[donkeyofd00m]

Hey man, actual Mech-E here. Also general mechanical hobbyist and handyman; not just one of those CAD guys

Just some quick things that may help you point you in the right direction. This is coming the "small scale hobbyist", not indusdrual profesional viewpoint:

-getting better and making actual projects come to fruition is actually a lot like CS. A lot. Somebody can spend all their time reading CS theory, textbooks, MITOWC, whatever. Their technical foundation will be strong, but will struggle when it comes to coding syntax and spesific program/firmware issues. Some get stuck in that mode and are paralyzed to take action

I'd honestly recommend dropping the mech-E textbooks to read just for reading's sake. It will fill you with generic knowledge but not a better builder. Instead I'd be thinking about "what do I want to build"? Kitchen knives? Custom pens? Automotive mods? It does not need to be something you make forever. Just something that seems fun now (just like the pet CS video game project)

Just like CS hacking (in the PG sense), THEN you will start to look up how it's done. Kitchen knives need metal forging? Okay, now its time to look up edu material for that. What tools are needed? Can I custom-make tools to get them cheaper? What edu material is out there for that… rinse and repeat

...just remember 2 things. 1, safety first. 2, a pretty drawing means nothing if you can't manufacture it to your desired specs

-honestly, drafting or 3D modelling, it's all fine. What's important is what allows you to implement your ideas and record them fastest. Also, right tools for the right job

I made a bench for my balcony. Just rough, imprecise measurements, knowing I'd make ad-hoc cuts to size when I had my material

For extreme lightweighted, funtion-over-form stuff or geometrically sensitive stuff, ya, CAD or FEA software will be needed

Just use whatever is appropriate and will allow you to achieve the results you want. Honestly, if you're not making F1 parts, drafting or CAD is fine

-your proto-prototyping is GREAT. This is exactly how you get started into this. Try something out on a small scale, see where you could improve with tooling, materials, methods and process, try again. Want to make a bronze casting? Try plaster casting first. You say you're lost, but you are ahead of 99% of people in all the damn makerspaces or home hobbyists. Trust me :)

-janky tools. Beautiful. For things that don't need to hit specifications (like firm +/- tolerances), this is one of my favourite things to do. I made an air extraction unit with a thrift shop electric leaf blower motor and some scrap hvac conduit. This is a crucially important skill IMO, as mechanical things get expensive. This allows you to go MUCH further with the money invested to try things out

-collecting weird stuff? Get some plastic bins. Lol. Out of sight out of mind

And last tip? When things around you break, try to fix them. That really starts to add to your "mechanical intuition". I'm pretty familiar with hvac, plumbing, general indusdrial fastners, air and fluid power systems. Next time your sink clogs up, don't call the plumber right off the bat. Explore tutorial videos to see if you would be comfortable doing it (and no problem of you're not; i am not with electronics). But at least you start to get very familiar with standard tools, parts, designs, etc. It's almost uncanny how similar many product classes are

[Prcmaker]

Mech eng here as well. This advice is great. I work in a high tech firm, prototyping through in-house production. Stuff breaks and we fix it. We make prototypes with the wrong parts, the wrong tools. We do our design, send out parts for machining, and often end up fixing stuff by hand because of a design oversight (it happens, it's prototyping, not production).

[donkeyofd00m]

Cool!

I work in R&D in heavy mfg

I find when people outside the "handy" diciplines (factory operations, industrial setting eng, skilled trades), they think mfg and engineered components are much more elegant than they really are

Perhaps things like apple, F1, dyson and defence distort that view. They do make their products with "spaceship" technologies. But it's critical to understand they are the exception, not the norm... plus... the treasuries and workforce they can utilize to pull it off

It's hilarious how products like Yeti, cammelback, premium razors are just permutation of very simple products (not knocking them one bit and great marketing). x2 the quality of standard products for x4 the price (and often that's just fine)

Usually products start out a little jank just like software. Red bull and lululemon come to mind. Start small leveraging available things, start local markets, scale from there. Just like FB with Harvard students

[Prcmaker]

High voltage and radiation equipment here. Our products are sleek, or prototypes you literally would not touch with a 10ft pole. Jank is part of the game. If we can run a bunch of sketchy tests for $100s to find a path forward, and do pre production on the order of $1k to $10k, we might justify that $100k purchase down the track. On the other hand, we might find our own method that means the $100k solution is never required. We fail fast when we can and learn what we can.

[donkeyofd00m]

Lol sweet... so even you guys with highly dangerous stuff too

Hey, my favourite jank tip: an O ring blew but you don't have a replacement? Bubble gum works pretty well for a few days

[Prcmaker]

If it gets it through the test, it did its job.

Ratchet straps can be a good insulator, when clean and used properly, to higher voltages than you'd suspect.

[donkeyofd00m]

Sometimes I wish there was an archive of all the small tips like these

But other days I kind of like the piecemealed nature of sharing "tribal knowledge" when you bump shoulders with others

[digdugdirk]

Okay, but maybe lets not share that particular tip with the dude who works on radiation equipment?

[Prcmaker]

There are stacks of subsystems that can be tested quickly, janky, yet safely. Safety is always paramount, but a relative term. Safe for an end user, and safe for a prototype engineering test need not be comparable. Similar safety, for sure, similar longevity, ease of use etc., potentially very different.

[donkeyofd00m]

For tests on prototype subsystems like a cooling system? Totally fair game

Live full production systems? Usually no one will be willing to risk the OSHA or ISO violations where critical failure affects safety. Or, if they do, that company won't last long

[digdugdirk]

This. 1000x this.

Also, to add on to the reading comment - keep an eye out for old (40's->70's in particular) technical books and manuals on topics that interest you. I find they had a way of conveying information that was somewhat lost once video became commonplace.

[donkeyofd00m]

There is a book I recommend to alot. Mostly out of intrest/leisure

60 years with man and machine

A guy who started as a millwright in 1890. Was a touring magazine editor until the end of ww2

It's hard to find but it's a banger

For spesific methods (like jewelry making), there are pockets of web 2.0 vbullitin sites out there... kind of like hacker news

That jewelry site in question (i used it for metal casting knowledge)

https://www.ganoksin.com/

[the_cat_kittles]

fixing stuff will teach you everything! i didnt even mean to learn so much about so many topics, but knowing that i could fix it just kinda made it happen. and its mostly fun, when its not incredibly rage inducing lol

[imtringued]

I have to get this out of my system. No, your YLOD on your PS3 is most likely not caused by the tokins capacitors, it is the solder bumps on your RSX GPU silicon die. You can't fix those cost effectively, just get a replacement RSX.

Also, reballing the BGA solder balls doesn't fix the solder bumps inside the RSX.

Screw you NVIDIA!

[donkeyofd00m]

Absolutely. It's like viewing the source code of a launched CS product and become familiar all the python libraries they used

You start to hit the next threshold when you start to become a mad-max salvager. Fan motor controller is broken but the motor is fine? Salvage the motor, chuck the rest!