Re: Outdoor Welding

"Bob La Londe"  wrote in message news:103mgdl$87c2$2@dont-email.me...
Lots of modestly experienced and self taught manual machinists in the
maker crowd use layout as a sanity check.
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That makes sense if they are primarily a designer rather than a machinist. I was formally an electronic technician and laboratory manager, with circuit design, CAD/CAM, programming and machining on the side. I've done more machining on home projects than for work.
If the function of a part is obvious to me I'll draw it with dimensions and follow them, when it has multiple interactions to coordinate I may alternately redesign and machine what I'm sure of. I have several preliminary versions of the satellite laser link hardware that separately addressed its mechanical, electrical or optical requirements. Since I didn't have a relevant engineering degree I was much more convincing when I showed them a neatly machined sample of what I intended than when I described or sketched it. The project manager brought me in as an electronic tech and then gave me a free hand when he found I could also create hardware to his specs. One engineer said my black-painted optical work looked like the parts of a Norden bombsight.