Watercooler Talk

[Glenn Schroeder]

Those of you in the US, I hope you have a good July 4th. Since it's on Tuesday this year, I'm taking a vacation day Monday, which will give me a 4-day weekend (since I hit 25 years here at the first of this month I'm up to 17 hours of vacation time accumulating each month).

[AlexLachance]

Back from the fishing trip. There was so much smoke that we could barely see the shore and there were no mosquitos. Caught about 20 walleyes and a few pikes and a few perchs, including a blue perch. Had a ton of fun though, got a bit scared when we crossed a roadblock in the trails telling us that 50 miles further is blocked. Thankfully our shack was about 25 miles further so we were able to get there and pass the whole weekend!

[Frederick_Law]

Gonna go to Montreal on 13th or 14th.
Hope to see firework.

[AlexLachance]

Gonna go to Montreal on 13th or 14th.
Hope to see firework.

Hopefully you won't be caught up in the traffic caused by all the road works.

[Frederick_Law]

Every time I went, roads are all red. Even at night.
We'll take subway to La Ronde.

Yeap all red and lot's of road closed.

Even part of West bound 401 is closed.

[AlexLachance]

Every time I went, roads are all red. Even at night.
We'll take subway to La Ronde.

Yeap all red and lot's of road closed.

Even part of West bound 401 is closed.

Yep, that's Montreal and a good portion of Quebec for ya.. Road works all the time, nothing ever finishes and when it does it needs to be scrapped and redone because it either took so long that it is obsolete or it's simply eroded by all the wear and tear it had to go through during the road works.


There was a 3 hour lineup to get inside Quebec because of an accident at the bridge on sunday. Thankfully it was clear on the way out so we didn't have to wait.

[Frederick_Law]

We usually drive to hotel and out.
We took Go Train once. Not bad.
Last week's firework was canceled because of air quality from the smoke.
Hope it improve next week.

[SPerman]

When are you guys going to get your fires under control? It seems like you would have run out of forests to burn by now.

[AlexLachance]

When are you guys going to get your fires under control? It seems like you would have run out of forests to burn by now.

You'd think so but I guess not. From what I've read yesterday, it's almost all under control, there's only 3 fires left that are still out of control but it should end this week hopefully. The rain from the weekend has helped a lot.

[Frederick_Law]

When are you guys going to get your fires under control? It seems like you would have run out of forests to burn by now.

We all love BBQ

[AlexLachance]

Welp, summer vacation is almost here and now our sewers just clogged across the entire shop and office so seems like we might start those vacations early. Supposed to be from July 21 to August 6th but if they can't unclog it, it might start at noon

Hope everyone's enjoying summer, weather's been acting pretty crazy around here because of the El Nino phenomenon. A few tornadoes so far and a bunch of crazy storms.

[Frederick_Law]

We went to Eaton Center on Thru. Totally missed the bad weather.
Tornado warning stopped before firework.
Le Ronde was empty.
Great day.

[AlexLachance]

We went to Eaton Center on Thru. Totally missed the bad weather.
Tornado warning stopped before firework.
Le Ronde was empty.
Great day.

Wow you got pretty lucky there. The day after the tornado in Ottawa, there was a pretty bad storm in Montreal that left a couple places flooded. La ronde must have been a blast if it was empty.

[Frederick_Law]

La ronde must have been a blast if it was empty.

Yes, usually it's packed. It was empty. Didn't need to line up for the bus and subway.

[Frederick_Law]

Photo from where we sit, no zoom.
Really close to the firework.
They fire in and across the pond.
You got hit by sound wave then air wave.
Then debris and gunpowder.

[AlexLachance]

PXL_20230714_003458441.jpg
PXL_20230714_020004565.MP.jpg

Photo from where we sit, no zoom.
Really close to the firework.
They fire in and across the pond.
You got hit by sound wave then air wave.
Then debris and gunpowder.

That sounds weird but kinda awesome

[Frederick_Law]

That sounds weird but kinda awesome

LOL
Yea, you feel everything from the firework.
Visual, sound, smell and touch.

[bnemec]

Anyone who likes aviation the little control tower at Oshkosh WI is becoming the busiest tower in the world for a week. AirVenture officially begins next Monday, but there's a steady stream of GA aircraft arriving all day today through the weekend.

Check out https://www.liveatc.net/search/?icao=kosh if you like to listen in.

In related news:

[Glenn Schroeder]

So I'm working in a Drawing of an Assembly. The Assembly contains several configurations of a Part that I initially created in 2009. I kept having problems with a note in the Drawing that was linked to the part's custom properties. It turns out that having a custom property and a cut list property both named "Description" in the same Part can cause said problems.

Imagine that!

[Frederick_Law]

So cut list property is just custom property in the software.
Or they got cross over.

[Glenn Schroeder]

So cut list property is just custom property in the software.
Or they got cross over.

In this case the drawing would prioritize the cut list property, and the notes showed the value for the last active configuration for all configurations. Deleting the cut list property fixed the problem.

[AlexLachance]

Heavy load on the way! One of the models of off-road trailers that I worked on is out in the trails!

[zxys001]

Heavy load on the way! One of the models of off-road trailers that I worked on is out in the trails!

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Where's the FEA report? How can we trust this?

[jcapriotti]

Heavy load on the way! One of the models of off-road trailers that I worked on is out in the trails!

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Hey, someone cut your logs in half.

[AlexLachance]

Where's the FEA report? How can we trust this?

There is one done by my collegue so that it can withhold about twice as much then it has on the picture right now. Client's been running it for 2 weeks now and he's loving it compared to his old models. Loves the clearance with the ground.

I'm kind of eager to see the other one that we will produce, a different model equipped with a turntable to help turn tight corners and a spring suspension. Supposed to carry the same kind of load but will have higher stakes. The destructive tests were a blast to do I heard.

[zxys001]

There is one done by my collegue so that it can withhold about twice as much then it has on the picture right now. Client's been running it for 2 weeks now and he's loving it compared to his old models. Loves the clearance with the ground.

I'm kind of eager to see the other one that we will produce, a different model equipped with a turntable to help turn tight corners and a spring suspension. Supposed to carry the same kind of load but will have higher stakes. The destructive tests were a blast to do I heard.

Very kew! reminds me of tall loaders at contrainer shipyards.
(images of other stacking test )

[Glenn Schroeder]

. . . The destructive tests were a blast to do I heard.

I can attest to destructive tests being a lot of fun. We usually run 2-3 per week (though most of them aren't quite as exciting as this one).

[Frederick_Law]

I can attest to destructive tests being a lot of fun. We usually run 2-3 per week (though most of them aren't quite as exciting as this one).

Great perimeter barrier. Not even much debris got pass.
Got a tank to test? Armored vehicle?

[AlexLachance]

I can attest to destructive tests being a lot of fun. We usually run 2-3 per week (though most of them aren't quite as exciting as this one).

That colision at full speed, ouch.

[SPerman]

The people in the video above could learn a thing or two from whoever rigged the barrels on the flatbed. They hardly move.

[AlexLachance]

The people in the video above could learn a thing or two from whoever rigged the barrels on the flatbed. They hardly move.

Protect the cargo, not the driver

[Glenn Schroeder]

Great perimeter barrier. Not even much debris got pass.
Got a tank to test? Armored vehicle?

We only test road legal vehicles. We test fully loaded (80,000 lbs gross) 18-wheelers occasionally, and we've tested dump trucks filled with concrete a time or two.

That colision at full speed, ouch.

I think that was at 50 mph.

The people in the video above could learn a thing or two from whoever rigged the barrels on the flatbed. They hardly move.

They stayed on the truck long enough to add their mass to the load on the barrier. That's all we care about.

Protect the cargo, not the driver

It's all about protecting whatever is on the other side of the barrier.

[Frederick_Law]

Any photo of the barrier after truck was removed?
Or they became one?


Ever tested wedge shape?
Just shard the vehicle .....

[Glenn Schroeder]

Any photo of the barrier after truck was removed?
Or they became one?

I'm sure there are, but that was 10 years or so ago and I don't even know if I could find them (or if I would be allowed to share them even if I did find them).

Ever tested wedge shape?
Just shard the vehicle .....

Yes, we have tested some pop-up wedges. Some worked very well and some barely slowed the truck down. As far as I know none of those are on YouTube, but I'm not sure.

[bnemec]

The spectators in the first clip are very stoic.

[SPerman]

We usually run 2-3 per week

I'm sure after 1 or 2 of those tests, it's just your job and not an episode of mythbusters.

[Glenn Schroeder]

I'm sure after 1 or 2 of those tests, it's just your job and not an episode of mythbusters.

I've seen a lot of them in the 25 years I've worked here. Now I quite often just stay in my office and don't bother watching (especially when it's 104° outside, or 40° or lower with the north wind blowing).

[SPerman]

The first time I went to a wind tunnel it was exciting. About half way through that test the shine had worn off and it was a lot of standing around doing nothing.

(Actually, know that I think about it, the first test was really cool. We went to Langley, and the tunnel had issues, so a couple of us spent a few hours wandering through the bowels of the Langley wind tunnel. You could feel the history dripping off of that place. The next test was at GM, and got boring in a hurry.)

[DanPihlaja]

The first time I went to a wind tunnel it was exciting. About half way through that test the shine had worn off and it was a lot of standing around doing nothing.

(Actually, know that I think about it, the first test was really cool. We went to Langley, and the tunnel had issues, so a couple of us spent a few hours wandering through the bowels of the Langley wind tunnel. You could feel the history dripping off of that place. The next test was at GM, and got boring in a hurry.)

The first time I tested gas masks at APG with the soldiers, it was super nerve wracking and exciting and I kept worrying that I was going to do something wrong. By the 3rd time, I realized that these people were just here to do a job, and I relaxed and it wasn't a huge deal. Got kind of boring watching them do exercises for 3 hours. I didn't even have a chance to talk to them about it.

[AlexLachance]

Stuck in the mud but still staying straight as a line.

[mattpeneguy]

While @Glenn Schroeder enjoys some nice cool rain, here we are:

Good news is the feels like temperature tomorrow will be 116F. If you are going to have record temperatures, may as well have some humidity with it, too...
Kidding aside, I hope everything goes well with you, Glenn, with this storm. I think you are far enough inland you shouldn't have a problem, but there is always the possibility of localized flooding.

[Glenn Schroeder]

While @Glenn Schroeder enjoys some nice cool rain, here we are:
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Good news is the feels like temperature tomorrow will be 116F. If you are going to have record temperatures, may as well have some humidity with it, too...
Kidding aside, I hope everything goes well with you, Glenn, with this storm. I think you are far enough inland you shouldn't have a problem, but there is always the possibility of localized flooding.

I appreciate it, but my forecast looks a lot like yours. I am far enough inland to usually not have problems from hurricanes (though it does happen; Hurricane Harvey was a notable exception), but this time I'm too far inland and too far north.

[AlexLachance]

I appreciate it, but my forecast looks a lot like yours. I am far enough inland to usually not have problems from hurricanes (though it does happen; Hurricane Harvey was a notable exception), but this time I'm too far inland and too far north.


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Glad to hear it, stay safe my friend.

[bnemec]

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Stuck in the mud but still staying straight as a line.

That is impressive. Keeping that CoG between the wheels vs sloppy shift off to the low side is... I just don't have words.

[mattpeneguy]

Hey @DennisD,
You get your power back on yet? (If you even lost it).
Our friends in Sarasota lucked out. It tracked far enough north that they only lost power for a couple of hours.

[DennisD]

Hey @DennisD,
You get your power back on yet? (If you even lost it).
Our friends in Sarasota lucked out. It tracked far enough north that they only lost power for a couple of hours.

In 16 years we've never lost power during these storms. Thankfully our NE corner of the state gets the least effects of these storms. Around us we only had about 1/2" of rain and some wind. It tracked north and west of us.

[SPerman]

The past couple of weeks I've been working on a project that makes this job fun.

We had a customer request custom fixturing for attaching their specimen to our equipment.

I mocked up 6 designs for review.

We picked one of those as the leading candidate. I then 3d printed that design, along with a variation on that design that doesn't require any tools.

From there, I machined a couple of prototypes to send to the customer for testing.

I'm glad I don't make my living turning knobs on machines, but it's fun to make a pile of chips from time to time.

[ctsturdiv]

I'm glad I don't make my living turning knobs on machines, but it's fun to make a pile of chips from time to time.

Used to have one of those type gigs for about a year or two at a food plant. Except I was a production helper, not the knob turner (err.. machine operator) I got to watch the guys turning knobs and grab things if stuff went afoul.

I think I am still missing brain cells from back then.

Funny thing is, at my college (I am in my second semester of an AA in drafting/design), one of the intern gigs is a company that does instrumentation. So, I may have knobs in my future if I go with that one.

[Frederick_Law]

F1 racers are knob turner too

I had:
Program and setup Festo PLC in highschool.
Program, setup and run Trumpf punch.
Program, setup and run 3D printer.
Program, setup and run laser.

All those help with designing better, easier to manufacture and more efficient parts.

[AlexLachance]

Moar special trailer designing! This one is most likely going to be a stationnary unit for towns that are far from everything. Roof opens up to allow for loading and also acts as a compactor. There's a huge ram inside that also serves as a compactor/unloader.