Engineering "rules"

[Mike Switzer]

I think there must be a list of engineering "rules" somewhere, one of which is something like "even a minor design change requires a minimum of 24 subsequent changes and a minimum of 8 hours of re-design"?


GRRR

All I wanted to do was increase the legroom / seating position to be at least as accommodating as my 944...


Sorry, just had to vent.

[Mike Switzer]

Oh, and if anyone can tell me why the size of the text & arrows on my leader lines isn't the same as it is on the other dimensions (ACAD 2004) I would appreciate it. I can't seem to find any way to change it other than scaling after I insert them.

[bwilson4web]

I think there must be a list of engineering "rules" somewhere, one of which is something like "even a minor design change requires a minimum of 24 subsequent changes and a minimum of 8 hours of re-design"?


GRRR

All I wanted to do was increase the legroom / seating position to be at least as accommodating as my 944...


Sorry, just had to vent.
We used to say, "There is never enough time to do the job right but always enough time to do it over."

Bob Wilson

[Frank Giger]

The corrollary to that, Bob, is "If you wait until the last minute to do something it only takes a minute to get it done."

[Mike Switzer]

Well, I guess it will take as long as it takes, it is a whole lot easier (and cheaper) to move lines on a screen than to re weld something.

[Eric Witherspoon]

See my signature line. My "bumper sticker" for building it the way the plans show...

My other "bumper sticker of homebuilding", if I had one, is attributed to Bill Lear - "you don't have to fix what you leave out".

More engineering-related -

A "greybeard" once told me the design is done when the whole team is equally unhappy with it. If someone's happy, they're holding too much margin... You need to figure out what their margin _really_ is...

[Mike Switzer]

See my signature line. My "bumper sticker" for building it the way the plans show...

Well, I'm doing a full redesign, but... I was looking at the dimensions on the drawing & began to question whether my size 12s & 34 inch inseam would really fit, so I spent some time sitting in my MGB & 944 taking measurements, which convinced me there was no way I would fit comfortably. If I'm building something, I want to feel comfortable in it, so some things got stretched.


A "greybeard" once told me the design is done when the whole team is equally unhappy with it. If someone's happy, they're holding too much margin... You need to figure out what their margin _really_ is...

Been there. Also, you can never make both the design team & the production team happy at the same time. I've been on both sides, so now I'm arguing with & compromising with myself. :)

[cynamonb]

Oh, and if anyone can tell me why the size of the text & arrows on my leader lines isn't the same as it is on the other dimensions (ACAD 2004) I would appreciate it. I can't seem to find any way to change it other than scaling after I insert them.

Go to Dimension - Style - Modify and you set the size of the text and arrows to whatever you like.

[steveinindy]

A "greybeard" once told me the design is done when the whole team is equally unhappy with it. If someone's happy, they're holding too much margin... You need to figure out what their margin _really_ is...

My soon-to-be father-in-law (a software engineer) likes to say "Every project reaches a point where you must shoot the engineers and go into production".

[Mike Switzer]

Go to Dimension - Style - Modify and you set the size of the text and arrows to whatever you like.

Thanks, But I already tried that, it changes it for all the regular dimensions, but not the leader lines or text. I screwed around with it for a couple hours the other day & couldn't find any way to do it, and yes, that is what would have done it in ACAD 2000, which was the last version I used a lot.

[Matt Gonitzke]

I hear ya...I'm going to have to enlarge the horizontal stabilizer on the scale warbird replica I'm designing...can't wait to see what sort of cascading effect that has...:eek:

[CharlieF]

Does this count?

What is the difference between mechanical engineers and civil engineers?

Mechanical engineers build weapons and civil engineers build targets.

Apologies in advance to any bridge-builders out there...

[David Darnell]

There was a old joke about Russian aircraft designers- "Figure out the minimum needed to do the job, then double it"

[Mike Switzer]

CharlieF - I've heard that one before but it is a good one

Another one is "why do they make sex manuals - because an Electrical Engineer can't do anything that isn't in a book"

[rwanttaja]

How do you tell if an engineer is an extrovert? He looks at YOUR shoes when he talks to you.

Ron Wanttaja

[rwanttaja]

Engineer parks his Prius at work, and as he starts walking to the office, he sees a fellow engineer ride up on a brand-new Harley Davidson.

"Where'd you get the motorcycle," he asks.

Other engineer ponders a bit. "It was the strangest thing. I was walking along, and this ravishing blonde rode up up on this motorcycle. She stopped, got off, took off all her clothes, and said, 'Take whatever you want!'"

First engineer nods sagely. "Good choice," he says, "The clothes probably wouldn't have fit."

Ron Wanttaja

[CharlieF]

The graduate with a science degree asks, "Why does it work?"
The graduate with an engineering degree asks, "How does it work?"
The graduate with an accounting degree asks, "How much will it cost?"
The graduate with an arts degree asks, "Do you want fries with that?"

[CharlieF]

And one of my favorites:

To the optimist, the glass is half full.
To the pessimist, the glass is half empty.
To the engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.

[David Darnell]

CharlieF - I've heard that one before but it is a good one

Another one is "why do they make sex manuals - because an Electrical Engineer can't do anything that isn't in a book"

Good one, think I'll change it to "Technical Inspectors" for work....

[Frank Giger]

"There comes a time in every project where one has to shoot all the engineers and just build the d*mned plane."

- My brother-in-law, who was an engineer at Boeing at the time.

[Mike Switzer]

Maybe another rule should be if you haven't done something in 15 years plan on having to give yourself remedial training before you waste a bunch of time screwing things up... :rollseyes:

[steveinindy]

"There comes a time in every project where one has to shoot all the engineers and just build the d*mned plane."

- My brother-in-law, who was an engineer at Boeing at the time.

Beat you to that one Frank. ;) If they had shot all the engineers a few years earlier they might have actually gotten the 787 out on time and budget.

[Jim Hann]

And one of my favorites:

To the optimist, the glass is half full.
To the pessimist, the glass is half empty.
To the engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.
To the opportunist, its a drink!