How have people learned their trade?

[ronan]

I did the standard 4 year apprenticeship as a fitter/turner, first at a factory that made sewerage treatment plant, that went after 3 years and i finished it off at a general jobbing engineering works. As well as that i did evening courses in welding, plc's, pneumatic's/hydraulics, cad/cam/cnc etc etc, then went back fulltime and did an ordinary degree in engineering systems maintenance.

To be honest, i am growing to hate metalworking/engineering, its ok when you are young and tough, but i am starting to get on and the joints are beginning to ache. If a youngster asks me whats its like, i tell them to steer clear and get a nice soft job in an office.

 

[Hood]

Didn't like school although I did ok for grades so signed up with the RN so I could leave when I was 17. Was to be an Artificer but when I got there I was told my first and second choice (weapons/electronics, Helicopters) were not being taken on so had to be an engine room Artificer. F THAT I said to myself and promptly told them I was leaving, no way was I going to be locked into a noisy hot engine room many decks under water They made me do another 6 weeks and made my life hell.
Went to the fishing and did a lot of repairs to the boats I worked on. Eventually got a tiny boat of my own that I could only work in the summer so did repairs to other boats in the winter and decided I liked that better so that's what I started doing.
Taught myself welding at about 14years old to repair some scrapper motorbikes I had. Got a lathe, taught myself to use that, got a mill, same etc etc. Saw a manual Bridgeport on the net that someone had retrofitted to CNC so decided I would do mine, worked out well even though it was a clapped out heap. Have done quite a few more machines, 2 mills, VMC, Coil winder, 2 lathes and latest home built plasma table.
All learning came from internet or books or trial and error and still learning every day.

 

[Keith 66]

I went to college & did C&G in yacht, boat building & design, then went into the boat game. worked alround the local yards & went self employed in 84 till 98 then workshop tech in a college, had another go at boatbuilding a few years ago & just packed it in. Now part time D&t tech in a school.
Picked up welding & engineering as i went along, bit of a jack of all trades now.
Beginning to think i should have gotten into the H&S side of the education system but with the decline of D&T its probably too late now.

 

[cumbriasteve]

According to QI there are a lot of seagulls in low-level contaminant storage, having been shot 'just in case'

There is and I monitored some of them as they were sealed into the drums.

 

[anto]

I learned to *weld just by buying a welder and having a go at it. I really do enjoy it and it is an extremely handy skill to have.
I have thought about going on a night course but at the minute I just don't have the funds or time to do one. Im not even sure where the nearest course would be.

*By weld I mean I can stick metal together. More often than not it isn't pretty but it holds and that's, for the most part, all I need. Anything that needs to look good can get hit with the grinder.

 

[Farside]

I did hear that another nuclear site has something of an issue with old contaminated stuff: essentially they were just chucking it in a hole in the ground (in the early days of the nuclear industry)... unfortunately with coastal erosion the hole is getting closer to the cliffs with every passing year.

That would be a place that might rhyme with Goon Day?

 

[tomsutton529]

I went to College and did IT for 3 years, couldn't get a job in that industry so did the odd bit of stuff, ended up doing graphic design and web sites for a few years, then I worked for MOD contractor while doing the odd Fan balancing job and Alignment of shafts, and then by some pure luck and being in the right place at the right time I got a job doing what I love, which is getting to mess about with big and very expensive bits of kit, I spend my days doing Vibration Analysis, Balancing stuff that spin round (both on site and in the workshop),change bearings, align shafts and pulleys, replace Motors, calibrate IRD balancing machines all over the UK, bits of europe and the middle east, We also do Modal analysis (shows the movement of a structure in a 3d model), leak detection, Thermal Imaging surveys. Each day is very different, it can be stressful when you are doing a job like an alignment or balance and a site manager is stood there asking how its going to take but then you have some great days in the sunshine on a roof somewhere with a great 2nd man to pass tools ans fetch brew's. All my skills are taught on the job and im going to be doing my VA level 1 and 2 next year I think.

 

[Wedg1e]

That would be a place that might rhyme with Goon Day?

It might...

 

[Wedg1e]

There is and I monitored some of them as they were sealed into the drums.

I've worked at a site 'way darn sarf' where the stored drums are being slowly re-evaluated and put into different stores according to how hazardous they are found to be; the drums are x-rayed and the contents inventoried (5 pairs of gloves, three HP9 batteries, copy of Hustler, that sort of thing) and an index built detailing when in the distant future each drum can be landfilled- er, I mean disposed of properly.
What we should do is get the whole lot over the border sharpish and leave them for the Scots to sort out once it's closed

 

[addjunkie]

I did an apprenticeship as a marine engineer in the merchant navy. Then had a couple of crap jobs when I left the sea. Would have done anything to work at home.

After 4 years of no money or time off got made redundant. Decided it was time to do something else. Paid for my offshore survival, and went door knocking. That was 25 years ago.

Now if i want to learn a new skill the internet, places like this and u tube are great, but most of all you just need to have a go, then learn as you go.

 

[Exuptoy]

Paid for my offshore survival, and went door knocking. That was 25 years ago.

I was one of the fortunate ones in 2006 who got a phone call and asked if I was still interested in going offshore as the guy had my CV in front of him (my mate had submitted it 6 month earlier) and when I said yes, he told me good thats you booked to do your survival at the end of next week. Literally right place, right time.
I will be glad of some time back home though as that is the one downside of offshore working, you tend to miss some of the important times.

 

[Rig Pig]

I was one of the fortunate ones in 2006 who got a phone call and asked if I was still interested in going offshore as the guy had my CV in front of him (my mate had submitted it 6 month earlier) and when I said yes, he told me good thats you booked to do your survival at the end of next week. Literally right place, right time.
I will be glad of some time back home though as that is the one downside of offshore working, you tend to miss some of the important times.

It's always the same, I seem to be away for every party / birthday / holiday and the 2 weeks off are gone in a flash.

 

[Exuptoy]

Same here, hence my new job back home following my redundancy. At least by the time I realise I hate working home and I am skint I'll be glad to go back.

 

[bonepyro]

At secondary school I was the first year through a course called TVEI (technical vocational education initiative) which covered electronics, pneumatics, mechanical engineering. Fabulous grounding and a shame that schools nowadays seem to have completely lost practical workshop (wood and metal work).

At the same time I was working every school holiday for a relative as a trainee air conditioning engineer, which as gav0994 mentioned, covers a whole realm of associated trades.

I went onto a BTEC general Engineering from school, which included an EITB workshop course, where I learned my way around a machine shop (turning, milling, grinding, shaping), and from that I went to a degree course in Mechanical engineering, which I then dropped out of after the first year. It was too 'stale' for me, I much preferred practical application.

From there I ended up back in air conditioning as an apprentice, and after getting my City & Guilds I spent the next 12 years on the tools, everything from 2kw split units to 500kw chillers. Welding was just 'picked up' as I went through this engineering background. I remember being particularly inspired by the pipe welders on building sites who could seemingly weld at angle angle in any space, alongside this one of our group of companies was a small engineering and fabrication works so there was always an expert around to advise or just to watch and learn. Eventually I ended up working for the manufacturer, and got to see the production lines and technologies used there in mass production.

Somehow I moved into IT within the Air Con company and have remained in this field ever since (another 12 years)

 

[Farside]

It might...

I heard there was a bit of a hydrogen bang from some carelessly discarded material they'd shoved down a pit at Goon Bay. It resulted in an impromptu demonstration of the power of explosive gas in a large tubular structure, open to the sky, something like a ground mortar. Apparently there was a fair spread of stuff; which never happened, so I was told.

 

[brightspark]

I heard there was a bit of a hydrogen bang from some carelessly discarded material they'd shoved down a pit at Goon Bay. It resulted in an impromptu demonstration of the power of explosive gas in a large tubular structure, open to the sky, something like a ground mortar. Apparently there was a fair spread of stuff; which never happened, so I was told.

did someone say something

 

[Wedg1e]

I heard there was a bit of a hydrogen bang from some carelessly discarded material they'd shoved down a pit at Goon Bay. It resulted in an impromptu demonstration of the power of explosive gas in a large tubular structure, open to the sky, something like a ground mortar. Apparently there was a fair spread of stuff; which never happened, so I was told.

There's another site I go to where they blend low-level nuclear stuff into... er... summat (don't want a Men In Black style knock at the door )... the cleaners' buckets have a ring of holes drilled in them to stop filling past a certain point, because enough water maliciously tipped in the right orifice would cause a large hole in the countryside. Apparently, allegedly, a man in the pub told me.

 

[Member 66061]

My dad was a farm mechanic until i was a teenager and always had a small workshop of his own aswell, so i spent alot of time in that environment.
I helped him change car engines, cylinder heads, fix quad bikes and lots of lawnmower engines, Honda, Briggs & Stratton etc, lots of kinds of mechanical or fabrication work, i was either bored and had nothing better to do or was roped into helping. I was useful when young and had small hands, also, you only get handed the hot end of something so many times before you learn to hesitate and check.
Stick welders were all he personally owned, all transformer type, so thats what i know, to an extent. He never really taught, i just watched.
Ive always had motorbikes and he seemed happy enough with me riding around the farm on them, but as soon as i got my license was dead against the idea. I was too skint to have someone else work on them, so if i wanted to stay on the road i had to take care of fixing and maintaining them myself, rarely with his help.
I have an NVQ level 2 in engineering manufacture, and a phd in f##ing about.

 

[daleyd]

There's another site I go to where they blend low-level nuclear stuff into... er... summat (don't want a Men In Black style knock at the door )... the cleaners' buckets have a ring of holes drilled in them to stop filling past a certain point, because enough water maliciously tipped in the right orifice would cause a large hole in the countryside. Apparently, allegedly, a man in the pub told me.

Some places where criticality is important don't allow any (uncontrolled) water at all in those areas. Once you get in your wellies and overcoat you can t even go for a wazz without going through the whole changing procedure again to go through the other side of the barrier.

I spent 12 weeks in such an area commissioning a process last year, I spent more time getting dressed and undressed than doing any actual work!!