Thursday, September 29, 2005

Learning Tolerance

Some things in plant maintenance are real slap dash, grab a wrench, hit there, pull this kinds of things. But we do some fairly precise work, too.

For instance, today I had to move a 200 lb. spinner head 1/1000" back and 5/10000" to the right. To accomplish this task I was given two micrometers, a 9/16" socket wrench, and a lead hammer. If we didn't have this close of a tolerance, the rivets on the saw chain we make would give out in about a tenth of the normal life expectancy. Compared with that, my graphic design layouts might as well have been slapped together by a monkey, and any mistake there would not result in the possible loss of life or limb.

On another project, I had to put on a new plate for a spinning parts bowl. This has a tolerance up to 5/1000". before the bowl doesn;t spin right and the parts will jam in it. Using a spinning micrometer and two hex wrenchs I managed to get the entire radius of the plate within 2/1000". with just two passes around.

But this stuff is all just child's play. We're the slap-dash maintenance out on the floor. The big boys in back have got it rough. Most of the stuff they make must meet a tolerance of about 1/10000" or less.

So today I learned that tolerance does not always mean being more accepting.

1 comment:

List with Laszlo said...

Why a 9/16ths? What was wrong with a 1/2" or 5/8ths? I think you are prejudice against other socket sizes...why you're a sizeist! Are the other sizes represented in your chainsaws?