Building the "boring stuff"

[FXdood]

Hello All,

My name is Frank. I recently retired after 25 years from my day job of building scenery and effects for the entertainment industry. The company I worked for, Lexington Scenery (www.lex-usa.com), is one of the largest shops in the world specializing in scenery, props, and special effects. They do everything from quick little TV commercials to large scale installations in amusement parks worldwide.

Working in this field amounts to working in a playground. I've done everything from simple backdrops to animatronics. Installations allowed me to travel all over the world and do some really incredible things with some incredibly talented people (including my wife Patti Mondana who is still there and is the Art Department Manager).
My experience has given me a great many skills, from carpentry to CNC programming and everything in between. This has allowed me to take up robots as a hobby. I now help out some FIRST teams as a consultant and work with youth groups and camps that specialize in engineering.

I've patted my self on the back enough, I'll get to the point.
Everyone loves to play with the "cool stuff" (myself included) which sometimes leaves the "boring" stuff ignored. An example
was the FIRST team I helped out. They had to do 5 all-nighters leading up to the ship date because they fell behind on things like the body panels and basic structure. When they finally realized this stuff had to be done, they didn't have any real plans for these pieces and didn't use the right tools.

An example were the side panels for the bot. They needed to be 6 shapes made from Alumi-Lite. The tolerances could be "sloppy" (+/- 1/8") and placement of the fastening points were equally as loose. Well, they wanted to use the mills and a cnc to create these pieces. It took app. 3 man-hours per panel factoring in the jigs and set ups. I walked in as they were on the last piece. I then made the last panel in app. 10 minutes using a table saw and a drill motor.

Now, I understand the desire for accuracy and pride in craftsman ship they exhibited. Who doesn't want to play with a 6-axis CNC plasma cutter? In the end though the main mechanical system that needed to complete the main function of the robot broke down within a few minutes. The robot needed to be disassembled to make and install the panels meaning they couldn't use that time to tweak the "shooter" and do any final upgrading or tweaking.

This same thing has happened on almost every Bot team I've assisted to one degree or another.

So, I've decided to write a few articles and am started up a web page (which is called "The Ancient GEEKS and will go live in a week)to help out anyone who wants to learn the "boring stuff". I'm not going to charge a dime for any of this. I've been so impressed with the talent and dedication in these kids (and the adults too) and the have even taught this old fossil a thing or 2.
Some of the topics-
-How to do quick finishing touches that don't affect form or function but make an assembly look professional.
- Did you know you can soften the temper of aluminum to for mit cold then harden it with just a oxy-propane torch? Or that while aluminum is 1/4 the weight of steel, it takes twice as much to achieve the same end result?
-Using the right tool for the right job.
-Getting some of the more esoteric materials, like alumi-lite or titanium for almost nothing.
-How to use a table saw and drill press for 90% of precise machining operations.
-How to weld using the MIG and TIG processes without spending thousands of dollars on tools.
-Making jigs so some small power tools can be used instead of big shop tools.
-How to get parts powder coated or anodized cheap.

Anyhow, I'll shut up now. If anyone wants to see any pictures of my stuff before my site goes live or have any questions drop me an e-mail.

Frank (ogre) M.
"jack of all trades, master of a couple, here and there, if I'm not tired."

[PICmeUp]

Frank,

Could you please post a link to the "The Ancient Geeks" website you mentioned?

Thanks in advance!