# Family Ties



## Ed Williams (Jun 13, 2019)

Well, today was another special day for me. Seems like I have had more than my share this year. Today was my middle grandson's 16th birthday. He is a very special kid, a little mouthy at times, but a very hard worker and quite independent for his age. He thinks he wants to be a farmer and has acquire, with a little help, 20 chickens, 4 goats and a bull. He has built 2 mini barns, with a little construction guidance, mostly by himself. He has fenced in about 2 acres of my back yard for the critters and is up here at 5:30 every morning to care for his crittters. When he needed some gates to segregate the insides of the barns, I taught him to weld with the DC stick rod and build his own. He did very well after a few false starts. I showed him how to square the gate and tacked the first one together. He finished that one and built 2 others I n his own. He thinks welding is fun. I have very few rods left now. Because he has shown a great deal of maturity and responsibility, I gave him my prized 1986 Ford F-150 which I completely rebuilt as a body off frame restoration. 2 years ago. I spent 18 months of 10 to 12 hour days on the restoration and over $4000 in new parts. I have had the truck for 33 years, so it was a hard thing for me to do. It is going to someone who really appreciates it, so it will have a good home and second life. Mom and dad are struggling with huge medical bills from a stroke to dad while riding a motorcycle, completely devastating. They agreed after much protest to let grandpa acquire all 3 boys, now 14, 16, and 18 their first vehicle. The oldest got a 1999 Dodge Ram extended cab. He was 6'9" at age 16 and could not fit in a normal vehicle, not even my full sized cab Ford. I stiffened the floor and relocated the bottom seat rails 6" to the rear for him to drive comfortably. The middle gets my truck, and I have a 1995 Ford F-150 stashed in my other daughter's garage/shed for the youngest. After today, I think he smells a rat, since both older brothers got trucks at 16. He has seen the truck, but I told him it was for spare parts for my truck, hoping the year difference would not be noticed.
Back to today. When I had the truck hauled by wrecker over to my other daughters garage for the restoration, the boys thought I had sold the truck or junked it. I did not tell them any thing different. Let their imaginations run wild. My daughter said Jonas cried himself to sleep for 2 solid weeks because I had sold the truck. He had dreamed of having it since he was 5 or 6 years old. It completely devasted him that the truck was gone for good. Again, tears of joy when it showed back up 18 months later in the middle of the night and looking like a brand new truck. Today, he was in pure shock when I gave him the keys packaged in a gift box. The first time I have ever seen the kid speachless. More tears. These were from pure joy. Mom says I will have to repaint next summer, Jonas will wash and polish all the paint off the truck. It has a good home. See pics of trucks and Jonas welding at age 13. I added a switch bar with 4 switches for 2 sets of front LED driving lights, 1 set of back up lights for trailers, and a big surprise for a little boy, 12 Cree 3 bulb underbody blue high intensity LED lights. Wonder how long it will take for him to find out what the fourth switch is *for. ]


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## pogobill (Jan 31, 2012)

Nice old Ford. Lucky boys. Sounds more like they earned them though, rather than just being lucky!


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## bmaverick (Feb 20, 2014)

Ed Williams said:


> Well, today was another special day for me. Seems like I have had more than my share this year. Today was my middle grandson's 16th birthday. He is a very special kid, a little mouthy at times, but a very hard worker and quite independent for his age. He thinks he wants to be a farmer and has acquire, with a little help, 20 chickens, 4 goats and a bull. He has built 2 mini barns, with a little construction guidance, mostly by himself. He has fenced in about 2 acres of my back yard for the critters and is up here at 5:30 every morning to care for his crittters.


Ed, We just move north from Nashville just over a year ago. Your 16yo would be an ideal match for my 16yo daughter who raises chickens, gets up at 5am every morning and milks goats and our Jersey, she's done 8 acres of fencing with me and her 2 younger sibling brothers. We are nudging her towards being a livestock vet since there is not many around anymore. This year we are raising 4 pigs too. She's been with us to the slaughter facilities for both drop off and pickup. She even gardens! She can toss hay bales onto the wagons as good as any teen boy could do. 

She will graduate with a TN HS diploma too. Thus, making her eligible for free schooling in TN. 

I want the best for her. The boy she finds should NOT be glued to a smarty phone, lacks of skills, and wants to drive an EV. That would ruin her potential. 

Our goal is to get back to the Bowling Green-KY / Nashville-TN area within 10yrs.

Ed, sounds like you poured your heart and wisdom into the boys. The reward is seeing them being great men in life. This would make any parent/grandparent proud because of the self sacrifice of life. Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it. -Proverbs 22:6.








She's holding her goat to sell on CL.


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## Ed Williams (Jun 13, 2019)

Sounds like you have a real winner also. Question. How do you convince a young one that has tremendous potential to continue their education after they get their GED from HS. Jones will not even consider talking about going further. I can understand a little. He is tired of being cooped up in school all day. He wants to be outside doing something with his hands. I was somewhat the same at that age, but a cousin convinced me that you needed more than a GED to have the freedom you want later on. Besides, another 4 yrs of school is not that long and passes quickly. At 66, time passes very quickly, at 16 time very slowly and 4 yrs seems like forever. I will keep trying. A trade school may be the best bet for Jonus

Funny. We have more in common than you think. I was born in Bowling Green and raised on a small farm before moving north to Bedford in Trembal county. That is a great area, but lacks work opportunities compatable with my background.


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## Ed Williams (Jun 13, 2019)

pogobill said:


> Nice old Ford. Lucky boys. Sounds more like they earned them though, rather than just being lucky!


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## Ed Williams (Jun 13, 2019)

My neighbors think I am crazy and lost my mind down the road somewhere. Spoiling them too much. But for this day and time, I think it shows that if you demonstrate responsibility you can expect good things will come to you. We need to stop the entitlement mentality most of today's youth are demonstrating. Besides, all the trucks are fairly old, not very costly, and will provide dependable service if maintained properly. We'll see how they do. I think it will serve as a great teaching tool for their devopment to adulthood.


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## bmaverick (Feb 20, 2014)

Ed Williams said:


> Sounds like you have a real winner also. Question. How do you convince a young one that has tremendous potential to continue their education after they get their GED from HS. Jones will not even consider talking about going further. I can understand a little. He is tired of being cooped up in school all day. He wants to be outside doing something with his hands. I was somewhat the same at that age, but a cousin convinced me that you needed more than a GED to have the freedom you want later on. Besides, another 4 yrs of school is not that long and passes quickly. At 66, time passes very quickly, at 16 time very slowly and 4 yrs seems like forever. I will keep trying. A trade school may be the best bet for Jonus
> 
> Funny. We have more in common than you think. I was born in Bowling Green and raised on a small farm before moving north to Bedford in Trembal county. That is a great area, but lacks work opportunities compatable with my background.


My oldest is now 29. He was the brightest in high school. We kept nudging him to college. He too wanted freedom. 5 years later he realized he missed his boat of opportunity and the defaulted to a Class-B trucking license. Well, surprising enough, his job pays more than my engineering job. We both work 55hrs/wk too. 

Second oldest we thought would end up as a restaurant manager. That he exceeded at and even became the regional manager of the chain. BUT, he realized soon that he was getting older and the youth call in too much, quit or just didn't 'feel' like working that day. Thus, he had to do both jobs or call folks in for OT. Well, that isn't the life for him. He's now in his 3rd year of engineering school. 

The others are at home still. 

What can we do?
Psalm 127 3-5 
Lo, children are an heritage of the Lord: and the fruit of the womb is his reward.
As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth. Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them: they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate. 

Basically we want them to thrive and achieve as the best arrow we've shaped. BUT, when they are dedicated to the Lord, it's His plan all along where they will land in life. Our job is to train and allow their gifts (skills/talents) to mature before being shot out of the bow (the family home front) and into the world. The question is the aiming part. 

Here is a word of encouragement. This is how we aim and pull back the bow for our children to hit the target in life. 
https://www.bible.com/reading-plans/11368-like-arrows/day/1


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## Ed Williams (Jun 13, 2019)

Well spoken. Jonas is a very active church goer now. I have told him many times that the Lord will guide him in life and to seek His guidance often. Most important. Mind the Lord in all matters. He will not fail you and will always be with you. Funny thing. He is now considering the ministry as an occupation to support his farming wishes. I told him to mind the Lord in all things and you will find your chosen path in life.


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## bmaverick (Feb 20, 2014)

Ed Williams said:


> Well spoken. Jonas is a very active church goer now. I have told him many times that the Lord will guide him in life and to seek His guidance often. Most important. Mind the Lord in all matters. He will not fail you and will always be with you. Funny thing. He is now considering the ministry as an occupation to support his farming wishes. I told him to mind the Lord in all things and you will find your chosen path in life.


My daughter keeps up with her Bible studies too. She wants to be the woman of that verse, Whoso findeth a wife findeth a good thing, and obtaineth favour of the LORD. Proverbs 18:22. Looking at the young woman today, they seem to be lost or involved in others things rather than family. Ever been to the supermarket and see the young families and HOW CLUELESS they are??? Their carts are all pre-packaged items. No produce. Neither knows how to prepare to cook from the garden! Their idea of meal planning is to grab a box and milk or grab a box and nuke it.

It's canning season. All the girls of the house are busy. All organic and following the cleanliness rules.


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## Ed Williams (Jun 13, 2019)

Update. I sort of kept watch on my daughter's, Jonas mom, place next door. I was in and out of the front yard several times and know for a fact that he washed and waxed the truck at least 2 times today, possibly more. He has not had it a.full 24 hrs.yet. Mom may be correct. At this rate it will need new paint by mid-summer


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## bbirder (Feb 26, 2006)

All we can do is raise our children with good example. They get older and either learn from example or they succumb to the peer pressure of the world. This is getting more prevalent as the years go by. We can only hope that our guidance has rubbed off and cannot fault ourselves if it doesn't.
Ed, Teach that boy to use a long sleeved shirt to weld! Rods are not the same as mig welding.


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## Ed Williams (Jun 13, 2019)

He started out with a long slerved shirt and a pair of leather welding sleeves. I started him out on 6010 rods and there was no argument due to the weld splatter. After he was comfortable with the 6010's, I switched him to 7018's so he could see there was a vast difference in welding rods. I had to leave for a short time to finish some of my own work, but his 2 brothers were there if he needed any help. When I returned he had discarded the welding sleeves and switched to a short sleeved shirt. Said he got too hot.


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## John Liebermann (Sep 17, 2018)

Should not let bare skin exposed to arc welding fire. Ultra Violet rays are really bad. 

Glad the kids in this thread are all doing well. Great parents!


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## Hoodoo Valley (Nov 14, 2006)

John Liebermann said:


> Should not let bare skin exposed to arc welding fire. Ultra Violet rays are really bad.


Absolutely the truth. First time I welded, I had a sleeveless shirt on. After two hours of running hardwire, I had the worst burns I've ever had, this from a fella who's worked framing houses for years out in the sun......... If you've ever gotten flash burn in the eyes too....... you know already that welding flash needs to be blocked.


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## Ed Williams (Jun 13, 2019)

I have educated all 3 boys that welding can be very dangerous if the proper safety precautions are not taken. I reamed Jonas pretty good for discarding the safety equipment I had instructed him to wear. I now own 5 welding hoods so they can all watch while 1 is actually welding. Got the 220 mig going, finally without having to spend the $300 MAC wanted for a new torch unit. MIG is on gas now, but it is too easy for the boys. They all run good welds with very little weld time. If I can figure out how to change the DC polarity, I want to switch them over to flux core. It is a harsher weld and takes a little more skill set to produce a good weld. It also teaches the importance of properly cleaning the weld area. They are really confused why an AC machine can only run AC rods, while a DC machine can run both AC and DC rods, even though 7018's run better on AC. Hard to explain the difference between an iron based flux on the low hydrogen rods and the cellulose based flux on the 60 series rods. I just told them to use the 60 series for root and intermediate beads, and the 70 series for the finish passes. Also stringers produce a better weld than the wide weaving finish beads. Some real life skills need to be a part of their home school education. Grandma disagrees, she is the primary HS teacher, but I won't let this one go. I don't think 2-4 hours a week is unreasonable for teaching some basic mechanical skills and how to keep records like checking and savings accounts, and how to handle their finances. Just plain old common sense that so many in public seem to be lacking these days. Most kids today cannot make change for a purchase. Just go to McDonalds and watch.


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## Hoodoo Valley (Nov 14, 2006)

That's awesome that your teaching the kids how to weld. It's a rough profession but a good skill to have, even if for just personal projects.

I've done a little bit of arc welding with 7018. Even welded a a 5 foot section to a 14 inch piling out on the cape at Priest Lake. 4 years later, it's still holding. The storms out there actually pulled the original piling out and the dock got beached, gangway mangled. Would like to get more experience with stick and tig.


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## bmaverick (Feb 20, 2014)

Ed Williams said:


> I have educated all 3 boys that welding can be very dangerous if the proper safety precautions are not taken.... Some real life skills need to be a part of their home school education. Grandma disagrees, she is the primary HS teacher, but I won't let this one go. I don't think 2-4 hours a week is unreasonable for teaching some basic mechanical skills and how to keep records like checking and savings accounts, and how to handle their finances.


We enjoy the same type of schooling for our kids as well. Book smart can only go so far. Real on hands experiences last a life time. That's why, training up a child in the path they need to go, will benefit them in their entire life. 

Now, if you can somehow find a method to teach the boys how to laser weld.  
A manual hand held laser welder uses the same skill set for doctors doing medical surgeries too. In the YT vid, master jewelers construct the smallest elegant pieces that is impossible otherwise in the art of craftsmenship. 



 
Amazing how a hand held laser requires much less safety gear, yet the safety gear is different. 
This is were welding is heading. Many small mom & pop places have gone this way in the past decade too. Old school welding is becoming less.


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## Ed Williams (Jun 13, 2019)

I will stick with the "old school" welding. I have trouble with Al, even though the MIG even has a separate hose liner for Al. Probably need to Invest in a spool gun for Al. Just not that much call for it. Made a recent change this month. Old Porta band is on its last legs and cut off w heels are messy, so I ordered a 50 amp plasma cutter. I have wanted one for some time, but could not justify. I found a no frills model for slightly more than the saw replacement, so a good time to try one out. More training for boys. I have been dropping all kind of hints to advertise non certified weld services on Craigs list to make a little money for truck insurance. No takers yet, but would be a golden opportunity for higher education on starting and running their own business. Plus I wOuld be around to keep them out of trouble. I even gAve them an idea for a company slogan. "No job too small, some jobs too big" that didn't go over very well. I at least have them starting to think outside the square "factory job" box.


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## Hoodoo Valley (Nov 14, 2006)

Problem there is kind of like the tractors....... Everyone has one now. It's funny but I started building houses in the early 1980s. Back then, the average homeowner had a drill and a hammer. Over time, especially with the advent of China Depot more commonly known as Harbor Freight, I started to become aware that the average homeowner now has the top dawg hf slide saw, cordless screw guns, compressors and nail guns for the occasional picture frame or shelf they install out in the garage. The new welders practically weld by themselves, and my former employer bought a top rate Lincoln 350 that even throws out the whip pattern of hardwire, without whipping it. Folks used to get by with 2 wheel drive air cooled riding mowers, now it has to be 4 wheel drive fuel injected diesel utility tractors with back how etc. Where someone wasn't afraid to pull out a shovel or post hole digger, now it's run down and finance a new tractor!


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## Hoodoo Valley (Nov 14, 2006)

By the way, aluminum mig on a machine with pulsed mig is a dream to operate!


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## Ed Williams (Jun 13, 2019)

I have never tried that. Not much call for Al welding here. Only ones I remember were to fix or install boat handrails. Most welding is plain CS, usually to fix or modify a trailer, then believe it or not, grader blades. They sure aRe hard on them. Most get damaged trying to semove srumps. Some SS EXHAUST pipes. I quit TIG. Not much call for shop welds and pure Argon is not cheap to have setting around. Pretty much the same for MIG. Mostly field work now, so looking at flux core. Used to build a lot of trailers of all kinds, 20+ a year, but I cannot compete with the lowball stamped steel ones now being sold. Their selling price is less than my matrial costs. So, back to patch work. Even dropped my certification when work fell off. Very few jobs required cert.

Seems only decent work and pay for welders now is pipeline or industrial construction, both requiring much travel. And they do age descriminate.


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## bmaverick (Feb 20, 2014)

Ed Williams said:


> I have never tried that. Not much call for Al welding here. Only ones I remember were to fix or install boat handrails. Most welding is plain CS, usually to fix or modify a trailer, then believe it or not, grader blades. They sure aRe hard on them. Most get damaged trying to semove srumps. Some SS EXHAUST pipes. I quit TIG. Not much call for shop welds and pure Argon is not cheap to have setting around. Pretty much the same for MIG. Mostly field work now, so looking at flux core. Used to build a lot of trailers of all kinds, 20+ a year, but I cannot compete with the lowball stamped steel ones now being sold. Their selling price is less than my matrial costs. So, back to patch work. Even dropped my certification when work fell off. Very few jobs required cert.
> 
> Seems only decent work and pay for welders now is pipeline or industrial construction, both requiring much travel. And they do age discriminate.


I hear you about the age issue. Sure, the law says they can not, but oddly, everyone really does by skirting around it. 

My hauling trailer isn't angle iron, it's square tube. A much sturdier trailer and it tracks behind vehicle with ease because of it. Angle iron type trailers can twist easy. 

I'm doing a farm trailer that is purposed for square hay bales and getting plant samplings out to spring gardens. It would be mainly a carry-all. Not worried about the twist for off-road and under 15mph max speed.  

Glad you have the boys learning. Not many with skill trades around. And the ones you do find are not all that great for craftsmanship. That's a desired skill of a person who has personal pride in their work. Something that can not be learned in a basic class unless the instructor goes a huge extra mile with a student. That's the plus for homeschooling right there!


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## Ed Williams (Jun 13, 2019)

I was always a little strange when building trailers for other people. I listened very carefully to what the customer wanted, and very politely told him he was full of crap by trying to cut corners. I always used a boxed beam main frame from behind the axless to the tongue for the added strength, but then used angle iron, Minimum 1/4"x2", subframe for mounting the deck. Always used rough cut 2x6 or 2x8 oAK for decking. Used to have 3 working Mills within 10 miles and could by direct very cheap. Sometimes the barter system was the best bet. I could get enough decking for 4 trailers for 1 auto paint job. Sure do miss those days. Anyway, back then I could by "scrap steel" from the plant for 2 cents a pound. Sometimes the scrap was new that did not meet the specs after casting and roll forming. I had a buddy that worked in the salvage yard keeping me up to date on materials available in the scrap yard. I even had 22 different trailer designs on my home computer drawn in AutoCad, yes some of the drawings were made a t work during slack periods. I did have my supervisors approval to make and print the drawings in electronic and paper format. The ACAD drawings also contained a detailed materials list for each size of trailer. The materials list could be inserted in the drawing area, or printed separately. The smallest trailer w/plans was a 4x8 for lawnmowers, and the largest was a 7.5x28 triaxel with hydraulic brakes and self contained hydraulic tilt. It's funny. WVA is considered backward by many, but all trailers had to be licensed and a state issued VIN plate attached to the tongue. Privately built trailers were required to submit detailed plans and specs, materials list and welding specs to a state engineer for approval before constructing and pay a review and licensing fee. You could gather materials and supplies, but not do any construction until approval was on site in writing. Not a bad system. KY requires nothing for a trailer. People will not pay for quality work on a trailer these days, they want the cheapest price and to hell with any quality or safety issues. So, I am out of the trailer business unless catastrophic changes come about.

I snuck across the fence and took a look at my son in laws "heavy duty" trailer he purchase at a premium price. It is constructed of 3/16" channel iron throughout, no subframe. Heavy Duty my ass. Evidently the standard trailer is constructed of light gauge angle iron and the heavy duty from channel iron. This is a poor joke that will eventually get someone hurt or even killed.


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## bmaverick (Feb 20, 2014)

Ed Williams said:


> I even had 22 different trailer designs on my home computer drawn in AutoCad, yes some of the drawings were made a t work during slack periods. I did have my supervisors approval to make and print the drawings in electronic and paper format. The ACAD drawings also contained a detailed materials list for each size of trailer. The materials list could be inserted in the drawing area, or printed separately. The smallest trailer w/plans was a 4x8 for lawnmowers, and the largest was a 7.5x28 triaxel with hydraulic brakes and self contained hydraulic tilt. It's funny. WVA is considered backward by many, but all trailers had to be licensed and a state issued VIN plate attached to the tongue. Privately built trailers were required to submit detailed plans and specs, materials list and welding specs to a state engineer for approval before constructing and pay a review and licensing fee. You could gather materials and supplies, but not do any construction until approval was on site in writing. Not a bad system. KY requires nothing for a trailer.


SWEET. 

Since you are not producing trailers anymore. Hay you thought about Copywriter your plans to keep ownership, but sell the plans either in an eBook or as individually. With the WVA requirements, your trailer plans would meet or exceed WVA and other states with lower standards too. 

I had spent 3 years looking for a trailer. Yes, you are 100%, there is junk out there for premium prices that taught being heavy duty. My dealer was out of KY, but the trailers were made in TN. Even the national brands were going CHEAP-O. This lead to more frustrations in my quest. 

You sir are blessed with a keen mind for details. We are of similar backgrounds. I'm a transportation engineer using various CAD systems and FEA packages. Today, many engineers have no on-hands training. Let the computers do the work. Then when things fail, they move to a different employer before all breaks loose. Then we wonder why things are junk! Just because a computer says it would work (basically theory), doesn't mean it will in real life! 

You did the real work, made improvements and then documented the CAD drawings as a proven solution. This is both time and skills. Not many inventors like this anymore.


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## Ed Williams (Jun 13, 2019)

Funny story. I have always had a flair for detail work and would recheck my designs and calcs 4-5 times on a new job to make sure I had not missed something. In other words, cover your ass. The fancy term now is "Due Diligance". The worst job I had in my entire working life was so simple it was rediculous. An Army base in Maryland wanted to build a new firehouse with rapid opening hydraulic driven doors. Not real complicated, but I chose a 2500 psig system, and actually doubled the flow rate per door to ensure fast acting. Army specs are difficult at best, so I added an additional 50% safety factor on top of my usual 25%. I did not want to get into a design and spec Hassel with the Army's coordinating engineer. Guess what. My design and accompanying specs were imediatEly rejected on the initial review. I was in total shock. I had taken every precaution to deliver a quality design and had rechecked every number 4-5 times. The owner of my construction company and I had to fly to the Maryland base and meet with the commanding general and his staff for a detailed review of my design aND to find out why it was rejected out of hand. I was totally embarrased. Nothing like this had ever happened before in my 35 years as a professional design engineer. My company owner asked if we were okay. He was a little nervous as $30 plus million dollars of future contracts were on the line depending on the outcome of this job. 

When the review board conveniened I met the engineer reviewer who rejected my design. A real smart ass mechanical who just graduated from Columbia the previous spring. He was going up the ladder fast and. Trampling anyone in his path. I took an instant dislike to him, his personality, and his intentonal trashing of others to get ahead.
He had told the commanding general that my design was totally flawed and exceeded not only the working pressure, but also the burst pressure of the hydraulic piping. This could get my company banned from even bidding on any future goVT work. I thought the owner was going to pee himself. I told him we were okay. The idiot engineer started the review by whipping out a pipe table that showed operating and burst pressures of CS pipe. It clearly showed that 2500 psig did exceed both the operating and burst pressure. The general was no nonsense and demanded an explanation. It was my turn. I pulled out my design specs which showed a hydraulic oil system complete with 2 stage oil cooling to maintain a system temperature of 90 deg F. I also produced my own piping table from Crane, a leading supplier of pipe valves aND fittings in the US. My data showed piping with an operating presure safety factor 5.5 and a burst pressure safety factor of 7.5. Piping industry standards are 2 and 3 respectfully. The general was absolutely befuddled until I reached down and circled some very fine print at the bottom of his fellows chart. Those numbers were for CS pipe operating at 1200 deg F. My chart was for piping operating at 100 deg F, still above my design temp. 

Bottom line. I never saw or heard from the inspecting engineer again. My company was awarded $25 million of the $35 million in contracts out for bid. The commanding general sent me and my company president a sincere letter of apology for wasting resources in such a frivolous manner, and I got a very nice 4 figure Christmas bonus that year. It really does pay to double check your work, especially if life-safety issues are involved.


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## Ed Williams (Jun 13, 2019)

bmaverick said:


> SWEET.
> 
> Since you are not producing trailers anymore. Hay you thought about Copywriter your plans to keep ownership, but sell the plans either in an eBook or as individually. With the WVA requirements, your trailer plans would meet or exceed WVA and other states with lower standards too.
> 
> ...


Sad ending to that story. I was under an ACAD license from my employer. Started out as a small family business and everything was great. I kept my personal files on the company mainframe with no problems. Somewhere down the line, greed entered into the family business, and when I retired, ACAD was immediately removed from my machine and I was denied access to any ACAD files as they were "company" property. I tried to explain that the's were personal files and had nothing to do with the construction company. No dice. One of the new generation owners told me if I wanted to persue the matter, "go get a lawyer". My how times change for the worst.


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## bmaverick (Feb 20, 2014)

Ed Williams said:


> Sad ending to that story. I was under an ACAD license from my employer. Started out as a small family business and everything was great. I kept my personal files on the company mainframe with no problems. Somewhere down the line, greed entered into the family business, and when I retired, ACAD was immediately removed from my machine and I was denied access to any ACAD files as they were "company" property. I tried to explain that the's were personal files and had nothing to do with the construction company. No dice. One of the new generation owners told me if I wanted to persue the matter, "go get a lawyer". My how times change for the worst.


Been there myself. BUT, as computers got USB ports, it became really easy to use a jump drive and back-off data on the fly. Meaning, the USB jump drive was the storage location for the personal files, even CAD that were for my own use. Then in times, I would take the files and make copies to DXF and STEP files to preserve them should my next CAD system be a different software. 

Also, I made it a point to befriend the IT Admin for the site. Made it easy in the workplace. After layoffs, I got 4-CDs in the mail a month later.  

Backups are essential in life. One can not always depend on Plan-A to always be there. Plans -B & -C have to be in place when 'change happens'.


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## Ed Williams (Jun 13, 2019)

I guess I am naI've with people. When I hired in everything was great. First name basis and everybody working together. I even spent time as a project manager on a truck body plant. 75% on the work was piping that I designed, so it was not a big deal to grab an idle architect and squeeze out enough building knowledge to get by in a pinch. Everybody helped each other out. I did electrical and mechanical designs and drawings when things got busy. I never saw the change coming. I guess I just stuck my head in the sand and pretended things were ok. Shame on.me. I have been trying to find a simple cad design program that is not based on an annual renewal and is affordable, but pickins are thin. Even tried a vector drawing program, that really sucked. I like for lines to go and stop where I tell them to. So, the hunt continues.


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## bmaverick (Feb 20, 2014)

Ed Williams said:


> I have been trying to find a simple cad design program that is not based on an annual renewal and is affordable, but pickins are thin. Even tried a vector drawing program, that really sucked. I like for lines to go and stop where I tell them to. So, the hunt continues.


FREECAD V18 has been out for over a year now. I would assume V19 is coming out shortly. It's another one I picked up. And it's cost is always FREE. 

https://www.freecadweb.org 

The tutorials and YT vids come in really handy. It reads and writes STEP and DXF files too. It's far better than the lame google sketchup. Just got to understand the interface and how to pick the modules.


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## Ed Williams (Jun 13, 2019)

Thanks. Will be heading there now to take a look. May be gone for awhile.


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## pogobill (Jan 31, 2012)

I bought Gstar ACAD 2011 9 years ago. One shot deal, no fees, and works for me.


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## Ed Williams (Jun 13, 2019)

Another surprise. Bored Xmas day, so surfing ebay saw a $500+ plasma cutter posted with initial bid $150. I thought, why not? I had always wanted one but too pricey. I had pretty much forgot about putting in the next bid of $152.50 since the auction was 7 days. I was really surprised when notified I won. There were no other bidders. Merry Xmas to me. It arrived today. It is dual voltage, 120 or 240. Came with 120 plug of course. Rated 30 amp at 120v, or 50 amp AR 240v. Hooked it up and tested on 1/8 plate, 20 amp and 60 psig air. Sliced it clean. Very little slag which jumped off with light hammer taps. Funny, base bate rial stayed cool, unlike torch. No more $175 cutting torch fills. The plasma is rated to 5/8 steel and 1/2 Al. More than I will ever need. Most use sunglasses. I am using hood between #4 and #7 shade, works great. Plasma so small and ceramic nozzle so big I cannot see cut, but I will figure it out.


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