Want to buy or sell something? Check the classifieds
  • The Fedora Lounge is supported in part by commission earning affiliate links sitewide. Please support us by using them. You may learn more here.

Mechanically inclined?

Technonut

Practically Family
Messages
916
Location
West "By Gawd" Virginia
I'm pretty handy I guess... ;) When it comes to my home, I have done 99% of the repairs and maintenance over the years. Everything from replacing the hot water heater and dishwasher, to repairing the heating system...etc.. My next project is to install a solar PV system.

I have rebuilt quite a few performance V8 engines in my time, along with a few automatic transmissions and transfer cases. There is not too much I am afraid to try... ;)
 

cooncatbob

Practically Family
Messages
612
Location
Carmichael, CA.
Professional woodworker and amateur machinist. I also built my last 2 computers. But I'm definitely a hardware guy, software problems give me a headache. lol Bob.
 

Rafter

Suspended
Messages
436
Location
CT
cooncatbob said:
Professional woodworker and amateur machinist. I also built my last 2 computers. But I'm definitely a hardware guy, software problems give me a headache. lol Bob.
Hey Bob, Knew you would be posting on this thread. You rebuilt that lathe like a pro.
Like you bro, I'm mechanically inclined. Give me some cement, wood, hardware, paint and some power tools and I'm right at home.
Though I wish I was "electrically inclined". I would like to get my 50's Admiral TV & Webcor Hi-Fi working again!
 
Maj.Nick Danger said:
Sounds like you are very right-brained. You would no doubt be very good at artistic endeavors. :) (Welding is easy.)
Sunny said:
That's what people tell me... and then I have to admit that I can't draw worth a hoot. I can't even doodle! When I was bored in class I'd write quotes or witty/sarcastic comments in my margins, and sometimes make up complicated Middle-earth riddles. :D
Miss Sunny, don't feel too bad, I'm a right-brainer myself, and I can't even draw a straight line without graph-paper. (Oh, thank God for AutoCAD!) The right brain seems to be the "creative" side, but that creativity can also express itself through written or "vocal performance" means. (Most of my talent is in writing, myself.) Just thought I'd mention some parallels illustrating the profile.

Perchance, are you also left-handed?
 

Sunny

One Too Many
Messages
1,409
Location
DFW
Diamondback said:
Miss Sunny, don't feel too bad, I'm a right-brainer myself, and I can't even draw a straight line without graph-paper. (Oh, thank God for AutoCAD!) The right brain seems to be the "creative" side, but that creativity can also express itself through written or "vocal performance" means. (Most of my talent is in writing, myself.) Just thought I'd mention some parallels illustrating the profile.

Perchance, are you also left-handed?

Yep! :D I would qualify in the written and vocal performance categories, I suppose, although it's been some time since I really tried to write. I love fiction and enjoyed the RPG'ing I did, but simply don't have time for it. I've always been good at essays. *yawn* Vocally, I like to sing (who doesn't?) but I don't have anything spectacular in the way of talent. (Trust me here, I'm around people who do have it and around those who don't, so I know where I fall. ;)) But I also admit to my share of being a ham. Around the right people - mainly my brothers - I can hold up my end of a comedy routine. lol
 
Sunny said:
Yep! :D I would qualify in the written and vocal performance categories, I suppose, although it's been some time since I really tried to write. I love fiction and enjoyed the RPG'ing I did, but simply don't have time for it. I've always been good at essays. *yawn* Vocally, I like to sing (who doesn't?) but I don't have anything spectacular in the way of talent. (Trust me here, I'm around people who do have it and around those who don't, so I know where I fall. ;)) But I also admit to my share of being a ham. Around the right people - mainly my brothers - I can hold up my end of a comedy routine. lol
You do realize, young lady, that only left-handers are truly in our right minds?;) lol

Me? Sing? lol Funny lady... (I have a voice made for silent movies...) And on writing, I've always been stronger on essays and analysis than fiction. (Haven't let it stop me from trying, though; I actually have the start of a serial for when my next spark of inspiration hits...)

To be honest and get back on topic, even though I have an exceptional ability to visualize how parts assemble, my manual dexterity is sorely lacking (it's just good enough to hold iron on target on the range--I'm jealous). I can't even work on building models anymore other than big, area-jobs like parts assembly or large-area/overall painting except for when my hands quit shaking for a little bit...:( (Thank God for CNC machines, that way all I have to do is program the specs, set it up and hit "RUN"!)
 

Harry Pierpont

One of the Regulars
Messages
223
Location
West Central Illinois
All of the above

Yes I'm mechanically inclined, my dad was a mechanic/ machinist/ wood carver. He designed and made the molds for casting casket hardware,(the decorative stuff on the sides) and repaired cars in his spare time. I never picked up on the wood carving though. God has given me the ability to fix most anything if I can find/ create the right parts, I guess that's why I'm a maintenance mechanic for a property management firm. Yes I have rebuilt car engines and done all types of car repair, I do my own plumbing and electrical work, my wife loves me! But not for those reasons. lol
 

Flivver

Practically Family
Messages
821
Location
New England
I'm pretty adept at anything that is done with socket wrenches or a soldering iron. I do all my own car repairs, can fix an oil burner, do house wiring or repair a radio or TV.

But I'm worthless with regard to working with wood. I can restore a wood finish, or make small repairs with wood, but I've never been able to make anything really presentable from wood.

Years ago, my dad and I built a tall case clock from a kit. He constructed the cabinet while I applied the finish. I could *never* have built the cabinet myself.
 

52Styleline

A-List Customer
Messages
322
Location
W Oregon
Enough so to keep a 54 year old car on the road. I'm also pretty good with woodworking and have a shop full of tools to prove it.
 

MrNewportCustom

Call Me a Cab
Messages
2,265
Location
Outer Los Angeles
I can figure out anything, but I know when not to attempt something myself. I can replace alternators, starters, water pumps, timing chains and disc brake pads, but I don't trust myself going inside an engine.

Basic electricity, wood refinishing, painting, automotive repair, plumbing, drywalling, and I can sew, iron, and do laundry without turning everything pink.

My father built our first color TV: a Heathkit. He built three telescopes, including grinding and polishing the mirrior for the first one, that will show you the rings of Saturn. He designed and built his own H.O scale trains. Installed air conditioning in his car. Had a B&W darkroom - a talent I later picked up, along with color, plus the taking of pictures with or without studio lighting.

So, yes, I'm mechanically inclined.


Lee
_______________________

“A boy can learn a lot from a dog: obedience, loyalty, and the importance of turning around three times before lying down.” - Robert Benchley
 

Maj.Nick Danger

I'll Lock Up
Messages
4,469
Location
Behind the 8 ball,..
Seems for the most part we are a very recourseful lot. I thought so. To my way of thinking, we are all capable of anything. I mean that in a good way, as in we are all capable of accomplishing whatever we need to accomplish. Necessity is the mother of invention as they say.
If we tell ourselves we can not do something, then we of course get exactly what we wished for.[bad]
 

scotrace

Head Bartender
Staff member
Messages
14,393
Location
Small Town Ohio, USA
I've made furniture and do about all my own home repairs. I used to do auto repairs (rebuilt an engine & transmission) but a friend was killed when his correctly jacked-up car fell on him. So the heck with that. I can fix clocks but never mastered watches. I can replace most computer components.

I have a lot of tools. :)
 

Martinis at 8

Practically Family
Messages
710
Location
Houston
Very mechanically inclined. I have degrees in mechanical (BS) and petroleum (MS) engineering. My uncle was a machinist and had a side-business in his garage. I learned to use a lathe and micrometer parts to tolerance when I was about 10 yrs. old while working in his garage. I also know almost everything about automotives, mostly learned in the army.

As for handyman work around the house, no I don't do it. I hire migrant workers to do that for me ;) I don't work on my cars either, but I have been thinking about getting a hobby car to do so.

M8
 

dundeedavie

One of the Regulars
Messages
125
Location
Dundee , Scotland
Martinis at 8 said:
Very mechanically inclined. I have degrees in mechanical (BS) and petroleum (MS) engineering. My uncle was a machinist and had a side-business in his garage. I learned to use a lathe and micrometer parts to tolerance when I was about 10 yrs. old while working in his garage. I also know almost everything about automotives, mostly learned in the army.

As for handyman work around the house, no I don't do it. I hire migrant workers to do that for me ;) I don't work on my cars either, but I have been thinking about getting a hobby car to do so.

M8


similarly to this i have degrees in mechanical and production engineering so i hope to god i'm that way inclined :D
 

Twitch

My Mail is Forwarded Here
Messages
3,133
Location
City of the Angels
Wow! I'm impressed! Quite a few know which end of the screwdriver to use. And it's nice that so many women these days are not helpless with tools.:)
 

warbird

One Too Many
Messages
1,171
Location
Northern Virginia
I would say I am somewhat mechanically inclined. I am not particularly good with small motor stuff anymore due to arthritis in my hands. So no more lathe work. I don't like to fool with electricity anymore either.

I grew up racing motorcycles and my dad always made me participate in fixing them. I also had a '49 Harley Panhead I rebuilt and rode for several years and quite a few old muscle cars. In college friends with motorcycles would come to me to have me fix them. My senior project as an aerospace student was to build my own airplane, which I did.

I am an adequate woordworker. For a gunsmith friend who reblued and fixed up old guns, i would redo the stocks for him. But I'm not much good on the scrollwork and fancy things required for some furniture making.
 

Jack Scorpion

One Too Many
Messages
1,097
Location
Hollywoodland
Not very.

I sometimes find myself the most qualified member of my friends to do basic carpentry (my dad is a carpenter and I've helped in the past), but I'm pretty much city boy to the bone.

What's that Mitch Hedberg joke? I don't go to Home Depot. I go to Apartment Depot. Just a bunch of guys standing around, saying, "We don't gotta fix sh**."
 

PastimeSteve

One of the Regulars
Messages
162
Location
Colorado
I'm typically best at breaking things, but I have been known to build a computer or two, replace a window (with some help), put up a fence, landscape work, install a ceiling fan, change oil in a car, minor electrical work, some drywall stuff -- the basics.

I grew up with a dad who had no patience and refused to teach me carpentry or handy man type of jobs. Everything I've done, I taught myself through trial and error, and some blood.

Talking about blood... I must be lucky, because I replaced some windows in my former home with the help of a friend. My friend had installed countless windows in the past, I had maybe installed one. Well, sure enough, he jacked up his mouth with a flying prybar as he was trying to pull off some trim. When my wife saw the blood in the kitchen, she was sure it was from me because of what an uncoordinated dufus I can be! lol

Steve
 

Forum statistics

Threads
109,660
Messages
3,085,871
Members
54,480
Latest member
PISoftware
Top