being aware of your mistake is what counts. i saw your avatar and thought, wow ive built a model just like that, so heres a pic.
And that is what you should have told them. I get people who ask me to teach them how to draw. I tell them I can't, but I explain to them that it is something I have learned from trial and error over time. You basicly gave them an honest answer, it just sounds like you should have explained the answer.
If everyone here shared your at***ude this board would fold up in a matter of days. Telling him is not the same as teaching him. Telling him is common courtesy in this "brotherhood" of ours. Teaching him would/should require something in return. If you can't explain it you can just say "it's hard to explain, but ......" Think about the guys who post pics of all their modification details-- even guys who do it for money are willing to share their knowledge.
Iam an Engineer at a high pressure steam plant. We are in the same situation. We have the old timers who feel they have gained thier knowhow from years of on the job training. They do not like to share with the younger engineers, But the state is now realizing that as the old timers retire out they are taking a lot of skill with them that is not being p***ed on the the younger generation, Who are left to run these plants. I feel anything I know from running our V16 Cat generator (that has 4 turbos, and 2880 HP at 1800 RPM I need to post some pics of this monster) To running a 800 HP boiler if someone wants to learn iam an open book.
So they were on the clock while they learned it, and they are on the clock while they are supposed to p*** it on? But they wont? That is ****ed up...
i'm also a steam engineer licenced for unlimited btu's and i learned going to school and ojt: sweeping floors,listening, and kissing lots of *** for information. from what i gathered the guys that knew their **** had no problem explaining procedures while you were doing rounds. the one that were being "secret squirrel" when you asked questions about procedures usually didn't know **** and were bluffing their way through by just going through the motions. took some real skill to "fire off" a haug fuel boiler as compared to gas or oil. wasn't many nights you had time to sit and read a LOUIS LAMOOOR unless your were burning gas.
OJ, if you really feel that bad about not sharing your skills with those guys, why not just tell all of us EXACTLY how you do it Just trying to help
Ehhhh..yea ok,,,, I probably would have told them a lot about much of the process too, providing my day had not ****ed too bad to that point, and I felt I had had the time, but, had I decided to take the same approach as the OP, I probably would not feel bad about it, because in the scheme of things it just doesn't seem like a big deal to me. Frankly, if all I had to regret about my past words and actions was what I decided NOT to tell a person who is for all intensive purposes a stranger, I would now harbor a lot less regrets... (too bad that ain't the case,) I guess I am just saying that even if it was "wrong", it is not so wrong that if it were me, I wouldn't loose more than a very few minutes of sleep about the whole deal. Does that make me BAD?
Telling them how you do it maybe would help them a little. Showing them would probably help them some more. Showing or teaching them how to do it plus experience is how they learn to do weld like that too. Does it hurt you or your business? Only you know. I watched a friend of my dads build a 327 almost 30 years ago, I use the same methods he did and would be happy to pay for that level of competence if if could find it now. Sometimes I wish I could find anyone who gave a **** enough about hot rods to teach.
well i guess i'm one of the very few- i don't think there's anything wrong with that... when you dedicate years of studying, trial and error, money and p***ion to learns skills and trade secrets, are we obliged to hand them over to a complete stranger just because they ask?...i think not.. friends, and even friends of friends, or eager co-workers are a different story- i'll go out of my way to walk them through something if they really seem interested.. but some random person, or if its someone paying me to do a job, probably not gonna give up much... i'll just say "it's not that hard, you'll figure it out" ...but maybe i'm just a ****
Reminds me of the old ribald cl***ic, where the man convinced the maiden that his **** was the only one in the whole wide world. She liked it. She even believed him for a while, that it was the only one, but being of a curious nature she soon found out that another guy had one too. A better one! So, somebody asked you how you welded that sheetmetal. To presume that your technique is something special is a stretch. It ain't. Will it ever become a lost art? Hardly. If he is a welder but don't know how to do sheet metal yet, it simply means that he has never needed to know. If he ever needs to know, then he'll figure it out. Without help from any of us. It's my guess is that the question wasn't really an inquiry on your technique, it was a compliment on your work.
I have screwed up many times in the past and wish that I had done things differently. But I try to learn from it. I think you have realized the same thing. Do you think that your customers that you made the pipe for know things that your don't? Should they share it with you if you asked for some information? I don't take it well when someone gives me an answer that it being a trade secret or some b.s. like that. Usually they are not the brightest bulb and the answer just confirms that. Many of the gifted and knowledgeable people that I have met over the years gladly share. They probably know that I could not do it anyway. A side note but why are you on this site? There would not be much of value discussed here if others viewed thing the same way. Neal
The Jalopy Journal
