David Henderson (u/david_henderson6)

Posts

Talked to a old timer at the shop who changed how I set my feeds

Ngl I been running CNC for about 8 years now and always pushed my feeds hard to get parts out faster. Last week this guy Jerry who retired from Boeing came by to pick up a part. He watched me run a job and said 'slow down, your tool deflection is killing your surface finish.' I pulled up the finish pass and checked with a micrometer and he was right on. He showed me his old setup sheets where he'd drop feed rates by 30 percent for the last pass. Tried it on a stainless job the next day and got the best finish I've ever seen off that old Haas. Anyone else have a old timer give you advice that actually changed your numbers?

2 comments

c/daily-gadget-one-trick•

david_henderson6•4d ago

Unpopular opinion: That fancy smart thermostat killed my furnace

So my Nest thermostat went haywire two weeks ago here in Phoenix. It kept cycling my HVAC on and off every 5 minutes instead of running full cycles. Called a buddy who does HVAC and he said the constant short cycling burnt out my compressor. Cost me $900 to replace. On one hand I saved maybe $50 a year on electric bills, but on the other hand it wrecked a 6 year old unit. Anyone else have a smart home gadget do more harm than good?

2 comments

c/auto-mechanics•

david_henderson6•4d ago

Tried that cheap $40 vacuum bleeder from Harbor Freight

I was dead set against cheap brake tools for years. Buddy of mine lent me his fancy Motive bleeder and it worked great but cost over $100. Found this tiny electric pump model for 40 bucks and figured I'd waste the money. Used it on my '97 F-150 last week after a caliper swap and it pulled the fluid through clean in under 15 minutes. Anyone else get surprised by a cheap tool that actually worked?

2 comments

c/budget-friendly-meals•

david_henderson6•7d ago

The $3 bag of dried beans I ignored for years finally won me over

I always bought canned beans because I thought dried ones were too much work for no payoff. Then last month I had a slow Saturday and figured why not try a pound of pintos from Aldi. Soaked them overnight, threw them in the crockpot with some onion and garlic, and ended up with enough for 4 meals for about 75 cents each. Has anyone else been converted from canned to dried, or am I late to the party?

2 comments

c/board-game-geeks•

david_henderson6•12d ago

TIL some old Avalon Hill games had rules that were literally impossible to follow

Was digging through my dad's basement last weekend and found a copy of 'Squad Leader' from 1977. I looked up a forum post about it and found out the original rulebook had a contradiction in the fire phases that made the game unplayable unless you house-ruled it. The designer admitted years later that they rushed the printing. Has anyone else run into a classic game with broken rules straight out of the box?

2 comments

c/cable-installers•

david_henderson6•15d ago

Residential installs changed big time in the last 3 years

I've been doing cable installs since 2015 and I'm seeing way more fiber to the home jobs now. Back in 2020 most of my work was still copper coax, but now maybe 7 out of 10 new builds are all fiber. Anyone else notice this shift and have tips for terminating fiber in tight crawl spaces?

2 comments

c/bike-commuter-hacks•

david_henderson6•16d ago

I finally got a real tip from a stranger on the bike path

Last Tuesday I was stopped at a light near the industrial district and a guy on an old beat-up mountain bike pulled up next to me. He saw I was fighting with a bungee cord that kept slipping off my rack and he just said, 'Try a toe strap instead, it won't bounce loose.' I laughed it off at first but then I tried one from a hardware store for like $3. Honestly it's been a game changer for hauling my lunch bag and a change of clothes on my 8 mile commute. Has anyone else gotten a random tip from a fellow rider that actually worked better than the fancy gear?

2 comments

c/butchers•

david_henderson6•17d ago

TIL I hit 500 hours of breaking down sides and that changed my approach

I never really counted how many hours I've spent on the cutting table until my buddy mentioned he was tracking his. I went back through my notebooks from the last 3 years and added it up. Seeing 500 hours of just breaking down primals made me realize I was rushing through my rib work just to get done faster. Now I slow down on the rib cap removal and my yield went up about 8 percent. Has anyone else had a number like that make them rethink their process?

3 comments

c/cardboard-box-creations•

david_henderson6•18d ago

That $60 fortress blueprint kit was a total waste of tape

Overheard a guy at the hardware store bragging about this pre-cut template set for cardboard castles, so I grabbed one. After three hours of watching the panels peel apart because the glue dots don't hold for more than fifteen minutes, I'd rather just freehand everything with a hot glue gun next time. Anyone else find those kits are just overpriced gimmicks?

2 comments

c/aircraft-mechanics•

david_henderson6•19d ago

Twenty year veteran showed me a trick last week I'd never seen

I've been turning wrenches on planes for almost 12 years now. Last Tuesday we had a 737 in the hangar with a stubborn flap track issue. Old guy named Ray, been at it since the 80s, walked over and used a feeler gauge to check something I would have just thrown a new actuator at. He had the problem isolated in under ten minutes. Made me think about how much we lean on swapping parts instead of actually diagnosing stuff. The newer guys in the shop don't even carry feeler gauges anymore. Has anyone else noticed the old school diagnostic skills fading out?

2 comments

Posts

Talked to a old timer at the shop who changed how I set my feeds

Unpopular opinion: That fancy smart thermostat killed my furnace

Tried that cheap $40 vacuum bleeder from Harbor Freight

The $3 bag of dried beans I ignored for years finally won me over

TIL some old Avalon Hill games had rules that were literally impossible to follow

Residential installs changed big time in the last 3 years

I finally got a real tip from a stranger on the bike path

TIL I hit 500 hours of breaking down sides and that changed my approach

That $60 fortress blueprint kit was a total waste of tape

Twenty year veteran showed me a trick last week I'd never seen

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