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Engineering Sayings

Shaft.jpgDuring my apprenticeship one of my jobs was to start the main motor for the line shafts, which ran mostly power presses operated by woman who were paid by piece work( No work no pay) Then the day came when one of the line belts came off the pulley,I reported this to the Forman toolsetter, who told me to go to the toolstores and ask for a SKYHOOK to put the belt back on the main pulley The storeman said its down the paint shop, needless to say I was sent to all departments which took some time. When I returned (With no SKYHOOK) back to the women they were fuming, for loss of earnings, My punishment from them was a debagging, while all this amusement was going on the lads put the drive belt back and got everything running. When i asked the foman how they got the belt on
he replied the SKYHOOK was under his bench all the time. OOOOh what a learning curve
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During my Apprenticeship I had all those along with a left handed spanner, do exist, but thought my leg was being pulled, Women are the worst ones to work with and I know as I once worked in a factory load and one can only guess the initiation I went through when starting there and were always having a go, put me off women for a bit, only a bit.
 
When I started my apprenticeship at Morris Commercial in 1967, Alf Heard, my old training forman, would say, look, there's a tanner on the floor over there. We'd go to pick it up and find it was just an old flat washer or similar. We'd tell him this and he'd say, "Ah,but it'd cost you a tanner to buy one so don't waste 'em".
 
What was manufacturing anyway...some kind of old job that one did instead of going to the casino.
 
My workmate had a drawing on his toolchest of a Micrometer and a Lump Hammer. Written underneath the picture was "Precision & Persuasion = Efficiency"
 
I'm not sure about this one but my oldest mate used to say to me: Rack back on two, Brick on Edge, Level with the crown of the road. Never understood to this day what it meant - if anything at all.
 
How about the irish one --- dog poo in pay packet --- that's for saturday work, time and a turd!
TedB
 
Phil Price said:
I'm not sure about this one but my oldest mate used to say to me: Rack back on two, Brick on Edge, Level with the crown of the road. Never understood to this day what it meant - if anything at all.
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Phil

Was your friend by any chance a road worker or involved in civil engineering projects, that’s where I have heard phrases like that before.

He may have said “’Rake’ back on two” which makes more sense.
 
This custom, inevitably, drifted into the forces.
Common examples were-
"Go and paint the Last Post ", "Go and get a bucket of steam"/"a box of small circles"/"a box of blue sparks". There were many more !
 
Lloyd said:
Surely "Tight as a duck's a*se" is for something that doesn't leak: the theory being that if ducks' a*ses leaked, they would sink!

"On the skunt" and "Skew-wiff" certainly are things not straight or level.

People or things considered not very good attract a range of sayings involving "About as much use as a..." with many varying unlikely combinations, e.g.:
Handbrake on a canoe:
Ashtray on a motorbike:
Chocolate fireguard:
Pork Chop at a Bar Mitzvah:
and others far too coarse to print here. I'm sure you all get the point!
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I learned tight as a duck;'s xxxxx meant someone was mean.
 
Nico said:
I learned tight as a duck;'s xxxxx meant someone was mean.
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as much use as a nun in a nockin shop?
I was always in Sales/ Sales Support / Art Studio or reception, and as coarse as Engineers I would think, we had a chap who looked like Mel Smith when he got animated. If someome crossed him he would eyeball them and shout, "do you want some?!" and does yer mate want some? and do they like it uppem! and then cackle
 
When I started training as a toolsetter my boss said I have two rules 1= fetching the tea is your job 2 = don't put your fingers where you wouldn't put your cock.


I don't fetch tea now but all my fingers are still in tact so quite good advice. lol
 
Musicians tuning up before a performance that wasn't too important would say "Near enough for jazz".

Maurice
 
Many many years ago I apprenticed in a drawing office at GEC Witton. On one occasion I needed a new lead for my compass and told by one of my 'mentors' to go down to the drawing store to get the lead mold and lead mix. Obviously, a quick phone call beat me down to the store to fill in the store attendent. Upon my request I was given a small box of white powder on a small vial of a black substance. ( I later found these to be French chalk and India Ink). Next followed mixing instructions and a beautifully machine lead jig complete with a jig number and date of issue stamped on the side. The jig had a countersunk hole and a deeper small dia hole inside. Eager to learn how leads were manufactured, I hurried back to my desk, mixed the two components and pasted it into the jig orifice. As instructed, I left it to 'set' for 15 minutes. After about 10 minutes I was dispatched to retrieve an old drawing from the same store. On the way back there seemed to be an unusual interest in my activities from many of the other draughtsmen. C
 
To continue, On arrival back at my desk I was told to check and see if the lead was ready. Carefully tapping the jig, out slid a perfect lead. (Obviously inserted there by one of the pranksters whilst I was waiting for the drawing). The razzing of apprentices was brutal in that office but the embarrassment and shame was long forgotten when it was later my turn to get one of the newbies
 
Starting work at the tender age of 14 and being subjected to many of, the now, unacceptable initiation practices in the motor trade could have damaged you for life, but like many others, who went before, you were more than happy to dish out the same when you became one of the men. Dunking in the large waste oil tank and being left suspended by your overalls from the engine lifting block and tackle were just a couple of the milder tortures of your initiation.
 
brummie nick said:
I found it was never a precise measure, some 'gnats knackers' were bigger than others. ;)
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A gnats Knacker was a tenth of a thou. The company I worked for had dealing with a tubing company, one of their products was to manufacture a tube for the insemination of gnats (research?) the bore of the said tube was one tenth of a thou'.
 
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I recall a couple of sayings from my GKN apprenticeship in the 60’s

When making a bush for a shaft which I made oversize, the foreman said “that’s no “B” good, it’s like a sausage up an entry”, which made me laugh which was the wrong thing to do.

Another time working in the GKN Heath Street training school, forging a chisel on the anvil, Joe Harris a great man from the Black Country said “come on get a move on, you ain’t got time to send it a postcard”

When I visited a foundry, a foreman was berating a moulder for bad work, “call yourself a moulder, you couldn’t leave you’re ar*e print in the sand when you go on your holidays”
 
We used similar terms in the building industry:

It will look OK, from the number 11 bus.

Give it a coat of gas tar, It will look fine

He’s a chancer

I’ll show you the proper way, then I’ll show you my way​
 
I was actually trained as an industrial chemist, but in the course of my work had to visit lots of engineering companies, and especially foundries in the Black Country, where I heard the following said:

1) "Goo on, gie it a cog-ayver!" Meaning, hit something very hard with a lump-ommer. What a 'cog-heaver' is or was, I never found out. Does anyone on here know?

2) "That's orl roight, just loike a bit of egg, that is!" Meaning, spot on. Why a 'bit of egg'?

3) "Yo dunno if yome a*** is bored, punched or reamed!" Meaning rather obvious.

Happy days.

G
 
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