Vermincinerator Posted December 3, 2009 Report Share Posted December 3, 2009 And Lasses mate Funniest thing ever was when I was turned down for one MOD apprenticship because they didnt have a 'ladies'. I asked what the office staff used and was told that I couldnt use that because I would be dirty! Sorry Bluebell i forgot you were of the fairer sex. Ian. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jma Posted December 3, 2009 Report Share Posted December 3, 2009 Jma,I had always felt undervalued mate and so did all the guys i worked with. Skilled men in britain have never been valued as much as thay should have been. The company where i did my apprenticeship had 35 shop floor workers and 200 office staff and it was defineately them and us. We were looked down upon, they conviniently forgot that it was what we manufactured that payed their wages and kept them in work Ian. A couple of companies that i worked for went to the wall. A good proportion of the problems were caused by not too disimilar ratios to those that you have quoted. regards jma Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vermincinerator Posted December 3, 2009 Report Share Posted December 3, 2009 The same happened to the company i did my apprenticeship at JMA. They closed the shop floor, let all the skilled guys go, sub-contracted out all the machine work, turned the floor area into a packing area and took on extra staff in the offices and low paid workers to pick and pack any orders. The whole lot lasted about 5 years after that and closed its doors for good about 7 years ago after nearly 50 years of trading. The other sad fact is thet took with them several small engineering firms who relied on their work. I was lucky to get in there because it was always regarded to be the best apprenticeship in the town. Ian. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew Posted December 4, 2009 Report Share Posted December 4, 2009 Sounds like my old shop instructor! I remember one of the first assignments was to take a rough sawed chunk of 1/4" steel plate and we had to file it into a square (exactly square) that was 1" x 1", plus or minus .0025". Old Angus would ask to see a students work and run it along side a precision square. If he didn't like it he sent it skipping along the concrete aisle between the lathes to ring off of the back wall of the shop. The second assignment was to drill a 1/2" hole in a piece of like plate and file it square so that the previous assignment would slip in with minimal allowance. Angus would hold the assembly up to a light and, god help you if you were sloppy, skip the entire assembly down the shop toward the "wailing wall". It was maddening at the time but you learned to do it right.~Andrew Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vermincinerator Posted December 4, 2009 Report Share Posted December 4, 2009 Hi Andrew, That 1"x1" square fitting test must be a worldwide standard tester of your skill levels, we did that one as well After a year on the bench learning how to file flat and saw straight our final test was to cut, file and fit male and female dovetails at a 45 degree angle out of a piece of 4"x2" quarter inch flat. This had to fit with no visible light through the gaps and then be reversed to form a 90 degree"L" shape again with no visible light. That one was tough got it passed on my second attempt. Ian. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluebell Posted December 4, 2009 Report Share Posted December 4, 2009 Hi Andrew,That 1"x1" square fitting test must be a worldwide standard tester of your skill levels, we did that one as well After a year on the bench learning how to file flat and saw straight our final test was to cut, file and fit male and female dovetails at a 45 degree angle out of a piece of 4"x2" quarter inch flat. This had to fit with no visible light through the gaps and then be reversed to form a 90 degree"L" shape again with no visible light. That one was tough got it passed on my second attempt. Ian. LOL you dont know you are born we had to get a finish so that a slip guage would stick to the surface just through lack of air. Mind you the first thing they had us do in the welding shop was weld a box - on strict orders not to put on the last side - yep you guessed it we just had to try - still had the dent in the ceiling when I left Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew Posted December 5, 2009 Report Share Posted December 5, 2009 Hi Andrew,That 1"x1" square fitting test must be a worldwide standard tester of your skill levels, we did that one as well After a year on the bench learning how to file flat and saw straight our final test was to cut, file and fit male and female dovetails at a 45 degree angle out of a piece of 4"x2" quarter inch flat. This had to fit with no visible light through the gaps and then be reversed to form a 90 degree"L" shape again with no visible light. That one was tough got it passed on my second attempt. Filing dovetails. Yes, I remember that! The worst thing I remember was cutting threads to microscope level fit, those three wires didn't lie. Any out of tolerance work was given the heave-ho!~Andrew Ian. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bambi-basher Posted December 5, 2009 Report Share Posted December 5, 2009 Hi Andrew,That 1"x1" square fitting test must be a worldwide standard tester of your skill levels, we did that one as well Ian. Yep I did a similar test when I was doing my tool and jig fitting apprenticeship in the early 80’s. I seem to think we had to finish it by scrapping and using engineers blue. I kept it in my toolbox for years after. Athough I have been off the shop floor for a number of years now. Our company wised up to graduates about 6 years ago. Each year we have an intake of new ones they are given a 1-year contract and get about ½ the pay of a full time engineer. They go round all the various departments and after a year the ones that are any good get a job offer the rest are shown the door. I am another old Northern soulie, still been known to hit the floor over 30 years on, all though the floor work gets left out, I bollock the son as he won’t get up and “strut his funky stuff” , with me and my mates it was a matter of pride in being able to dance well at his age. In fact soul probably saved my life in latter years, when I started stalking and was living in England while stalking in Scotland that long drive back on the M6 would see me falling to sleep, pop on a soul tape and sing along this would keep awake. ATB B-b Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baldie Posted December 5, 2009 Author Report Share Posted December 5, 2009 There was [and still is] plenty of stuff to keep you awake at allnighter,s eh kev ? Great days. I dont think people realise just how huge the northern scene still is. I,m out of it now, but there are very regular nighters all over the north every weekend still. Plus the weekenders at cleethorpes , skeggie etc. I seriously considered returning to the scooter/northern scene last year, but to be honest, it was all consuming when i was young and skint, lord knows what would happen now. "Er indoors" was none too keen on the idea.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jma Posted December 5, 2009 Report Share Posted December 5, 2009 There was [and still is] plenty of stuff to keep you awake at allnighter,s eh kev ? Great days. I dont think people realise just how huge the northern scene still is. I,m out of it now, but there are very regular nighters all over the north every weekend still. Plus the weekenders at cleethorpes , skeggie etc. I seriously considered returning to the scooter/northern scene last year, but to be honest, it was all consuming when i was young and skint, lord knows what would happen now. "Er indoors" was none too keen on the idea.... Bloody cold them scooters mate............... regards jma Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jma Posted December 5, 2009 Report Share Posted December 5, 2009 Although a "parka" would look pretty much like your gunsmithing atire...... Probably last longer though.... regards jma Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bambi-basher Posted December 6, 2009 Report Share Posted December 6, 2009 There was [and still is] plenty of stuff to keep you awake at allnighter,s eh kev ? Great days. I dont think people realise just how huge the northern scene still is. I,m out of it now, but there are very regular nighters all over the north every weekend still. Plus the weekenders at cleethorpes , skeggie etc. When I worked in Derby one of the engineers who worked for me was a DJ, he was always inviting me to go to skeggie for an weekender with him, at Butlin’s camp ant’it? When heading up the M6 on a Friday night BBC Radio Stoke always had a good show dedicated to Northern 7 till 9 pm. Used to help the journey up to Scotland pass by quicker. I hear Craig the owner of the CNC machine is a good guy. ATB B-b Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NICK Posted December 14, 2009 Report Share Posted December 14, 2009 Hi Ian I bet you had real Butter on your Hovis and lived in a Shoe Box in`t middle `o Road too. Nick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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