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Unbounded laziness?

mcencula

Well Known Member
Yes, that's right...my laziness knows no bounds. Had to cut a bunch of notches in the F-703B panel stiffening angle. Instead of the usual drilling, cutting, and filing, I took an alternate route. Posting here in case anyone else aspires to be as lazy as I am:

Made a template (shown laying upside down here):
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Used some guide bushings in the router with a 1/8" diameter router bit:
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Test part (view from below):
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Finished F-703B. Took maybe 1 or 2 minutes per slot.
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A close-up view:
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Have fun!
 
...or the clever and thoughtful use of tools and fixtures to make beautiful parts.

Nice work!
 
Nice idea and definitely worth posting. But it's too bad that you didn't round the corners while you were at it. It would have been easy then with the template being wood. Now it'll take a while.

Dave
 
Can't image sawing and filing all those slots. Here's the my solution to get out of doing that.
RV6A 004.jpgRV6A 006.jpg
 
Congratulations, you have a bright future as a Prussian army commander. :)
 

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Mike, looks great!

True story...Paul once proposed a Kitplanes article, the theme being builders can and do make the same part using multiple methods and various levels of technology. At one end of the scale, the assigned writer would use the full CAD/CAM approach, two more writers would use progressively less tech, while at the dumb end of the scale, I (being the caveman) would use nothing but the most basic hand tools....hacksaw, hammer, and file.

Here's the punchline. The part had a hole in it. I actually spent a few minutes considering the merits (editorial, not fabrication) of making a bow drill...a tree branch, some cord, and a block of wood to socket the free end of the drill.
 
Expanding on Dan's point a bit further, when the plans specify a method for doing a needed process, it is not meant to imply that is the only way or even the best way. It is usually a way that is chosen to fit within the inventory of tools and skills that the average builder is likely to have.

In fact, it a standards policy not to describe more than one method. Doing so has proven many times over to show the psychology of a home builder..... it inevitably leads to a tech support call asking "which one is better?"

Proof of a true home builder is analyzing a process and then deciding what the best means for doing it in a efficient manner is, based on what skills and tools they have available.

Good for you. You have earned the true home builder certificate.
 
There is a difference between working smarter not harder and being lazy this is definitely smarter and looks professional.
 
Fantastic

Great job parts look nice!

I can make anything out of wood and it turns out great , metal on the other hand has been a challenge I’ve found having a lot of nice tools have improved my work.
 
Mike's (the OP) build log seems to be full of more building 'laziness' like this. He might be the first person I've ever known with a "rain gutters" RV build log entry.

You've been building a while Mike, but I predict that will be one finely detailed machine when it's done!
 
So kind... thank you

Y'all have been so kind in this thread. After having abandoned all other social media due to pervasive hostility, criticality, and divisiveness, this community is such a breath of fresh air. Thank you all for the kind and supportive words.
 
Smart work

I don’t call that “laziness.”

Reminds me of a boss I had one time. It was a summer job, and he was not my favorite boss of all the bosses I’ve had. But his saying stuck with me.

“Use your brain, and save your back.”
 
This is why I shouldn't read VAF as I try to finish the project. Early in the build, it's great, you pick up all sorts of neat tricks you know to use later when you get to that part. Later in the build it's nothing but "gosh I should have done it that way!" What was I thinking, sawing and filing like a caveman? I almost want to build another panel just to try it out. Well done!
 
I don’t call that “laziness.”
Reminds me of a boss I had one time. It was a summer job, and he was not my favorite boss of all the bosses I’ve had. But his saying stuck with me.
“Use your brain, and save your back.”

A similar saying used to be printed on Texas Instruments paychecks, "Work Smarter, not Harder!"

Is this somewhat telling my age?

But my favorite hung over my desk at TI. "If you don't have time to do it right the first time, when will you have time to do it over?"
 
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I have a similar one. "you can do it fast the first time and right the second time, or you can take your time and do it right the first time"
 
Picked this up during my 6-year stint at Stennis Space center: “Better, faster, cheaper; pick two”.
 
I was working up on the north side of Atlanta about 20 years ago and when the FedEx guy came in every day, one of my co-workers would ask him “working hard?”… finally, one day the FedEx guy told him “Nah, I’m working smart! If you work smart, you don’t HAVE to work hard”…

Said co-worker didn’t bother FedEx guy any more after that.
 
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