Neanderpundit

Months ago, I told the Powers that Be, that putting a high pressure system on an aging machine was a potentially miserable idea, as the likelihood of said machine not handling the new equipment was high.

And now I’m back hammering these same machines back together so that they can deal with the increased stresses that accompany the high pressure. And while I suggested to the customer that a spare parts kit would probably be an excellent idea, they insisted that new seals would be sufficient. And of course since these machines are aging and infirm and have been repaired more times than a FIAT, some parts have been taken out and not replaced, modified, mangled, folded, spindled and mutilated. So now a machine is down costing a bunch of money every minute while parts have to be shipped from Tibet on the back of yaks specially bred for the purpose, and the same people who would not buy spare parts are asking why it’s taking so long.

It’s not even worth saying I told you so, I get these blank stares.

always make me think, man, they’re messing up those beautiful vegetables, when a tasty cow or goat or lamb or hog could be eating them and converting them to yummy prime rib, or lamb chops, or bacon.

But then I suppose if the dumbasses got their hands on some prime rib, they’d probably just boil it.

Never get out of the boat, man.

People have asked about the toolkit, and here it is.

This is the box, a Pelican 1450.

This is the top tray. It contains the tools that get used most.

This is the top tray out. The top tray contains, of course, allen wrenches- Bondhus Balldrivers, inch and metric. I curse everytime I use the inch because nobody should use inch parts on metric equipment, damn them. The black teehandle is a 4mm wrench which is useful on the sheet metal of 99% of Japanese and European machine tools. The channelocks are certainly self explanatory, as are the needlenose, the wire cutters, and the five way screwdriver. The pliers on top crimp wiring ferrules, the orange tool on the bottom is a stab for wire termination, the vertical piece on the upper right is a small almost watchmaker sized screwdriver. The electrician’s scissors may be the most useful tools I own- those are Italian, and I will be very upset if anything ever happens to them

In the bottom:The Fluke is also self explanatory. The Vise Grips– well, sooner or later you got to hang onto something. The Crescent wrench, of course, is standard, as are the padlocks- standard safety type locks. The specialty crimpers are for the Amphenol type headers used on the circuit boards of the machines, and the long screwdriver is used to get to the attachment screw of Fanuc circuit boards. There is a sharpie and under the sharpie a china marker.

Separately, There is also a socket set. A few small very custom tools for very specific uses that have their own toolbox, with the measuring tools- calipers, micrometers, dial indicators etc. But these are the critical tools that go everywhere.

I don’t carry a cheater because everyone has a piece of pipe. I don’t carry a hammer because everyone has one.