What else can you ?( what talent do you have)

[kickshot7]

I have a skill and talent of automatic rotery cutterhead building. I can freehand grind intricate shapes on industrial knives and balance them for a "head" that rotates at about 3,000 RPM.

I am a dying breed.

[USMilitaryGuy]

I am a woodworker -

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and I like locks. (Built from scratch without plans and yes, it works.)

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[Ken The Kanuck]

I am a woodworker -

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and I like locks. (Built from scratch without plans and yes, it works.)

43176

Very nice, I am in awe.

KTK

[USMilitaryGuy]

I like cannons, too.

I bought the square nuts, lock, and chain. The rest of the stuff was built from scratch. I drew up the plans and a machinist friend made the barrel. He also made about 1/2 the "iron" and I made the rest.

I use 1,050 grains of black powder. It is bored for golf balls, but they are rather dangerous to shoot - since it is kind of hard to know where they are going to land.

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[kickshot7]

I am a woodworker -

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and I like locks. (Built from scratch without plans and yes, it works.)

43176

really impressive....truly gifted

[PaFrank]

Lets see.... I can insult almost anyone, and piss off almost any woman with very little effort.. Besides that, I can't do squat!

[kickshot7]

Lets see.... I can insult almost anyone, and piss off almost any woman with very little effort.. Besides that, I can't do squat!

I am Pissed off, you are truly a jerk. Lols

[Vern Humphrey]

I like cannons, too.

I bought the square nuts, lock, and chain. The rest of the stuff was built from scratch. I drew up the plans and a machinist friend made the barrel. He also made about 1/2 the "iron" and I made the rest.

I use 1,050 grains of black powder. It is bored for golf balls, but they are rather dangerous to shoot - since it is kind of hard to know where they are going to land.

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Great! I love it. Is it for sale?

[S.A. Boggs]

What I am good at you need a plate and silverware with plenty of butter.
Sam

[RED]

Having a skill is a wonderful thing. If you can support yourself and your family using your skill, that is absolutely outstanding,,,

BUT... I had a skill that I was very, very good at. I competed with professionals and won 15 tournaments but still couldn't support my family. Winnings in 1984 was $22,360... my expenses that year was $24,000+. My skill sucked, your skill is beautiful and unique enough it might work for you.

Best wishes, and good luck.

[USMilitaryGuy]

Great! I love it. Is it for sale?

It might be quite awhile before it becomes available - I hope.

Please check with the Executor of my estate. :icon_lol:

[free1954]

USMILITARYGUY. that safe is one impressive piece of work, what's the fire rating?

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It might be quite awhile before it becomes available - I hope.

Please check with the Executor of my estate. :icon_lol:



HA HA HA

[USMilitaryGuy]

USMILITARYGUY. that safe is one impressive piece of work, what's the fire rating?



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HA HA HA

It is built with double wall construction. There is about one inch of "air" between the walls. I had to do that to make it look right and allow the door to be recessed in the body as well as having a place for the bolts to latch. I put a handful of marbles in the space so it will make noise in case someone decides to pick it up and carry it off. It only weighs about 30 pounds. :icon_lol:

I used 1/2" cabinet grade (A-B) plywood. I expect it would burn through in about ten minutes if sitting in a fire - probably less with a cutting torch. :eusa_shhh:

[Sunray]

I cook and plan meals(we do notwash dishes or clean anything!). Usually for large numbers, but not recently. Just don't get the panic other people get into over Xmas and/or Thanksgiving dinner. 20 plus people is nothing. Except for having enough plates, silverware and chairs. That's not my department. Helps to have a few big pots though.
Engineered the construction of a 15 x 15 x 9.5 tent with 6 foot walls too. Used to play with a large Medieval recreation group. Buying a tent that big runs about $1600US with no poles or ropes or any of the bits required to actually use the thing. Cost me about $800Cdn to build the thing, complete. Got a smaller 6 foot high, U.S. Civil War OR's tent out of the 100 yards of treated 10 ounce canvas too.

[Former Cav]

used to be good at overhauling carburetors, now all the parts come in a blister pack and half the time are the wrong stuff. Glad I'm out of that business as the solvents really raised heck with me.
Was a pretty good tune up artist back in the day too, but those days are LONG gone. I open the hood of my daily ride now and say "whats that?" GRIN.
Used to be good at drafting and design and customizing auto-cad. Actually learned "auto-LISP" programing but most managers didn't even know what they were looking at let alone appreciating any of it.
I once automated a deal for a bunch of "similar parts" in the medical manufacturing industry. I wrote a program in 80 hours. It got each drawing complete DONE in 6 minutes versus two to three in an 8 hour day depending on if I had to go to a mindless meeting or not. My boss was MAD at me as I "wasted 80 hours". MORONS.
I thank God every day that I am retired!

[Jim in Salt Lake]

I can repair any type of IBM typewriter from the model 01 (came out in 1933) to the Selectric Mag Card II. None of this stuff is in use anymore and nobody is collecting them. Still have some tools, manuals, and parts that I should throw out but just can't do it. A local gunsmith here uses an acid etching process to do numbering and lettering on rifle actions and barrels. He uses a Selectric to type on a wax stencil to begin that process and I've fixed those typewriters a couple of times for him. I gave him a Selectric I had in the basement because I hadn't even turned it on in 20 years. However, those mechanical skills have served me well over the years working on other things.

[Major Tom]

As mostly a hobby for me, I build handgun display boxes out of solid red oak with walnut accents. I will build to a customers specifications as to size and color of interior cloth. I build them one at a time, usually takes 2 weeks as I work on them for only a couple hours per day. I have shipped them to people all over the country.

[Ken The Kanuck]

I can repair any type of IBM typewriter from the model 01 (came out in 1933) to the Selectric Mag Card II. None of this stuff is in use anymore and nobody is collecting them. Still have some tools, manuals, and parts that I should throw out but just can't do it. A local gunsmith here uses an acid etching process to do numbering and lettering on rifle actions and barrels. He uses a Selectric to type on a wax stencil to begin that process and I've fixed those typewriters a couple of times for him. I gave him a Selectric I had in the basement because I hadn't even turned it on in 20 years. However, those mechanical skills have served me well over the years working on other things.

Jim,

One of the things I liked to do with my kids was to take them down stairs on a rainy day and let them take things apart. It taught the kids some valuable lessons and gave them a comfort with mechanical things.

The very best thing we ever took apart by far was a manual typewriter. Those things are amazing, all the intricate parts working together. I truly appreciate what a work of wonder they are.

Hopefully I can find one to take apart with my grandkids.

We never got anything back together again but it didn't seem to matter.

KTK

[dave]

I worked as a 'rotating equipment vibration analyst'. With the right equipment you can tell what is wrong with a pump, motor, or any machine which goes round & round and vibrates. That was 20 years ago, I'm sure it is much more advanced now!

[Allen]

I worked as a 'rotating equipment vibration analyst'. With the right equipment you can tell what is wrong with a pump, motor, or any machine which goes round & round and vibrates. That was 20 years ago, I'm sure it is much more advanced now!

At the refinery I worked at that started out as a job for a specialist. Then it became a duty of our maintenance dept. Then it became part of our routine duties as a operator. A magnetic probe was placed on specifically marked areas of the inboard and outboard bearing areas of pumps, motors and turbines. We would record it with our portable hand held monitors and later download it to one of the PC's in the control room to the "system" where it could be viewed by the engineers and stored as a record. The sensor picked up vibrations and heat. Our larger more crucial equipment had permanent probes that recorded straight to the operating consoles in the control rooms along with alarm points.

As an operator we were the only ones that were in the operating area of the refinery 24/7/365 so as time went on we ended up doing most everything except overhauling of equipment.

[Liam]

From my time as a graphic designer, I picked up some decent Adobe Photoshop skills. Aside from being useful in an office setting (photo restoration/manipulation), I have a real good time giving my family grief just for fun. Photoshopped my wife into #1 photo since she took the initial picture. In #2 I put my horse-owning brother on a goat. And in #3 I sat my son next to Ernest Hemingway. All in good fun.
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[Allen]

Adobe Photoshop skills. All in good fun.

This reminds me of the refinery again. Occasionally group pictures of each crew would be made and published on our website. Someone (not me) would always come along and merge the pictures with someone else so the women would have mustaches or such and the men would have boobs or whatnot. The facial photos would always be a combination of 2 people so you could tell who was being combined. It too was in good fun, no one complained but they probably should have fired us all.

[dave]

At the refinery I worked at that started out as a job for a specialist. Then it became a duty of our maintenance dept. Then it became part of our routine duties as a operator. A magnetic probe was placed on specifically marked areas of the inboard and outboard bearing areas of pumps, motors and turbines. We would record it with our portable hand held monitors and later download it to one of the PC's in the control room to the "system" where it could be viewed by the engineers and stored as a record. The sensor picked up vibrations and heat. Our larger more crucial equipment had permanent probes that recorded straight to the operating consoles in the control rooms along with alarm points.

As an operator we were the only ones that were in the operating area of the refinery 24/7/365 so as time went on we ended up doing most everything except overhauling of equipment.

I also was at a refinery, did not have computer consoles at the units, were starting such installation when I left. I supervised 3 men who did the predictive/preventive checks on the equipment each day. They had hand held sensors which only read the intensity of vibration. I had a system similar to what you describe but I down loaded to the shops computer, then wrote out work orders, if necessary. The Company sent me to a school to learn the job. This was back in early 90's. Refinery was a small one (80 thou. barrel day) Has been closed since 2003. What refinery did you work at? Ours was sold several times and I ended being a Valero employee and retiree. I was also an operator for most of my time there, (40 yr.) but got tired of shift work so bid into maintenance.

[Allen]

What refinery did you work at?

Chevron. 330,000BPD = about 6M gallons of Gasoline and 6M gallons of Jet/Diesel per day. Very large and complex.

I believe you said once you worked for Arco?

[dave]

No it was Clack Oil & Refining, an upper mid-west independent based in Wisconsin. They owned 3-4 small refinery's, one I worked at was just south of Chicago in Blue Island. Another down near St. Louis and in Ohio. After 'ol man Clark died his son's did not want the business so it was sold at least 3 times by the time I retired in '97. The last being Valero. Had problems with all the new pollution regs, by the state (had the head of our clean water/air dept. go to prison!) Finally shut down, just can not make money and compete against large volume refinery's with small refinery's anymore!

[Sandpebble]

I was a brick and stone mason for 30 yrs. Did a real apprenticeship . Fire places , walls, and huge brick and stone arches along with run of the mill commercial projects, in three countries and 11 states.

Pictures of my work have been published in advertisements here and Australia and in County Living Magazine ...... just braggin.... about doing a job a Mexican couldn't do ...

but its a dead art now because it costs money and it seems the richer we get... the less we want to spend for quality

[dryheat]

Now, out here they build houses with fake rock facades. Looks like ****. If you gave me one, I'd put it up for sale tomorrow. Then there's the "castle", another fake rock monstrosity. On another route I take there's the "mud house". Yes, it looks like kids threw dirt clods at the place.
I have never done any masonary or brick or stone work, but I did take a course in geology and I know what looks like real stone and what looks like Disneyland.
That was a rant as they say.
I don't have any real talent. I used to have a good arm, but I broke a ligament at 18. I have a good eye; Just this morning I found two pennys and a dime on the ground. That's not to mention the two $100 bills and smaller bills I've picked up off the ground. I don't fall for Somalian scams. I have never for a minute believed that creatures from outer space are cruising our planet. If I wake up in the middle of the night it will always be "on the hour". Years of working on a tight schedule have imprinted a clock in my brain, I always know what time it is.

[Jim in Salt Lake]

Jim,

One of the things I liked to do with my kids was to take them down stairs on a rainy day and let them take things apart. It taught the kids some valuable lessons and gave them a comfort with mechanical things.

The very best thing we ever took apart by far was a manual typewriter. Those things are amazing, all the intricate parts working together. I truly appreciate what a work of wonder they are.

Hopefully I can find one to take apart with my grandkids.

We never got anything back together again but it didn't seem to matter.

KTK

I did the same with my kids! I called that "teaching them the touch" and they can both use hand tools well and are good at following mechanical motion. I've gotten a lot of mileage out of those skills that IBM taught me all those years ago. I don't know where you'd get them today.

[Darreld Walton]

There was a time when I was the 'go to' guy for installing safety wire 'blind' on interior components and connectors of solid fuel ICBM's........other than that, I made a herd of kids, and could play piano with my right hand, and bass on accordion with the left simultaneously.....world changing talents, I know.

[dryheat]

I'm impressed. A real piano? A real accordion? That's good. BTW, I know how to safety wire a bolt or nut but I never got to the point of doing it blind. That's a real attainment.

[Darreld Walton]

Yep, a real piano and a real accordion! I tried it once when my Dad was in the room when I was about nine years old. For the rest of the time that I lived with my folks, anytime company would come over, Dad had to have me drag the squeezebox out and show 'em. Sounded like hell, because the accordion and the piano were tuned differently.

[JB White]

I can't think of anything I can do that someone, somewhere, can't do better than me. I do possess skill sets which have pretty much vanished recently. Prior to retiring, some of my peers nicknamed me "The Doctor" in reference to the way I could cut wood trim 'like a surgeon' when the need arose. Personally I feel as though they gave me too much credit.

I did begin to realize that power tools and lasers have replaced old time craftsmanship in most areas out in the field. Very rare to find someone who is able to restyle/rerail a door in the field. Most no longer are able to mortise a door for a latchset in the field, or handcut hinge pockets without jigs and routers.
Until the day I retired I still had hand planes and coping saws in my toolbox. Younger guys have been taught the fast way. Mitre saw and caulk (experience in a tube). Very few understand the purpose of scribing anymore. Again, jam it tight and use 'experience in a tube'.

I've had a lot of attaboys over the years. Kept me gainfully employed. Got me a buck or two over scale on the paycheck. Clients bought me expensive dinners or handed me play or sporting event tickets as a way of saying "Thank you".

No story poles or shooting boards? That isn't the way the old Swedes and Greeks taught me. It isn't talk of the money we made. It's telling/showing others of the challenges we were able to tackle. I'm honored to have apprenticed under those guys.