I forget about this sometimes

[Dan in MI]

I was raised by a depression era ORPHAN. My Dad was farmed out as labor from 7 to 16 until he went and hired in at GM to be on his own.

Dad taught us how how to work in things, (indirectly) and while he didn't outright say it, his motto was fix it yourself before paying anyone. Of course my brothers and I did.

That is why I seem to forget not everyone is handy or intuitive about trying to repair things.

I make a small lathe. Some times I get a call about a minor issue. Instead of spending all the money to ship it back and forth I ask the customer if they are willing to work on it with direction. Most say yes and we get it repaired, or at least diagnosed, in minutes. The first step is always have the customer grab a Phillips screwdriver. When I get "Is that the cross or a blade?" The response often ends up "How close is your Post Office?"

That long winded intro is for this. I owe some of you an apology. You don't know it, and I've never said it publicly, but there are times I read some of these "How do I?" threads and the responses have me thinking "Really? You don't understand that?" Now most of the time it is based on having read your responses for years and thinking you should know the subject since it's basic stuff that your responses in the past implied you knew. But I still shouldn't go there. So for that I apologize.

On the flip side I have a pretty good idea who knows their stuff on many or select subjects. To those members, thanks. I may have picked up a tip or two from your responses here.

 

[Fox Mike]

My wife jokingly calls me "Macgyver". Like the 'tee shirt' says. .. "It's what I do. I fix things and I know stuff." It is killing me that I now have to have a mechanic put struts on my car but now as I am four months shy of 86 I find the majority of heavy duty repairs are now out of the question.

 

[Bob Wright]

As a youngster I watched my Dad build stuff, repair stuff and in general be a Mr. Fixit. In high school I took mechanical drawing which help me visualize the way things went together. Drafting school gave me even better idea about things mechanical and structural. Working for an engineering/construction/fabricating firm really gave me an education. So now I usually know what can be fixed and what can't. And, has been pointed out, age has taken some of that skill away from me.

Then my niece brought over a Christmas decoration that was never meant to be repaired...............

Bob Wright

 

[hittman]

Well Dan, very nice of you to make this posting.
You sure don’t owe me an apology or explanation but good for you for sharing.

 

[Jeepnik]

Many younger people are amazed anyone can fix things. Recently went to the Dr and he wanted to know how I injured my hands. I looked at the cuts and scratches on my hands, in various stages of healing, and told him working on my cars. He seemed shocked and asked why I would do that. I told him for fun.

He still didn’t get it but did give me tetanus shot.

Later I realized that to him and his generation a paper cut requires a trip to the trauma center.

 

[noahmercy]

I feel that.

My grandpa helped raise me, and he was a child of the Depression, a WWII vet, and basically a Renaissance man...he was a warrior, poet, artist, inventor, and student of history. By the time I was three I could point out a carburetor, distributor, radiator, alternator, etc. I also grew up relatively money-poor (but no complaints...I had wonderful family and friends!) so had to learn to do many things for myself.

I have never paid for any automotive work with the exception of machine work and once having someone build the transmission in my drag car. I made a decent living repairing boats, autos, and small engines, and saved my family a lot of money on maintenance and repairs as well.

I've plumbed and wired houses, laid tile, hung doors, installed windows, and pretty much done any other construction besides pouring concrete and installing shingles (put on steel roofing, though).

I do all my own gunsmithing, leather work, bullet casting, and handloading.

I am blessed by being self-sufficient, and I am thankful that I have a mind that works in such a way that I am also good at "technical" writing. That is, I can put procedures into words that are easy for the layman to understand. I am equally thankful there are folks who either don't have any mechanical aptitude, lack any interest in DIY pursuits, or are financially well-to-do enough to pay others to do them. That keeps the truly skilled laborers and specialists in business.

 

[contender]

While I'm younger than many here,, and older than a few,, I too was raised by a father who struggled through the Great Depression, and always tried to be as self sufficient as possible. Yet,, he also knew his limitations,, and would pay for work when necessary. But his fault,, was looking for the "cheap" route because he didn't like to spend the money. Sometimes,, he got away with it,, but other times,, not so much.

And like the OP,, I was raised to try & fix stuff myself. I discovered long ago, that many people really do not know how to actually work on much. Kinda like the line in a TV show; "Why don't you just call the guy?" is their motto.

I'm "the guy" around here.

 

[375hh1973]

Ive always been jealous of people that can fix everything.

My dad is one of those guys.

Early on I knew I just wasn't gonna be that guy. So like my dad told me, if you aren't gonna fix it yourself, better have a good paying job and pay someone else to.

Yup, I top off the windshield fluid, and that is the extent of my vehicle knowledge

 

[Jeepnik]

While some aren’t as mechanically inclined as others I don’t believe they can’t learn. All those folks who learned to do things during the depression weren’t naturals. They just applied themselves. It wasn’t easy but they did it.

I think the biggest roadblock to folks who say they can’t do something thing is that they just don’t want to put in the work to learn how to do it.

 

[blume357]

I'm the same way.... my father could fix anything... it might not be the best way to do it... and it might end up with a variety of bolt and screws added to hold it together,,,, but he believed in do it yourself... and I inherited that. I was talking with my neighbor this past weekend and we were discussing that when my wife and I are gone from our house it will be pushed over and demolished. the land under it is worth more than the house. And I commented that this will be a good thing because of all the screwy things I've done over the last 42 years to it.... the dern 200 amp electrical panel is the most mind boggling thing anyone would ever have to deal with... I actually have a map pasted in it of the house with all the circuits listed... we won't even venture into the plumbing....

I spend my days (work) figuring out what is wrong with folks fireplaces and chimneys.... today I will be telling folks why water came in their house through the chimney last week when we got 3" of rain over night... it's either that or why their gas logs stopped working..... we won't get into that half the time a woodturning fireplace starts smoking has nothing to do with the chimney but something has changed in the house....

 

[Mobuck]

Years ago my Daughter gave me a little wooden plaque that says "If Dad can't fix it, we're all screwed". Pretty much says it all.
It may not always be 100% correct or 'up to code' but it's working again.

 

[wwb]

Spent my career as a Mechanical Engineer in the heavy equipment industry designing cranes, excavators, and straddle carriers. When I started, almost all the engineers were "gearheads"..... car nuts and farm boys. They understood how stuff worked, why it was built the way it was, and how to fix it.

By the end of my career, though, the majority of the young engineers were referred to as "book smart and common sense dumb". They didn't know which end of a wrench to hold on to, and could ruin an anvil with a rubber hammer. This seems to be increasingly prevalent througout society these days. With luck, most of the young engineers absorbed enough knowledge from the old timers before they retired.

 

[Johnnu2]

Dan in Mi has, in my opinion, fixed something worth noting. He's showed us that simple tolerance and compassion are worth "paying forward".
It's good to learn new things... THANKS DAN

J.

 

[Johnny-Baseball]

"Can I learn it?" is one thing. But "Do I enjoy learning it?" is quite different. My dad was DFW's outstanding amateur baseball player in 1941 (the area newspapers said so). And he was good with numbers. But he didn't enjoy hunting, fishing, or doing mechanical things at all - the exact opposite of his father who was farmer, then a self-taught master machinist. So after WW II, a local insurance company hired my dad to play on the company baseball team and learn the insurance business. My dad passed along his aptitude for math and financial things. But he did not teach me the joys of tinkering with things, and while I enjoyed building scale models (airplanes, cars, etc.), my attempts to repair them did not generally go well. So, after being a seismic analyst in the USAF (1969-73) I graduated from college with an accounting degree and was very successful as a CPA. My eldest son is a devout tinkerer - tore apart and rebuilt the first motorcycle he owned, enlisted in the Army and became a helicopter maintainer (first on Chinooks, now Blackhawks) and, after earning a degree in industruial engineering, became a Blackhawk pilot and Maintenance Test Pilot. My youngest son is a CPA, presently in France with Price Waterhouse. My daughter holds a master in Math, a doctorate in education and is a school district administrator. What I've learned through all of this is that each of our brains has a different "I like that" button. And that's OK. God forbid I should rely upon my excellent 1911 gunsmith for financial advice.

Bottom line here - I predict that the majority of subscribers to this Ruger thread enjoy tinkering: some a little and others a lot. That enjoyment is injecting a bias into the comments written here with (I hope) a smattering of unintentional derision aimed at non-tinkering gun enthusiasts.

I enjoy shooting my pistols, and I enjoy studying how to better handle those pistols to improve my accuracy (and enjoyment therefrom). I also enjoy building scale model dollhouses for my granddaughters - the kind that cost $3,000 in materials and take 6 months to complete. I thoroughly enjoyed "building up" the interior and drive train of my 20+ year old Corvette (since sold). And while I enjoy reading about the mechanical fixes to problems our firearms encounter, including the fixes many of you describe, I don't necessarily want to tackle those fixes on my own weapons.

So...need someone to investigate financial fraud at a multinational corporation? Or conduct an electronic evidence search at your Fortune 250 employer? I'm your Huckleberry. But don't deride me if I choose not to tune the fire control system of my 1911.

Or as my longtime friend and Chaparral racecar builder Jim Hall once told me, I can build some of the world's best cars, but I'm also smart enough to rely on the Phil Hills and Johnny Rutherfords of this world to drive them.

 

[noahmercy]

Spent my career as a Mechanical Engineer in the heavy equipment industry designing cranes, excavators, and straddle carriers. When I started, almost all the engineers were "gearheads"..... car nuts and farm boys. They understood how stuff worked, why it was built the way it was, and how to fix it.

Ah...you have touched on something near and dear to my heart. I am convinced there is a special level in h#!! reserved for most of the "new school" engineers.

Example: The Dodge Viper was designed by a bunch of motor heads, many of whom actually raced. It had a flip-forward front clip that gave access to the entire engine and had flat depressions in the fender liners to hold tools while you worked on them. The new Caddy is designed by folks who may never have had their own car and certainly never turned a wrench. The entire grill, front bumper, etc. must be removed just to change a headlight or turn indicator bulb.

 

[Hvymax]

I was raised by a depression era ORPHAN. My Dad was farmed out as labor from 7 to 16 until he went and hired in at GM to be on his own.

Dad taught us how how to work in things, (indirectly) and while he didn't outright say it, his motto was fix it yourself before paying anyone. Of course my brothers and I did.

That is why I seem to forget not everyone is handy or intuitive about trying to repair things.

I make a small lathe. Some times I get a call about a minor issue. Instead of spending all the money to ship it back and forth I ask the customer if they are willing to work on it with direction. Most say yes and we get it repaired, or at least diagnosed, in minutes. The first step is always have the customer grab a Phillips screwdriver. When I get "Is that the cross or a blade?" The response often ends up "How close is your Post Office?"

That long winded intro is for this. I owe some of you an apology. You don't know it, and I've never said it publicly, but there are times I read some of these "How do I?" threads and the responses have me thinking "Really? You don't understand that?" Now most of the time it is based on having read your responses for years and thinking you should know the subject since it's basic stuff that your responses in the past implied you knew. But I still shouldn't go there. So for that I apologize.

On the flip side I have a pretty good idea who knows their stuff on many or select subjects. To those members, thanks. I may have picked up a tip or two from your responses here.

A Man without tools isn't.

 

[Dave P.]

Spent my career as a Mechanical Engineer in the heavy equipment industry designing cranes, excavators, and straddle carriers. When I started, almost all the engineers were "gearheads"..... car nuts and farm boys. They understood how stuff worked, why it was built the way it was, and how to fix it.

By the end of my career, though, the majority of the young engineers were referred to as "book smart and common sense dumb". They didn't know which end of a wrench to hold on to, and could ruin an anvil with a rubber hammer. This seems to be increasingly prevalent througout society these days. With luck, most of the young engineers absorbed enough knowledge from the old timers before they retired.

One of the companies I did a lot of stuff for was a small operation with a couple of older engineers who'd been there and done that plenty of times,
they owned the company. They always had a couple of young fresh engineers around just getting started who had maybe never picked up a wrench.
Occasionally I'd get a print to machine a part that you could tell just wasn't going to work,. I'd always call who ever sent it to me and ask, usually it
was "oh, thanks I'll fix it" every once and a while it would be " I know what I want just do it and don't bug me with crap". Those always resulted in me calling
one of the owners and asking them. are you sure you want this?. A few times after they'd look at a print if it was cheap to do they'd have me make
em the piece of scrap, just to educate the "new guy". Often times the young guys would send a print for something like a mounting bracket
with slots for adjustment and they would call for tolerances like +.0000 -.0005 type of thing making a $50.00 part into a $100.00 part
for no reason. They all learned eventually, some quicker and with better attitudes than others. The slow learners or those who were not
open to questions didn't survive in that shop long.
The owners were great customers to have, learned a lot from them doing a wide variety of work for them over the years.
They were always willing to teach or explain what projects they had going in their shop even if I wasn't making something for that particular
one.
Most people can learn "stuff"....if they want to!

 

[Dave P.]

A Man without tools isn't.

I have a very well off customer that claims the only tool he really knows how to use is his checkbook.
The man can make pretty much anything whit it.

 

[Dan in MI]

Johnny Baseball, I think you are taking this in the wrong light. My intent was to acknowledge that people have different interests and skill levels. I have been blessed with high skill levels across the board, so I do sometimes get surprised at responses to some questions.

Much like wwb I have seen the full spectrum just among engineers that should be able to handle simple tasks, but can’t.

 

[Johnny-Baseball]

Johnny Baseball, I think you are taking this in the wrong light. My intent was to acknowledge that people have different interests and skill levels. I have been blessed with high skill levels across the board, so I do sometimes get surprised at responses to some questions.

Much like wwb I have seen the full spectrum just among engineers that should be able to handle simple tasks, but can’t.

I read that and believe your intent. But then I read Hvymax's comment "A man without tools isn't."

I'll stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the Ranger who is ready to die for his buddies, even though that same Ranger may have only basic knowledge about the weapons of war with which he's deploying.

A psychologist I used to work with once observed: some individuals are wired to be process thinkers. Others are project thinkers. Some live in 5-to-10-year time horizons (Fortune 100 CEOs); others in 3-month time horizons (world class surgeons). Thank God we're all different.

 

[Bob Wright]

O.K. Now this: What about your tools? I have very nice tools, that is, free of rust, grease, paint, and broken pieces. I'm a mite particular about my tools. I like my socket set neat and properly stored. Extra sockets on one of those "trees" to keep them organized. My drills are pristine, looking much the same as when I bought them. Oh, they get messed up in using, but they get cleaned and WD-40ed before going bock into the tool box.

And the top of my work bench gets a frequent dusting and rud-down with oil or furniture polish. Now, I not obsessive about things, but do like my shop clean and organized.

Bob Wright

 

[Jeepnik]

I have two sets of tools. My garage tools and my work/jeep tools. Garage tools are used around the house & garage. They are neat, clean and organized.

Work/jeep tools were/are used in less pristine circumstances. They are organized but years of abuse have left them scarred. My wrenches are a mix of brands as are any “sets” of things. But, I can fix most things trailside with them. And while doing so I’m noisily above using the wrong tool for the job. Screwdrivers become pry bars and such.

A good example is the “welder” in my Jeep. Completely homemade but it has stitched together lots of metal bits. Would I use it in the garage. Heck no, that’s what the Miller is for.

 

[Jimbo357mag]

Have you repaired anything on your car lately, like a headlight maybe?

 

[Hvymax]

O.K. Now this: What about your tools? I have very nice tools, that is, free of rust, grease, paint, and broken pieces. I'm a mite particular about my tools. I like my socket set neat and properly stored. Extra sockets on one of those "trees" to keep them organized. My drills are pristine, looking much the same as when I bought them. Oh, they get messed up in using, but they get cleaned and WD-40ed before going bock into the tool box.

And the top of my work bench gets a frequent dusting and rud-down with oil or furniture polish. Now, I not obsessive about things, but do like my shop clean and organized.

Bob Wright

I'm the opposite. I finish something and I'm off to the next thing. I don't have Apprentices at home to clean up after me and put things away!!!

 

[Dan in MI]

I work in “controlled chaos .” My workbench looks like a bomb went off, but I know exactly where and how deep certain tools are. Now my mechanics box is well organized and everything is in its place, but the daily workbench not so much.

 

[Bob Wright]

I'm the opposite. I finish something and I'm off to the next thing. I don't have Apprentices at home to clean up after me and put things away!!!

I said nothing about having apprentices. Don't think I'd trust my tools to them if I did.

Bob Wright

 

[Colonialgirl]

My Dad insisted that all his kids (including me) know how to fix cars (Yeah, I completely rebuilt the engine on '69 Alfa Romeo Spyder, including replacing the cylinders and getting the crankshaft turned) I also learned electical wiring from him and wired the basement of our house in Maryland as well as plumbing in a shower and sink in the spare bathroom down stairs.
Don't do much anymore at 81+ and looking under the hood of my Kia, figuring out how to replace some burned out bulbs baffles me.

 

[Hvymax]

I said nothing about having apprentices. Don't think I'd trust my tools to them if I did.

Bob Wright

At home half of my stuff is laying where I last used it. Pretty sure there's an oil filter laying in the barn from an oil change I did 18 years ago. At work I basically had people to tend to such things. Kinda like the surgeon telling the intern to close.

 

[Dan in MI]

At work I basically had people to tend to such things. Kinda like the surgeon telling the intern to close.

I had the opposite issue when I was a mechanic. I let certain guys use my tools. My tool box was/is seriously organized. A quick glance in each drawer every night and I'd sing out what wasn't there, or corner the guy that used it. Everything was there before lock up every night.

 

[caryc]

J

Many younger people are amazed anyone can fix things. Recently went to the Dr and he wanted to know how I injured my hands. I looked at the cuts and scratches on my hands, in various stages of healing, and told him working on my cars. He seemed shocked and asked why I would do that. I told him for fun.

He still didn’t get it but did give me tetanus shot.

Later I realized that to him and his generation a paper cut requires a trip to the trauma center.

Just as an aside, I went to my doctor last week to get a cortisone shot in my shoulder. Outside in the waiting room there were eight other people waiting. Every one of them had his or her face buried in a cell phone. I was amazed that it has come to this. People can not sit and wait like that without being electronically amused. None of them were speaking on the phone, just diddling around with it. Where was my cell phone? It was in my car where it usually is. I have the ability to use my "mind and thought" to amuse myself. I guess that is a lost art these days. I have plenty of things to think about.

The dumbing down of humans is quite evident these days.