Know-it-all engineer asks machinist to fabricate a technically impossible part: 'The machinist was to machine a 12-inch part down to just over 13 inches shorter than it started'

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Brad Dickson • Managing Editor
May 24, 2024 10:00 AM EDT

Time, in a sense, is a resource that we spend doing different things, which is why when we talk about "spending time" on something, there's a literal sense to it. Through the sheer course of its slow march, the way we utilize our time through the things we do, the things we think about, and the way we prioritize our responsibilities and personal interests goes on to shape who we become, what we know, and what skills we possess. 

It might be a facile generalization, but I like to make a comparison here to building your own character in an RPG tabletop game like Dungeons and Dragons or a video game that works off the same structure, like Skyrim. Essentially, in these games, you get to give your character a certain limited number of points and put them into specific categories or skills. If you really want to specialize a character into one specific category, you need to make sacrifices in another. So, while your elven archer might be particularly lethal and persuasive, they might also be tragically weak or barbarically stupid. 

In short, what I'm getting at here is that just because someone is particularly accomplished, knowledgable, or successful in one area of their lives doesn't mean they're going to be ahead of the curve in others. In fact, since they've spent there so much time thinking about or working on that one particular thing, you might often find that they're less well-rounded overall. The thing that makes this completely intolerable is when someone refuses to acknowledge that there are times when they had best defer to other people's experience or judgment—particularly when this person is a boss who thinks that they have all the answers. 

In this case, this engineer thought that because of their education, they knew better than anyone else in the room, disregarding a veteran machinist's experience advising them against an illogical conclusion.

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  • 01
    Back when I scheduled a machine shop Ok this is sort of a "back in the day" MC. I was swing expeditor/scheduler/shop assistant. I didn't run the machines I just helped get done what needed to be done on our shift. Had an old school machinist come in at start of shift and explain the blue print was wrong and if he followed the attached manufacturing procedure it was gonna result in a bad part. He showed me the issue and I agreed right away. Said I'd catch the engineer before shift the next day.
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  • 02
    Call engineer, he says "its right just do it" Call him again next day, same result. Move it up a level and he storms into Our office off on third day. I try and show him the drawing and procedure but he insists it's correct. He tells me I have no idea what we are doing in our shop, just follow the procedure as it's written. I had logged all of the calls etc and asked if he would put that in writing and he does.
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  • 03
    Cue MC. I go to same machinist, tell him the issue. It's a 16 hour job. He sits and reads for two days and then hands paperwork, no part, into Quality Control (they check measurements and confirm it was manufactured correctly) they ask what's going on where is the part? I come by and explain that according to both the drawing and procedure the machinist was to machine a 12 inch part down to just over 13 inches shorter than it started at. Thus the produced product, nothing. Usual ask about why di
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  • 04
    So they wrote it up as a procedure issue. 2 days later same engineer storms in, but brought his boss (the one I initially went to when I got no response )and starts accusing me of sabotaging his part. I calmly show both of them everything, explain that we knew it was an issue and tried to fix it but we were over ridden. Boss looks at engineer and says "why aren't you listening to people that are trying to help?"
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  • 05
    And the engineer replies "they didn't go to college to become an engineer! They don't know what they are talking about" and walks out. I look at Boss and he says "we will get you a revised procedure and drawing, I assume you still actually have the original stock to make it from?" I laughed and told him I wasn't stupid of course I do. Engineer was no longer with the firm a couple weeks later.
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  • 06
    Pax-Anders 17 hr. ago I'm a CNC operator and boy let me tell you when you have an old head who never went to school and has been machining for 40 years, that guy is ten times more valuable than someone with a college degree. Protect him at all costs lol Vote Reply Share ... _wildwing 17 hr. ago I have a hard time no clobbering my engineer at work when he tells us "that shouldn't be working!" Gee, that's great mr. engineer, but it doesn't work when we do it the way you say it "should" work, So...
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  • 07
    Krazy_Karl_666 · 18 hr. ago So if I read that correctly your were to remove 13 inches form a 12 inch part? and the engineer didn't realize what was wrong after being shown? what an elitist Urb4nNord 17 hr. ago Excuse you, he went to college, so clearly he needed a -1 inch part! Vote Reply Share
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  • 08
    Reinventing Wheels 17 hr. ago My brother was a machinist back in the day of hand drafted blueprints and manually operated machine tools. He told of a similar incident, along the lines of a print that specified a hole that was larger diameter than the piece it was to be drilled in. The engineer dismissed his concerns. He went to his machine, gathered up a hand full of metal chips, went back to the engineer a while later and dumped the chips on his desk. "Here's your 1/2" hole drilled through a 3/
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  • 09
    Manic Mini 17 hr. ago I learned early on that if a machinist is telling you something isn't gonna fly, you shut up an listen.
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  • 10
    Infamous-Ad-5262 15 hr. ago My grandfather had an 8th grade education, then left to design/build boats for Higgins Boat Yard (think dday/pacific invasions). Trained as a tank mechanic WWII. His tank never broke as he resigned and machined several parts. Rose to be head superintendent of several oil refineries. When hiring engineers, he'd tell them- "if an old timer anybody tells you anything, listen to them, it's probably been learned through the flow of blood." He's still the smartest person I'
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  • 11
    Squidking1000 15 hr. ago. I'm an engineering manager, the number of engineers I've met I'd trust putting a bicycle together I can count on one hand without using the thumb. It's almost like the most technically illiterate are the ones that become engineers. The ones (like me) that can actually work with their hands and understand how things work are prized like gold.
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  • 12
    Kinsfire 13 hr. ago I'm not surprised that he was gone a couple weeks later. There's a video I saw a couple years ago on YouTube where the guy specifically talks about TALKING TO THE FABRICATOR. Engineer: "We need this to do this and be built like this." Fabricator: "Okay, as written, this is one piece with holes that the machine literally can NOT do, and the parts it CAN do are going to take about fourteen hours to make. But, if you do X, Y, and Z, I can make it complete with the proper holes a
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  • 13
    Because the one thing people forget is that not everything fabricated needs hyper-precise tooling. There are parts made that can be made with millimeter tolerances, rather than attometers tolerances. (For those who don't recognize the prefix, atto- means that it is 1 QUADRILLION times smaller I don't actually think - there's a machine that can do things that precise, to be honest, but the hyperbole works here.) But in the end - DON'T IGNORE THE FABRICATOR. They know what they'er doing.
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  • 14
    ChrisNam 14 hr. ago I came here mainly to say: I liked the way you built up to the idiot reveal - "...to machine a 12 inch part down to just over 13 inches shorter..." Yep, good thing you didn't go to college!
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  • 15
    Eli_1984_ . 10 hr. ago I've been an engineer for 20 years now and if somebody calls me with one of my drawings and asks "are you sure" - no matter how old they are, I take a look - JUST TO BE SURE AtlasShrugged- OP - 3 hr. ago And I probably should have pointed out that was the normal case. 99% of the engineers would address the concern. If there was an issue they would come by and talk with everyone involved in the manufacturing of the parts. So on behalf of the shop guys, thanks :) they all ap
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  • 16
    TechnOght 12 hr. ago I hate people who command from authority for one reason or another. Had an intern at my company finishing up his Masters degree, got hired in when he got it. Refused to listen to anyone else that didn't have a Masters. I told him I had the experience and skills to replace all of his professors that got him to that degree, wouldn't listen. Continued to things up. Last I heard he went to Amazon as a first tier manager. I feel sorry for anyone working for or with him.
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  • 17
    Cfwydirk 17 hr. ago Nothing is as much fun as dealing with the smartest man in the room.
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  • 18
    zeus204013 14 hr. ago • "they didn't go to college to become an engineer! They don't know what they are talking about" I've heard this type of from some medical doctors. They believe that having a degree makes competent in a lot of things, even fresh out of college. Even with info very specific...
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  • 19
    Rabid Rathian · 15 hr. ago "They didn't go to college to become an engineer!" "Apparently, neither did you!"
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