks on this forum has been worth its weight in gold, in modeling terms.

So basically one has to learn to filter.

.

 

Edited By PatJ on 09/01/2023 22:40:08

[samuel heywoodParticipant @samuelheywood23031]

Really appreciated many of these comments.

[SillyOldDufferModerator @sillyoldduffer]

Posted by An Other on 09/01/2023 14:09:25:

I learnt never to tell anyone what I've been doing – inevitably, someone will tell you :

a) that you have done it wrong or

b) complain that it is unsafe or

c) provide links to someone who did it all years before.

I can manage quite well without either brickbats or compliments.

I've learned that Model Engineers often hold diametrically opposite views!

My version:

I learnt to openly share what I've been doing because someone will tell me :

a) that I've done it wrong, which helps me improve, or

b) complain that it is unsafe, showing I've failed one of my own design requirements, or

c) provide links to someone who did it all years before, which helps me to profit from the hard work of others.

I manage far better when my work receives brickbats and compliments.

Dave

[Martin KyteParticipant @martinkyte99762]

Linus Pauling one of molecular biology’s giants along with his insights often used to utter the most outrageously incorrect ideas often at major conferences. His peers learned to benefit from these occasional wide of the mark statements by figuring out why what he said was wrong. So even when someone posts an erroneous notion take it seriously you could learn something.

regards Martin

[Mike HurleyParticipant @mikehurley60381]

The old adage 'Measure twice & cut once'. My exceedingly large scrap box tought me to measure twice, re-check the drawing, re calculate your dodgy maths, think if there's a better way to do it & if all avenues exhausted – measure again & only then cut.

I'm not the fastest worker as you probably guessed.

[Author]

Posts