Handiness level

[Mischief Managed]

I try very hard to buy used and fix and maintain everything I own, and that's basically my favorite hobby. I'm also pretty good at designing and fabricating stuff and have a lot of friends with similar skills. We help each other out with tools and skills all the time.



I was thinking about this stuff and it dawned on me that all of my closest friends are super handy with diverse skill sets. For example, yesterday I emailed one friend (that is a talented software developer, skilled at mechanical repair, and a master woodworker) for help with linux scripting for a work project, and texted another friend (that is an executive ( though you would NEVER guess he's an executive if you did not know, the first time we met, I assumed he was a dock hand at my marina...), a master metal fabricator, and a builder of competition diesel pulling tractors) to arrange a time to do some milling and aluminum welding for a boat project.



How handy are you?

 

[rslifkin]

I'm pretty handy, but certainly no fabricator. I grew up boating, so some amount of DIY skills came from that. Then that translated to cars. And I grew up with parents who worked in IT, so even though that's my day job, I do plenty of it for fun as well. I also just hate paying people to do stuff I can do myself unless I just don't have the time or it requires a tool or skill that's not reasonable for me to obtain at the time.

This winter's new skill has been fiberglassing. I re-cored the bow pulpit on the boat and am now getting it ready to reinstall. Good first project, as the parts I cut and put back together aren't visible when installed, so it only had to be strong, not pretty. And now I'm working on a new, more proper floor for the anchor rode locker.

 

[boathealer]

I have to be - I don't have all your great friends!!!!! LOL!

Here are projects we've done so far on our current boat, SCOUT:
SCOUT Projects Page

.

 

[FoxtrotCharlie]

I can turn a wrench. As I posted on another thread my 'real career' has been in finance, but I used that to support my hobbies. I have completely renovated three of our homes - elec, plumbing, painting, taking out walls (supporting and non-supporting) .... And working on older classic cars. These skills have translated well to boating, once I got some learning about all of the different systems Just finished replacing a 32 yr old Galley Maid toilet system with a new Raritan Marine Elegance toilet. Wow, such an improvement.

 

[Solly]

Last fall's project.... Land yacht !

 

[Ken E.]

Last fall's project.... Land yacht !

You set a travel trailer on a truck chassis. Great concept....please tell us more about the project.

 

[GFC]

I'm fairly handy, not what anyone would call a mechanic but manage to do the maintenance on the boat and around the house. I've fixed appliances, etc, but that's about the limit of my abilities as a mekanyik.

As far as being an engineer or architect or designer, I did design (in my head, no drawings) this Seahawk decoration for the lighted boat parade. We won first place this past December. It's 20' long x 6' tall, all done with rope lighting and zip ties on peg board, and the green eye blinks.

 

[RT Firefly]

Greetings,
I know just enough about a ton of things to be dangerous.

 

[Northern Spy]

It's a curse.

I grew up on a farm that had a bank of old school lockers full of Popular Science and Popular Mechanics for the 30s to the late 50s. I read each and every issue before I was 12.

When I was 7 I took apart the phone on the wall after reading in the phonebook that you could remove the dial with a paperclip. Under that was a big nut, and well everthing else came apart quite readily. It was a three line party phone that my parents rented from NY Bell. Mom wept, but told me that if I put it back together, she wouldn't tell Dad. It seemed like she was trying to cover-her-ass as much as mine. I think she told him anyways, because I got my own Craftsman tool kit soon after.

I have formal training in all sorts of repair (machining, welding, metrology, NDE) from my Navy submarine days and used to train others too in repair. Followed up with NDT, reliability, QA/QC, lubrication, API, and ASME courses. I've remodeled two houses. I was dumb enough to own several English and Italian sports cars. I am the guy that other people borrow tools from. I now work as "mechanical specialist". I truly feel I am more of a "mechanical generalist", but they won't let me put that on my business card. I used to take apart everything I own. Now I only take it apart when it breaks. Watches, phones, computers, engines, every small appliance I own.

In a way I wish I could just pay someone else to fix my broken stuff. It would be a lot simpler and consume less of my time. I was 51 when I first took a vehicle to a garage for someone else to change the magnetorheological struts. They broke my HID lights by power washing the ballast. Arrrgh.

My son is now an apprentice machinist/millwright/auto technician. He too, has the curse.

My wife worries about my daughter's future husband, if he is not handy.

 

[JD Ray]

As far as being an engineer or architect or designer, I did design (in my head, no drawings) this Seahawk decoration for the lighted boat parade. We won first place this past December. It's 20' long x 6' tall, all done with rope lighting and zip ties on peg board, and the green eye blinks.]

Go Hawks!

 

[JD Ray]

Over more than twenty years of ownership, I've re-wired and re-plumbed almost our entire house (all the plumbing, most of the wiring starting with a new meter base and breaker panel). I can do about any home construction task necessary except exterior (structural) framing and roofing. I have, though, determined that any product that spends some of its life as a liquid is not to my liking. This includes paint, adhesives, concrete, sheetrock mud, etc. I'm much happier with framing, electrical, plumbing, and the rest.

I have the knowledge to fix most mechanical things on cars, though (oddly), automotive electrical escapes me. Deep engine stuff is outside my comfort zone. Also, I'm getting too old for that crap. But if I need to change out a water pump, alternator, or starter motor, I'm fine. I'd be fine pulling a transmission and sending it off for rebuild, then re-installing it when it came back. I've done transmission and engine swaps before.

I can do simple woodworking, and do a reasonable job at building casegoods (cabinets, etc.). I prefer to leave that sort of thing to the experts, though, doing the installation for things they've built to my specs. I'm a good designer, and spec'd construction for all the cabinets in our custom kitchen.

I grew up around body and fender shops, and understand the basics of fiberglass and sheetmetal repair. I don't know how to weld, though, and fiberglass resin is liquid at some point, so...

I'm not an expert at any of these things, but am comfortable endeavoring to do most of them. I'm just expert enough to be able to supervise and lend a helping hand to someone skilled. On my own, I know just enough to be dangerous.

Also, I'm very capable in just about any IT discipline, from network design and administration through to software design, development, and implementation.

 

[DDW]

I can design and manufacture almost anything. You do have to draw the line though, as time is limited. I can replace parts on my engine and do so. I could design and fabricate an engine, but the amount of time and effort involved makes it unattractive. I could refine the iron and smelt the steel in required for the engine, even more time and a very dirty business. I could mine the ore for the iron, even dirtier and more time consuming. I could build the machine tools required (more time, smelting, mining...).

You have to pick your battles, so I limit them to things I cannot satisfactorily buy in. I'd like to be able to buy time, but it isn't available on Ebay.

 

[KnotYet]

Guilty!
I, too, have the 'knack'.
I was the kid who took apart TV sets in the basement. You never forget 25,000 volts!
I hotwired my parent's cars just for fun and added a turbocharger to mine at 17.
After engineering school I tested photo gear at Vivitar until I bought a co-worker's
30-foot sailboat and sailed it to Hawaii. There I worked at Pearl Harbor on vessels.
But I found my true calling while visiting back in L.A.
A friend asked if I wanted to help working on a low-budget movie she was producing.
It turns out there is a category for the 'handy' jack-of-all-trades man in Hollywood.
I've been a Special Effects man on films and TV shows for the last 37 years.
Yeah, there are a couple of vintage cars and motorcycles in the garage, too!

 

[Solly]

So do mechanically inclined people gravitate to boats or do boats require a mechanically inclined person ??

Sometimes I think my boat says "Come here and fix this, dummy "
Everything's broke you just don't know it yet is so true...

 

[boathealer]

Sometimes I think my boat says "Come here and fix this, dummy "
Everything's broke you just don't know it yet is so true...

...

 

[ranger58sb]

I'm about as handy as a rock.

OTOH, I'm able to learn -- by reading, by watching videos, direct instruction, etc. -- and the most valuable thing I usually discover is when to keep my own hands off a given project.

Usually my first daunting task is getting a handle on the jargon, whatever applies to the given project, system, tool, whatever. "What's a flange?" And so forth...

-Chris

 

[JD Ray]

I'm about as handy as a rock.

How much maintenance do you perform on your own boat?

 

[ranger58sb]

How much maintenance do you perform on your own boat?

Most of it. Its usually a learning experience first, of course.

I took a course on diesel engines. (I knew the theory pretty well, but wouldn't otherwise have been able to tell a water pump from an alternator). There are some 1000-hour chores I won't do -- valve adjustments, aftercooler service, etc. -- but sometimes that's also because I don't have (or want) the extra tools.

Or if something will just take too much physical strength; for example, my lower back is already at risk, so I guard that a bit...

-Chris

 

[Ken E.]

So do mechanically inclined people gravitate to boats or do boats require a mechanically inclined person ??

If you have boats for a while, even if unskilled at the outset, most people get their hands dirty over time working on their boat via the school of hard knocks. In my case, bloody knuckles too. On bigger boats with many subsystems, you really have to become something of a basic jack of trades to venture away from marina help. Most boat owners evolve into this as time progresses. This doesn't mean necessarily being an ace electrician, mechanic or plumber, but knowing enough to get by until you can get help if you need it. A good general reference to get started in this process are books like Nigel Calder's, "Boatowner's Mechanical and Electrical Manual" available at Amazon.

 

[Northern Spy]

So do mechanically inclined people gravitate to boats or do boats require a mechanically inclined person ??

Yes.

 

[Pete Meisinger]

Really, there is NOTHING an owner can not do on his/her boat! From complicated computer related issues to sophisticated electronic installation and repair, Fiberglass work, engine and transmission rebuilding, painting and complicated design. All can be owner done!

Look at it this way. If something breaks or needs attention which is at the very top of the specialist skill set, what do you do. You call in an expert. Someone knows how to do the job. And anyone can own a boat.

It is highly doubtful that any one given boat owner can master all the skill sets but someone out there can get the job done.

The real skill is in knowing when to tackle a job yourself and when to call in an expert.

I, personally tend to wait to long to call in the expert, attempting a job beyond me. Often ends up costing more to have it done right but sometimes I get away with it.

pete