Obsolete skills
Discussion
Inspired by the "Jobs that no longer exist" thread.
I was talking to my nephew about this the other day -
I was a draughtsman once - ink on film etc. Now a totally obsolete skill, replaced by CAD.
I used to be able to stick weld - and chip off the slag with one sharp tap
Now replaced by wire-feed mig welding.
I spliced wire rope slings as a dogman - now you're not even allowed to use them. First it was replaced with crimped sleeve joints, now it's pre-made nylon slings.
Then there's all the car tinkering stuff : gapping points, setting timing, adjusting carbs, etc.
I am not complaining - the newer ways are faster, cheaper, and safer / more accurate, and over the years I've learned new skills that are still (just) relevant, but it was fun to look back on how things have changed.
So : what skills do you have that are now obsolete?
I was talking to my nephew about this the other day -
I was a draughtsman once - ink on film etc. Now a totally obsolete skill, replaced by CAD.
I used to be able to stick weld - and chip off the slag with one sharp tap
Now replaced by wire-feed mig welding.
I spliced wire rope slings as a dogman - now you're not even allowed to use them. First it was replaced with crimped sleeve joints, now it's pre-made nylon slings.
Then there's all the car tinkering stuff : gapping points, setting timing, adjusting carbs, etc.
I am not complaining - the newer ways are faster, cheaper, and safer / more accurate, and over the years I've learned new skills that are still (just) relevant, but it was fun to look back on how things have changed.
So : what skills do you have that are now obsolete?
AW111 said:
I was a draughtsman once - ink on film etc. Now a totally obsolete skill, replaced by CAD.
Adrian Newey still draws his cars on paper (or whatever the material is). But you're dead right.Me? I can paint and build furniture for my home. amongst people my age (30) and those that I know, none of them do anything like that. They'd rather go to Ikea and buy some crappy chipboard job than take the time to construct something bespoke for their own home.
Yep, I used to do a lot of draughting too. I was a Land Surveyor and when I started out you had a giant 360 degree compass and a scale rule to individually plot your survey out by hand then ink it in on film with a Rotring pen.
By the time I sold my business you simply downloaded the survey instrument into your survey software, told it to calculate the traverse (which I also used to do by hand - it’s amazing how many people have absolutely zero maths skills these days) then watched the survey appear on the screen in (fractions of) seconds. Tidy the drawing up in AutoCAD then email it to the client - no need to even sign a covering memo, everything done electronically.
It is a tad quicker than the old way though!
By the time I sold my business you simply downloaded the survey instrument into your survey software, told it to calculate the traverse (which I also used to do by hand - it’s amazing how many people have absolutely zero maths skills these days) then watched the survey appear on the screen in (fractions of) seconds. Tidy the drawing up in AutoCAD then email it to the client - no need to even sign a covering memo, everything done electronically.
It is a tad quicker than the old way though!
I used to be a Credit Underwriter. I'd have a finance deal proposed to me, with the 2 previous years worth of accounts, personal credit history of the directors, details of how they paid their suppliers etc, a valuation of the asset, an idea of it's depreciation curve, final value, an idea of how long these things took to resell etc and I'd make a decision weighing the risk and the reward. Then tap out a few fines to justify it if I was asked 3 years later.
I'm not sure they happens at all in the industry any more, it wasn't that humans made worse decisions than software, or that we were particularly slow at it, in the early days of automation it took longer to input the data than it took to review it, no it became automated to make decisions absolutely consistent because that made it easier or indeed possible to evaluate the data and automated underwriting algorithms were far easier to tweak.
I'm not sure they happens at all in the industry any more, it wasn't that humans made worse decisions than software, or that we were particularly slow at it, in the early days of automation it took longer to input the data than it took to review it, no it became automated to make decisions absolutely consistent because that made it easier or indeed possible to evaluate the data and automated underwriting algorithms were far easier to tweak.
I trained as a radiographer in the late 80's
I learnt how to set all my imaging parameters seperateley, the kv (for how much you want the x-rays to penetrate) the mA and time for the exposure for the amount of blackening on the film, I learnt how to wet process and how to use tabletop and daylight processing, I learnt a vast number of different views for viewing different bits of the body.
These days you press the button and it gives you an average exposure for that part, then you fiddle with the windowing to make it look nice on the screen.
No more setting a long exposure so that the respiratory movement blurs the ribs out when you want to do a thoracic spine , no more fiddly little views for the bones in the head as you do CT or MRI instead, no more watching the film develop and pulling it out early if you have over exposed it.
Technically it is huge easier, but I do feel it has massively deskilled the profession.
I have moved on to MRI where it is much more interesting and challenging, and we have much more ability to manipulate how the scan turns out
I learnt how to set all my imaging parameters seperateley, the kv (for how much you want the x-rays to penetrate) the mA and time for the exposure for the amount of blackening on the film, I learnt how to wet process and how to use tabletop and daylight processing, I learnt a vast number of different views for viewing different bits of the body.
These days you press the button and it gives you an average exposure for that part, then you fiddle with the windowing to make it look nice on the screen.
No more setting a long exposure so that the respiratory movement blurs the ribs out when you want to do a thoracic spine , no more fiddly little views for the bones in the head as you do CT or MRI instead, no more watching the film develop and pulling it out early if you have over exposed it.
Technically it is huge easier, but I do feel it has massively deskilled the profession.
I have moved on to MRI where it is much more interesting and challenging, and we have much more ability to manipulate how the scan turns out
AW111 said:
I used to be able to stick weld - and chip off the slag with one sharp tap
Now replaced by wire-feed mig welding.
Stick welding is still used industrially for certain applications - I've qualified a number of welders on ASME IX coding for it in the last few year. GMAW isn't always appropriate for stuff - hard to access places, heights etc. Don't need to move 15Kg reels of wire or gas bottles. Definitely still has a place, and is normally the first thing apprentice welders do. Now replaced by wire-feed mig welding.
I refuse, refuse to fit electronic ignition to my car…
I find gapping points strangely cathartic and I’d miss it if I’m being honest.
I’m also pretty good with a Weber downdraft… not quite so good with SUs but I can get them just about right.
To me it’s more about attitude than skills: I’d much rather refurbish/fix/make a part than subscribe to the ‘chuck it in the bin and buy a new one’ mentality.
I find gapping points strangely cathartic and I’d miss it if I’m being honest.
I’m also pretty good with a Weber downdraft… not quite so good with SUs but I can get them just about right.
To me it’s more about attitude than skills: I’d much rather refurbish/fix/make a part than subscribe to the ‘chuck it in the bin and buy a new one’ mentality.
Faust66 said:
I refuse, refuse to fit electronic ignition to my car…
I find gapping points strangely cathartic and I’d miss it if I’m being honest.
I’m also pretty good with a Weber downdraft… not quite so good with SUs but I can get them just about right.
To me it’s more about attitude than skills: I’d much rather refurbish/fix/make a part than subscribe to the ‘chuck it in the bin and buy a new one’ mentality.
Are you usually not honest? (See annoying phrase thread)I find gapping points strangely cathartic and I’d miss it if I’m being honest.
I’m also pretty good with a Weber downdraft… not quite so good with SUs but I can get them just about right.
To me it’s more about attitude than skills: I’d much rather refurbish/fix/make a part than subscribe to the ‘chuck it in the bin and buy a new one’ mentality.
Are you James May?
Faust66 said:
I refuse, refuse to fit electronic ignition to my car…
I find gapping points strangely cathartic and I’d miss it if I’m being honest.
I’m also pretty good with a Weber downdraft… not quite so good with SUs but I can get them just about right.
To me it’s more about attitude than skills: I’d much rather refurbish/fix/make a part than subscribe to the ‘chuck it in the bin and buy a new one’ mentality.
hmmm, I'm currently sorting the ignition out on my Escort, and am rather fed up with the whole thing. New points, condenser, plugs, leads, coil etc and it still ain't running right. I find gapping points strangely cathartic and I’d miss it if I’m being honest.
I’m also pretty good with a Weber downdraft… not quite so good with SUs but I can get them just about right.
To me it’s more about attitude than skills: I’d much rather refurbish/fix/make a part than subscribe to the ‘chuck it in the bin and buy a new one’ mentality.
I need to gap the points and plugs again tonight but am starting to feel like binning it and replacing with an ECU is the right way to go...
redddraggon said:
Stick welding is still used industrially for certain applications - I've qualified a number of welders on ASME IX coding for it in the last few year. GMAW isn't always appropriate for stuff - hard to access places, heights etc. Don't need to move 15Kg reels of wire or gas bottles. Definitely still has a place, and is normally the first thing apprentice welders do.
I was never that good - just an amateur. Have you seen this article about the Saturn rocket? All stick welded, and some fairly exotic alloys.
https://arstechnica.com/science/2013/04/how-nasa-b...
fat80b said:
Faust66 said:
I refuse, refuse to fit electronic ignition to my car…
I find gapping points strangely cathartic and I’d miss it if I’m being honest.
I’m also pretty good with a Weber downdraft… not quite so good with SUs but I can get them just about right.
To me it’s more about attitude than skills: I’d much rather refurbish/fix/make a part than subscribe to the ‘chuck it in the bin and buy a new one’ mentality.
hmmm, I'm currently sorting the ignition out on my Escort, and am rather fed up with the whole thing. New points, condenser, plugs, leads, coil etc and it still ain't running right. I find gapping points strangely cathartic and I’d miss it if I’m being honest.
I’m also pretty good with a Weber downdraft… not quite so good with SUs but I can get them just about right.
To me it’s more about attitude than skills: I’d much rather refurbish/fix/make a part than subscribe to the ‘chuck it in the bin and buy a new one’ mentality.
I need to gap the points and plugs again tonight but am starting to feel like binning it and replacing with an ECU is the right way to go...
I only use ignition parts from reputable sources as I've wasted too much time faffing around with cheap crap. Try Burton Power: always used to get my Capri parts from there back in the day.
Right, I'm off to scour the 'Annoying Phrases' thread to find further ways to irritate 227bhp.
GOG440 said:
I trained as a radiographer in the late 80's
I learnt how to set all my imaging parameters seperateley, the kv (for how much you want the x-rays to penetrate) the mA and time for the exposure for the amount of blackening on the film, I learnt how to wet process and how to use tabletop and daylight processing, I learnt a vast number of different views for viewing different bits of the body.
These days you press the button and it gives you an average exposure for that part, then you fiddle with the windowing to make it look nice on the screen.
No more setting a long exposure so that the respiratory movement blurs the ribs out when you want to do a thoracic spine , no more fiddly little views for the bones in the head as you do CT or MRI instead, no more watching the film develop and pulling it out early if you have over exposed it.
Technically it is huge easier, but I do feel it has massively deskilled the profession.
I have moved on to MRI where it is much more interesting and challenging, and we have much more ability to manipulate how the scan turns out
I've used our Mini C-arm this morning. My pedal, my exposures, my thrill. I learnt how to set all my imaging parameters seperateley, the kv (for how much you want the x-rays to penetrate) the mA and time for the exposure for the amount of blackening on the film, I learnt how to wet process and how to use tabletop and daylight processing, I learnt a vast number of different views for viewing different bits of the body.
These days you press the button and it gives you an average exposure for that part, then you fiddle with the windowing to make it look nice on the screen.
No more setting a long exposure so that the respiratory movement blurs the ribs out when you want to do a thoracic spine , no more fiddly little views for the bones in the head as you do CT or MRI instead, no more watching the film develop and pulling it out early if you have over exposed it.
Technically it is huge easier, but I do feel it has massively deskilled the profession.
I have moved on to MRI where it is much more interesting and challenging, and we have much more ability to manipulate how the scan turns out
Not only is the radiographer's skill obsolete, but her job role has been made redundant by a robot (me).
Oh no, there are 8trillion patients to Xray in A&E, radiographer saved!
AW111 said:
I was never that good - just an amateur.
Have you seen this article about the Saturn rocket? All stick welded, and some fairly exotic alloys.
https://arstechnica.com/science/2013/04/how-nasa-b...
Interesting artcile. Have you seen this article about the Saturn rocket? All stick welded, and some fairly exotic alloys.
https://arstechnica.com/science/2013/04/how-nasa-b...
I was working at Stennis between 2013 & 2015 while they were test firing the SLS rockets.
The facility I was working on was right next door to the test stand and I will never forget seeing. hearing and feeling the sheer violence of a static rocket being test fired for up to 3 minutes, and then being rained on just after the test as they create their own rain cloud in the sky!
Talking to a few older people who grew up in the area, I was told stories of the old Saturn rocket tests and the destruction it used to cause. There was and still is an 8 mile exclusion zone beyond the site and towns 7 miles outside of that exclusion zone reported earthquakes and broken windows during the test fires.
98elise said:
i did my Engineering Apprenticeship about 35 years ago.
As part of that i was taught how make metal parts to tolerances of a few thou with just hand tools. Weeks and weeks of instruction and test pieces, for skills that were hardly ever used.
It still gets taught.... I don't know why.As part of that i was taught how make metal parts to tolerances of a few thou with just hand tools. Weeks and weeks of instruction and test pieces, for skills that were hardly ever used.
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