inventory as scrap what I couldn’t load into the container. My wife and I placed our furniture in a storage trailer then signed over my share of the property to Rick and relocated to Kuwait
Kuwait
My wife and I arrived in Kuwait during the initial invasion of Iraq
I joined with the company that had originally purchased the 2 lifts from the distributor in California
The company name is AlZamel Trading Group Companies.
My official status or duty designation is Senior Designing Engineer/corporate Engineering consultant, and factory manager.
I set up an office in my Apartment so I could work as many hours as I wanted during the day I spent my time in my temporary fabrication shop one of the first jobs we took on after my arrival was 3 sliding steel gates nothing much special about them they were 8 meters long 3 meters high powered by an automatic closer. One gate had to be made to have a secondary fold in one panel so when opened it would not interfere with traffic.
During this time for as many as 8 hours each night I set about completely redesigning my model of the 3 stacker car parking machine, and converting all materials to metric sizes of local availability. Many things I had taken for granted in the States such as being able to buy steel most any size shape length and weight was not the case here in Kuwait.
The steel importers just could not stock many of the lengths and shapes that I had used in the past due to low demand and inability to handle the lengths. This led to a major redesign of my type of work. And more importantly a complete rethink on my part in order to maintain the strengths I required and at the same time some semblance of a reasonable design flow. Also I had to design them o use as few formed parts and no casting parts as possible. For my designing I use a computer cad program called Solidworks I have been using this since the first time I turned on a computer in 2001
Since I can model every thing in my designs or create individual parts then assemble them into a finished assembly right in the computer this has become a very valuable tool for me. Many times by using parts that I have already created I can almost over night design a new machine for our customers to have a drawing and even a photo of how it will function and look by the next day. I just have to change the relations and file associations then mate back together into a new assembly.
I sat about designing a building to suit my fabrication purposes in my spare time.
In April of 2003 we started moving my stuff into another temporary work shop the building was 80 meters by 15 meters had I been allowed to have used the whole building it could have been a nice factory for a number of years. However the owner thought it best to relocate his warehouse into the building as well so for a couple of months we used a small part in one end just to make some simple structures I could not set up any of my machines and most every thing was just pushed into one side. When he got his old warehouse empty he decided it would be a nice workshop until we built the one I was designing. The building was 23 meters by 25 meters with about 350 sq meters outside. This could again have been a fair place had I had the entire building and open areas. However the company is involved in many different things at the same time do through necessity things needed to be stored there as well, occupying about half of the total area.
I did manage to set up some semblance of a work shop but not a true manufacturing factory per sea, more of a job shop.
I had a 40 year old lathe that needed rebuilding before it could be used so we took a new one out of stock, also a medium sized drill press and a table mill along with several other things. With this I set up an area as my machine shop and started training one of the guys to be a lathe operator he had the math skills and had operated lathes in the past so teaching him was not a full time involvement. I began forming a core nucleus of my shop labor force around 6 of the company guys, for the most part none of them possessed the skills or had the experience I would have preferred in setting up any kind of manufacturing facility. But we needed our more skilled technicians out in the field installing. So once again my work shop was to be more of a technical training institute than a factory. I started teaching them how to weld properly, how to use an acetylene torch, how to correctly measure and do lay out work what size and thickness of metal needed to be used, and why it needed to be this way, how to properly fit up 2 parts for welding, how to make welding fixtures to hold the parts they were to fabricate, and to make multiples of them for fit up to other parts, how to read and understand shop drawings and the mechanical symbols of them. I taught them how to relieve weld stresses in parts after welding. I taught them how to use heat of cause steel to bend without losing its strength, how some grades of steel could be hardened while others could not. Why some steels needed to be welded with different alloys of filler materials
These 6 guys now can just about fabricate or machine anything that I design with very little instructions from me, and some are able to teach the other guys in the company as well the company now has over 100 labors and technicians all of them spend some time in my shop from time to time and as they do I teach them as much as they are capable of learning while there. I may be helping one of the techs discern a problem with a computerized wheel alignment system or how the circuitry of a hydraulic system functions or how to disassemble and repair a lathe machine or any number repairs on the over 1000 line items the company carries.
Many or the items and machines I have to custom design changes to them to suit our customer’s requirements.
A customer may have an exhaust evacuation system at his location and need to add on several new outlets sometimes I can increase the fan and chamber size without having to replace the entire system others I may change the duct sizes during the rerouting still others I may have to completely redesign a new system for them.
Other customers may have a need for one of my lifts to move their goods from the ground floor to the basement and back or up to other floors. Many times they did not think about their size requirements until after their building had been built and I will have to design around their existing openings as best as possible to give them the capacity and size lift they need.
I have had to design a track system to carry cars around from one work station to another while they were being repaired and could not be rolled or driven one such instance the cars were to be moved around in a large circle through up to 17 stations each having a lift to raise the vehicle if needed for ease of repair. I even designed in 2 of the paint booths a lift and floor filtration system to raise or lower the car so the person painting it would have the best possible position for painting.
For the next 3 years we built several of the special lifts and modified many others. We made replacement parts for hundreds of machines
In 2005 I finally decided to let my machinist start making some new shafts and parts for the Old Dutch engine lathe I made drawings for him to go by as many parts were missing. I brought in another guy from the field so to speak and started him out helping to rebuild the old lathe he had some machine shop experience as well. I showed them how to check the ways and carriage for wear how to true them up if needed we had to make several of the Gibbs a couple of counter shafts replaced all of the bearings rewound the motor made a coolant recovery system for it built an electrical panel for the controls trued up the tailstock, made a new change gear lever system the old one was missing. Made a quick way chuck mount system to make it easier to change from 3 jaw to a 4 jaw chuck bought a new 3 jaw chuck and adapted it to the mount then found at a salvage store a nearly new 4 jaw that had the correct quick way mount. Then we cleaned every thing recoated with filler where needed and repainted the lathe. What was once just a piece of so much scrap iron is now worth 3times more than it sold for new in 1960.
Now both the new and the old lathes are being used 8 hours every day machining parts.
In 2004 we purchased a 250 ton shear, and a press break the shear after I taught the guys how to use it has been a real asset and is used every day. The press break has CNC controls and has never worked even though new the biggest problem with it is it does not have any work around functions in its programming and requires a full set up for every thing that needs done and it had received some damage in shipment. So for the past 3 years it has only been a boat anchor in the corner of the shop.
I have an old single torch magnetic tracing torch that I have owned for 35 years it still works as well as when it was new but being portable its uses were limited so I designed a burn table to mount it in then made a gantry bridge for it to travel left and right and for and aft. Now we can place up to a 100mm thick plate on the burn table and just move the torch where ever we need it instead of being able to cut only 4 or five parts per hour we can cut dozens depending non their size and thickness.
I made a couple of small jib cranes for my shop to help the guys then the company started selling them now I design jib cranes both free standing and supported up to 10 tons with 4 meter long booms and smaller ones up to 10 meter long booms. From these led to making mobile gantry cranes and bridge cranes.
I have made all of these for my own use in all of the places I have worked in the past so it is not any thing new to me.
I have designed compactors for scrap steel and bailers for cardboard and plastics.
I have designed roll forming machines, tube bending, and swedging and expanding machines. Punch presses, punches and dies, conveyor systems powered and manual, both for flat horizontal and inclined belt driven chain and driven.
I have designed lifts to raise a fully loaded tractor and trailer to the top of an 8 story building and to have multiple stops at each floor to be used as either a way to transport the vehicle into the building or allow a forklift to enter the trailer for unloading.
I’ve designed small bridges and draw bridges for vehicles.
I have designed rotundas to turn vehicles while the driver only had to push a remote.
I’ve tutored mechanical engineer undergrads and graduates as well.
I’ve helped structural engineer students to understand metal stresses
I have taught English to all of my guys.
I have taught the esoteric work of Masonry in all three degrees to many masons
But most of all I have taught my self most of the things that I have learned. I say this because almost none of the things that I have learned can be taught in a class room or laboratory beyond the most primitive basic skills. I have been invited on numerous occasions to conduct a seminar at several universities to give the professors training in much of their technical lab work. The reason is I have years of experiences in such a wide range of fields I can associate all of those experiences to whatever situation I encounter at the moment. In addition I am continuously studying many things. So many it is very close to impossible to compile a comprehensively complete listing of them.
I will give only a few examples. For the past 30 years I have studied the effects of wind on structures partly due to my need to understand wind loading but mostly to understand the eddy currents caused at ground level that can effect how a passer by might feel or if a tree or shrub will survive if landscaping is done. Also for the placement of an exhaust system it the vented air will be carried upwards into the atmosphere or will it lay and stagnate in the area thereby causing other problems. My study of wind loading on my car parking structures and machines has shown me that sometimes a customer is better served by placing them at certain angles whenever possible. The positioning of smoke stack or flews plays a large part in how effective they will function whether or not additional vanes or shutters will be required in order to prevent back pressures in them.
I have studied static live and dynamic loading in many things, will a harmonic resonance be created from movements or the wind can it be designed to be self canceling in the event of an earthquake or hurricane or tornado.
I’ve studied rain in many parts of the world its effects on my machines and what would be the best coatings to prevent them from deteriorating over time can those coatings become friable with age are they possibly harmful to the environment or people.
I have studied vehicle traffic patterns and people’s use of them to determine if a better flow could be established if parking garages or machines and structures were placed in strategic areas and would the effects of the outcome cause more or reduce possible pollution in some areas. Also would the town or city be better served by rerouting some streets, if so would there be an economic impact to those areas either positive or negative?
As I have set up factories or given advice to those setting them up I have studied the logistical movement of goods or materials being produced to yield the best compromise in handling for production and storage with a minimum amount of energy and labor to accomplish this. Is it sometimes better to delay an item a few seconds or minutes or even hours if it will net a savings of energy, or labor costs? Should preventive and periodic maintenance be preformed on a rigid schedule or should a slight variation in the time schedules be used to better enhance production or possibly a net yield in energy savings?
Are those savings going to out weigh the possibility of a system malfunction if the delay extends beyond the set parameters? These things have given me a fair grasp on economics as well as environmental impact.
In order for me to understand the reason some things are set up or designed the way they were I have studied the designers themselves this has led to the need to research sometimes very deeply into historical records and events. These in turn led to histories of nations and empires their impact on how people of today function in society. The causes and effects are seemingly endless
As a pass time hobby I love to read as I have stated many thousands upon thousands of books and countless pamphlets and brochures, technical leaflets.
A brief summary of books that I have studied and read over the years;
This list is horribly incomplete as I did not record the books as I read them or studied their context.
I have read over 30,000 books in my life from educational text books to technical, from biographies to publications of theories, many works of nonfiction literary classics, like much of the works of William Shakespeare, Poems by Edger Allen Poe, All of the works of Jules Verne, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Bingerman Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Robert Louis Stevenson, Many writings by Leonardo Da-Vinci, literary thousands of fictional books of action, adventures by G,K, Chesterson, Clive Cussler, Jon Schiller, John Grisham, Tom Clancy, William hope Hodgsens, sci-fi, fantasy, by Jules Vern, Isaac Asimov, Robert Heinlein, George Orwell, Stephen King, drama. Too numerous to mention Crime detection, dozens of religious doctrines in theology,
I have read thousands to technical manuals , tens of hundreds of books on engineering and design principles in structural ,civil, electrical, hydraulic, aviation, mechanical, hydrology, electronics, heating-ventilation and air-conditioning, thermal conductivity, thermal convection, seismic soil stabilities, earth quake zone effects, metallurgy, mathematical principals, technical science journals, Automotive designs, factory production layout, conveyor systems, elevator design systems, aeronautical design theories, aerospace technologies, drafting , building construction principals, power transmission design, static/radial/dynamic and tensional effects on bearings gearing , shafting and housings designs, the effects of wind resistance on stationary or moving objects and structures, oil and gas production, refining technologies, injection molding, productions of elastic polymers, plastics molding, modeling designs, mold designs, flow principals of production lines, kiln designs,
I’ve even read a few books on physics, and some medical texts on nutrition home remedies, medical symptom diagnosis, Emergency medical procedures, field survival medicine and surgeries, self motivation leadership books,
Books on functioning in business, business planning, business law, international business law, copy right law domestic/international, accounting principles, international trade principles and law, political science, economics, regional culture and politics,
I have read books on geology, geography, topography, horticulture, surveying, environmental impact, global climatic intervention, atmospheric industrial impact,
I have studied German, Italian, Spanish, Arabic, and other languages.( can not speak any of them well enough to hold a conversation).
When I stop and think about it one might say I have read from Albert Switzer to Zig Ziegler, It is next to impossible to name even just all of the authors let alone their works,
I am no longer as voracious of a reader as I used to be since at my age I now need reading glasses my reading has slowed way down, At one time I could read through a 500 page novel in an hour or 2.having to wear reading glasses tires my eyes out to read fast or for long periods of time,
Since I have been involved in so many projects that required the research of materials to design and manufacture I have read countless hundreds of thousands of technical pages and catalogs
In my personal library I have approximately 4000 books; it breaks down like this religious or theology 20, literary classics 50, biographies 20, history 20, geographical 20, nonfiction 100, fictional adventure300, drama 100, crime drama100, action adventure 100 science fiction400, fantasy 100, Mechanical engineering 20 structural engineering 10 civil engineering 5, metallurgy 5 electrical engineering 15, electronics 10, hydraulics 300, geology 2, horticulture 3, hydrology 2, avionics 4, chemical engineering 13, mineralogy 2, materials stress analysis 5 drafting 4 designs technology 10, automotive technical 400, industrial technical 300, accounting1 business law 3, international law 3, topography 20, astronomy 2, bearing technical 100, management 10, Masonic 30, welding technology 30, plastics molding 10,carpentry 20, injection molding 5 mold designs 4, drafting 6, machinist guide 5, elevator technology 5, power transmission design 20. Gearing technical 50, industrial fasteners 20 hydraulic valves 50 hydraulic fittings and hose 30 hydraulic cylinders 30 hydraulic pumps 100 hydraulic motors 50 pneumatic designs 30 the rest are an acumination of many things.
This is my 3rd library the first 2 were in large part destroyed one in a flood the other in a fire,
Having worked by myself many years required me to figure out how to do things on my own and how to do something by myself that normally would take several people to do, this has caused me to design many items to save labor or hold and automatically move.
Having had my own machine and fabrication shop taught me how to maximize my productivity with a minimum amount of time and labor. I would sometimes have as many as 5 lathes a band-saw and a mill running all at the same time and be in the shop by myself. None of these were modern enough so that they could be set up and just switched on all were full mechanical I had created certain stops and cams to switch them to another mode but none would automatically reset or change out tooling. This has taught me several better ways to efficiently set up factories.
Having driven trucks and hauled some very heavy oversize loads many hundreds of thousands of miles, has taught me a lot of things about road construction, and the placement of off and on ramps. Even some better ways to control traffic flow patterns.
Having read as many books as I have, has given me a decent vocabulary, one that allows me to converse with any one of any education or the lack there of.
Not that I have ever paid much attention to the various Aptitude, IQ, or Physiological tests I have taken many of them just for the fun of it over the years most are so humorously silly I find it often times difficult to believe that a 10 year old child shouldn’t be able to score in the upper percentile levels if they only would pay attention.
AS I stated earlier when I went into the military I took their battery of tests and continued taking them until they got tired of issuing them to me a few years later one of my friends had bought an IQ test he asked me if I wanted to take the test I thought oh well just something to pass a few minutes. Afterwards he applied the answer sheet to it then asked me if I knew what I had scored I told him since the test had 130 some odd questions and I knew for a fact that I had missed at least 4 of them because I wrote the answer in the wrong place. I had no idea nor did it much matter because I only took it to pass a few minutes and to make idle conversation. He said I had scored 150 which meant nothing to me. I still take several of the tests once in a while to have something to pass the time or just for the fun of it. I generally score anywhere from 136 to 155
Another pastime of mine is the internet I will do a search to just about any subject then search and search to see if I can determine if what has been published is fact or from a fervent imagination.
This has not been intended to be any kind of a resume nor is it by any stretch of the imagination a complete biography. I have not listed many thousands of the items that I have repaired or built. For me to have done this I would have had to start from my first learning to write and made a daily log or journal of my activities. To do so in any form of completeness would occupy many hours of time each day.
Epilog; I trust you have been able to understand most of the things I wrote about. I made every attempt to be as explanative as I felt prudent.
Now for a few of my back burner items that I have been working on over the years. Like I sated in the beginning, many of these I chose not to disclose for copyright and patent rights protection, Copyrighted intellectual property remains that of the originator only so long as they do not put pen to paper.
All the way back in 1974 or so I came up with the Idea for a VTOAL vertical take off and landing Craft, it was to have a cabin in the center with a vented frizzbe like rotor mounted amidships of its body with a pair of foldable wings for regular fight. Instead of a tail rotor it would have had a pair of engines mounted in the vertical stabilizer that steered like the rudder, the center curved disc would have had short blades all around within its body, to act as the rotor blades of a helicopter during take off, landing and hovering, then would have been closed to form a continuous disc in flight spinning at very high speed. The rear mounted engines would provide the forward thrust as well as craft rotation left or right. The disc would act as a gyro for stability. I submitted a brief description of this craft to Bell Textron in 1980 but with out sending any drawings their reply was that while it might be made into an air worthy craft they had no interest in such a design due to its restrictive size nature, So they came out with the OSPRAY and to this day that thing is still not widely accepted as an air worthy craft.
Another item has to do with a truck and its trailer. I started doing research on this around 1985. my idea is to provide power to each and every wheel on both the truck and its trailer/s, this will be done by electric motors naturally but the similarity between the motors that I am designing and those currently being made is very little also the generation of the electrical energy will be done in quite a different fashion than what is being done now, hence the controlling will not be in any way like what is currently being done I will have variable voltage and hertz, multiple phase and phase combining to deliver the optimum torque and speed at a given load requirement, the braking will regenerate up to 90% of the energy used to slow the vehicle. As it will be all wheel drive some of the benefits will be lower tire wear improved rain and snow handling no drive train to wear out since there will be no transfer of torque or delivery of power through the use of gears the power usage efficiency will increase. A much lighter vehicle will be possible with a lower center of gravity.
Another item has to do with the towing of trailers behind RVs SUVs and Lt trucks I have built a model tested and subsequently cut it up and destroyed it to prevent someone from taking my idea and putting it on the market without my knowing it the unit worked very well to control weight distribution sway while traveling jack-knifing in corners while braking and could be connected and disconnected without having to get out of the tow vehicle, except to connect the safety and electrical lines. Even trailers that had extreme tongue loading would transfer the weight throughout the tow vehicle equally.
Another item deals with the handicapped persons who require daily injections of medicines I built a model of this once as well but not a surgically pure one. It would enable a blind person that had limited use of their arms to give them selves the proper amount of insulin through an injection it was impossible for them to injure them selves on the needles and disposed of the spent needles this was back in1995 so now technologies have surpassed my idea for that one.
Another project that I have been working on deals with the mounting of wheels and tires on heavy trucks it would greatly reduce the possibility of broken studs and make changing out a flat a much simpler task.
Another project deals with storing vehicles for long periods of time it is a way to protect the tires from getting flat spots and cracking.
One project that I designed many years ago would be used in the farm industry to remove rocks and other debris from fields while preparing the soil with the amenities needed for planting crops. it would be driven through the field while doing so it would till de-rock mix and bed for planting in one motion. The refuge would be conveyed up and out to be loaded in an awaiting truck to remove it.
These are but a select few things that I have been working on or modeling and doing research on, and are by no means some of the more technical ones.
To anyone who has read this not so brief essay if you are still young, I would make a couple of recommendations. If you are fortunate enough to possess the means of furthering your education at one or more of the many fine higher learning institutions do so. However should you desire to do this, do not waste your time there, and learn as much as you are capable of.
If you are not fortunate enough to attend collage beyond a couple of years try your best to get some degree if you can. If not remember this; you are the one that will have to become your teacher. Develop a propensity for reading develop memory skills ingrain them into your everyday life be aware of your surroundings learn from watching others, understand the reasons some things are accepted as natural laws then investigate these to know if they are natural laws or just folk lore. Build a data base of your knowledge try to never do things that you will regret later in life. Everyone needs down time or time to let their hair down just make sure you don’t let it down so far that you step on it and trip.
To those of you who are in your middle years you still have many years left to make changes should you have the desires to do so take the many things you have done and experienced compile them, from these determine if you have some latent traits that would help you to start a new carrier if that is what you would like to do. Go to night school or attend some online remote campus universities. Seek out those that will allow you to challenge their academics for credits or possibly degrees. Stay away from the diploma mills as those are nothing but a gimmick to take your money. There are some institutions that do offer real accredited degrees and diplomas for your prior experiences but usually you will still need a few hours of coarse studies, you might be able to bypass some of the lengthy and time wasted redderic of many of those courses if you can score high enough on the exams.
It took me many years to realize this I never thought much about perusing a PHD until I was in my late 40s by then I had gained a considerable amount of knowledge in many fields of study. So I started talking with several Alumni from dozens of universities. In our conversations I formed a conviction that I could qualify for just about any degree that I desired. All that I would have to do would be some research and write a few letters, and include as much of my history and experiences as possible. In doing this I met many Doctors and Professors who felt the same way as I. That being, an individual who has read countless books, has worked in many technical fields, and has obtained a vast amount of experience should be able to bypass a certain amount of the academia to obtain their goals. During my research I have written countless short essays answered thousands of questions, sent emails to dozens of institutions, and yes had to take several exams. For my troubles I now have hanging on my wall in my office several diplomas and my appointment to Professorship. Had I to do it over again I might have been better off spending a $100,000.00 Dollars and spent 8 to 12 years in some university. But as one of my examiners pointed out I would not know any more than he does and would be just another paper hanging PHD with no practical application to my field of study.
Now could I tell any of you some short cuts to obtaining your degrees? Yes I could, however I will not because to do so would not help you in the long run. Each and every one of us must walk our own walk. We need the trials, the setbacks, the rejections, and the refusals, to accomplish our goals. Otherwise not only would you not be prepared for what followed but your goal would have little meaning to you on a personal level. For this reason I have revealed all I that I feel obligated to do. I will say this if you have only limited experience in your field forget about even attempting such a feat. Go to Night school or enroll in a reputable university that has online studies, even if it takes you 10 years to get the degree that you are perusing it will be far easier. I was fortunate to know a few Professors and having read over 30,000 books in my life helped immensely.
For those of you in your latter years if you are comfortable in your life and do not seek a degree or anything of that sort you need to keep your mind fertile by doing mental exercises or read books take up a research study that will require you to really do some analytical thinking after the age of 50 people who do not exercise their minds can lose as much as 10,000 brain cells a week total sedentary habits can cause you to lose 10,000 per day. One of the reasons we are born with such large brains and the average person only develops the use of 7 to 10% of their brains, as we grow older if during our lives we learned as much as we were capable of we can lose 90% of our brain cells and still remain cognitive, baring the onset of a genetic disorder or other disease. It has been studied that even the onset of Alzheimer’s can be delayed in many cases until very late in life. Each and every thought and memory is routed through millions of neural pathways in our minds these need to be kept active in order for us to remain functional.
This is for every one; eat what your body tells you to eat not what your stomach’s signals are telling your mind. Do not blindly assume that a self proclaimed nutritional Guru says is what you need to eat to stay healthy even those who possess a doctorate in their field. They do know many things that are good for the human body at the same time if they are selling some wiz bang cure all be all nutrition supplement be wary, do your own double blind study of their products many have some great values others are just about the money. Every human body has different daily requirements above the basics.
What does any of this have to do with education, learning or personal well being you may ask? It is like this a healthy body can help to keep the mind healthy. A virulent active mind can help to keep the body healthy. One goes hand in hand with the other
A very old but wise saying is USE IT OR LOSE IT. This is one of the most profound statements there ever was.
In closing I will leave all with this; no matter where you go when you get there you will always have your best friend and worst enemy at your side when you arrive.
Frank Surber, Prof. of Philosophy in Engineering.
inventory as scrap what I couldn’t load into the container. My wife and I placed our furniture in a storage trailer then signed over my share of the property to Rick and relocated to
My wife and I arrived in
I joined with the company that had originally purchased the 2 lifts from the distributor in
The company name is AlZamel Trading Group Companies.
My official status or duty designation is Senior Designing Engineer/corporate Engineering consultant, and factory manager.
I set up an office in my Apartment so I could work as many hours as I wanted during the day I spent my time in my temporary fabrication shop one of the first jobs we took on after my arrival was 3 sliding steel gates nothing much special about them they were 8 meters long 3 meters high powered by an automatic closer. One gate had to be made to have a secondary fold in one panel so when opened it would not interfere with traffic.
During this time for as many as 8 hours each night I set about completely redesigning my model of the 3 stacker car parking machine, and converting all materials to metric sizes of local availability. Many things I had taken for granted in the States such as being able to buy steel most any size shape length and weight was not the case here in Kuwait.
The steel importers just could not stock many of the lengths and shapes that I had used in the past due to low demand and inability to handle the lengths. This led to a major redesign of my type of work. And more importantly a complete rethink on my part in order to maintain the strengths I required and at the same time some semblance of a reasonable design flow. Also I had to design them o use as few formed parts and no casting parts as possible. For my designing I use a computer cad program called Solidworks I have been using this since the first time I turned on a computer in 2001
Since I can model every thing in my designs or create individual parts then assemble them into a finished assembly right in the computer this has become a very valuable tool for me. Many times by using parts that I have already created I can almost over night design a new machine for our customers to have a drawing and even a photo of how it will function and look by the next day. I just have to change the relations and file associations then mate back together into a new assembly.
I sat about designing a building to suit my fabrication purposes in my spare time.
In April of 2003 we started moving my stuff into another temporary work shop the building was 80 meters by 15 meters had I been allowed to have used the whole building it could have been a nice factory for a number of years. However the owner thought it best to relocate his warehouse into the building as well so for a couple of months we used a small part in one end just to make some simple structures I could not set up any of my machines and most every thing was just pushed into one side. When he got his old warehouse empty he decided it would be a nice workshop until we built the one I was designing. The building was 23 meters by 25 meters with about 350 sq meters outside. This could again have been a fair place had I had the entire building and open areas. However the company is involved in many different things at the same time do through necessity things needed to be stored there as well, occupying about half of the total area.
I did manage to set up some semblance of a work shop but not a true manufacturing factory per sea, more of a job shop.
I had a 40 year old lathe that needed rebuilding before it could be used so we took a new one out of stock, also a medium sized drill press and a table mill along with several other things. With this I set up an area as my machine shop and started training one of the guys to be a lathe operator he had the math skills and had operated lathes in the past so teaching him was not a full time involvement. I began forming a core nucleus of my shop labor force around 6 of the company guys, for the most part none of them possessed the skills or had the experience I would have preferred in setting up any kind of manufacturing facility. But we needed our more skilled technicians out in the field installing. So once again my work shop was to be more of a technical training institute than a factory. I started teaching them how to weld properly, how to use an acetylene torch, how to correctly measure and do lay out work what size and thickness of metal needed to be used, and why it needed to be this way, how to properly fit up 2 parts for welding, how to make welding fixtures to hold the parts they were to fabricate, and to make multiples of them for fit up to other parts, how to read and understand shop drawings and the mechanical symbols of them. I taught them how to relieve weld stresses in parts after welding. I taught them how to use heat of cause steel to bend without losing its strength, how some grades of steel could be hardened while others could not. Why some steels needed to be welded with different alloys of filler materials
These 6 guys now can just about fabricate or machine anything that I design with very little instructions from me, and some are able to teach the other guys in the company as well the company now has over 100 labors and technicians all of them spend some time in my shop from time to time and as they do I teach them as much as they are capable of learning while there. I may be helping one of the techs discern a problem with a computerized wheel alignment system or how the circuitry of a hydraulic system functions or how to disassemble and repair a lathe machine or any number repairs on the over 1000 line items the company carries.
Many or the items and machines I have to custom design changes to them to suit our customer’s requirements.
A customer may have an exhaust evacuation system at his location and need to add on several new outlets sometimes I can increase the fan and chamber size without having to replace the entire system others I may change the duct sizes during the rerouting still others I may have to completely redesign a new system for them.
Other customers may have a need for one of my lifts to move their goods from the ground floor to the basement and back or up to other floors. Many times they did not think about their size requirements until after their building had been built and I will have to design around their existing openings as best as possible to give them the capacity and size lift they need.
I have had to design a track system to carry cars around from one work station to another while they were being repaired and could not be rolled or driven one such instance the cars were to be moved around in a large circle through up to 17 stations each having a lift to raise the vehicle if needed for ease of repair. I even designed in 2 of the paint booths a lift and floor filtration system to raise or lower the car so the person painting it would have the best possible position for painting.
For the next 3 years we built several of the special lifts and modified many others. We made replacement parts for hundreds of machines
In 2005 I finally decided to let my machinist start making some new shafts and parts for the Old Dutch engine lathe I made drawings for him to go by as many parts were missing. I brought in another guy from the field so to speak and started him out helping to rebuild the old lathe he had some machine shop experience as well. I showed them how to check the ways and carriage for wear how to true them up if needed we had to make several of the Gibbs a couple of counter shafts replaced all of the bearings rewound the motor made a coolant recovery system for it built an electrical panel for the controls trued up the tailstock, made a new change gear lever system the old one was missing. Made a quick way chuck mount system to make it easier to change from 3 jaw to a 4 jaw chuck bought a new 3 jaw chuck and adapted it to the mount then found at a salvage store a nearly new 4 jaw that had the correct quick way mount. Then we cleaned every thing recoated with filler where needed and repainted the lathe. What was once just a piece of so much scrap iron is now worth 3times more than it sold for new in 1960.
Now both the new and the old lathes are being used 8 hours every day machining parts.
In 2004 we purchased a 250 ton shear, and a press break the shear after I taught the guys how to use it has been a real asset and is used every day. The press break has CNC controls and has never worked even though new the biggest problem with it is it does not have any work around functions in its programming and requires a full set up for every thing that needs done and it had received some damage in shipment. So for the past 3 years it has only been a boat anchor in the corner of the shop.
I have an old single torch magnetic tracing torch that I have owned for 35 years it still works as well as when it was new but being portable its uses were limited so I designed a burn table to mount it in then made a gantry bridge for it to travel left and right and for and aft. Now we can place up to a 100mm thick plate on the burn table and just move the torch where ever we need it instead of being able to cut only 4 or five parts per hour we can cut dozens depending non their size and thickness.
I made a couple of small jib cranes for my shop to help the guys then the company started selling them now I design jib cranes both free standing and supported up to 10 tons with 4 meter long booms and smaller ones up to 10 meter long booms. From these led to making mobile gantry cranes and bridge cranes.
I have made all of these for my own use in all of the places I have worked in the past so it is not any thing new to me.
I have designed compactors for scrap steel and bailers for cardboard and plastics.
I have designed roll forming machines, tube bending, and swedging and expanding machines. Punch presses, punches and dies, conveyor systems powered and manual, both for flat horizontal and inclined belt driven chain and driven.
I have designed lifts to raise a fully loaded tractor and trailer to the top of an 8 story building and to have multiple stops at each floor to be used as either a way to transport the vehicle into the building or allow a forklift to enter the trailer for unloading.
I’ve designed small bridges and draw bridges for vehicles.
I have designed rotundas to turn vehicles while the driver only had to push a remote.
I’ve tutored mechanical engineer undergrads and graduates as well.
I’ve helped structural engineer students to understand metal stresses
I have taught English to all of my guys.
I have taught the esoteric work of Masonry in all three degrees to many masons
But most of all I have taught my self most of the things that I have learned. I say this because almost none of the things that I have learned can be taught in a class room or laboratory beyond the most primitive basic skills. I have been invited on numerous occasions to conduct a seminar at several universities to give the professors training in much of their technical lab work. The reason is I have years of experiences in such a wide range of fields I can associate all of those experiences to whatever situation I encounter at the moment. In addition I am continuously studying many things. So many it is very close to impossible to compile a comprehensively complete listing of them.
I will give only a few examples. For the past 30 years I have studied the effects of wind on structures partly due to my need to understand wind loading but mostly to understand the eddy currents caused at ground level that can effect how a passer by might feel or if a tree or shrub will survive if landscaping is done. Also for the placement of an exhaust system it the vented air will be carried upwards into the atmosphere or will it lay and stagnate in the area thereby causing other problems. My study of wind loading on my car parking structures and machines has shown me that sometimes a customer is better served by placing them at certain angles whenever possible. The positioning of smoke stack or flews plays a large part in how effective they will function whether or not additional vanes or shutters will be required in order to prevent back pressures in them.
I have studied static live and dynamic loading in many things, will a harmonic resonance be created from movements or the wind can it be designed to be self canceling in the event of an earthquake or hurricane or tornado.
I’ve studied rain in many parts of the world its effects on my machines and what would be the best coatings to prevent them from deteriorating over time can those coatings become friable with age are they possibly harmful to the environment or people.
I have studied vehicle traffic patterns and people’s use of them to determine if a better flow could be established if parking garages or machines and structures were placed in strategic areas and would the effects of the outcome cause more or reduce possible pollution in some areas. Also would the town or city be better served by rerouting some streets, if so would there be an economic impact to those areas either positive or negative?
As I have set up factories or given advice to those setting them up I have studied the logistical movement of goods or materials being produced to yield the best compromise in handling for production and storage with a minimum amount of energy and labor to accomplish this. Is it sometimes better to delay an item a few seconds or minutes or even hours if it will net a savings of energy, or labor costs? Should preventive and periodic maintenance be preformed on a rigid schedule or should a slight variation in the time schedules be used to better enhance production or possibly a net yield in energy savings?
Are those savings going to out weigh the possibility of a system malfunction if the delay extends beyond the set parameters? These things have given me a fair grasp on economics as well as environmental impact.
In order for me to understand the reason some things are set up or designed the way they were I have studied the designers themselves this has led to the need to research sometimes very deeply into historical records and events. These in turn led to histories of nations and empires their impact on how people of today function in society. The causes and effects are seemingly endless
As a pass time hobby I love to read as I have stated many thousands upon thousands of books and countless pamphlets and brochures, technical leaflets.
A brief summary of books that I have studied and read over the years;
This list is horribly incomplete as I did not record the books as I read them or studied their context.
I have read over 30,000 books in my life from educational text books to technical, from biographies to publications of theories, many works of nonfiction literary classics, like much of the works of William Shakespeare, Poems by Edger Allen Poe, All of the works of Jules Verne, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Bingerman Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Robert Louis Stevenson, Many writings by Leonardo Da-Vinci, literary thousands of fictional books of action, adventures by G,K, Chesterson, Clive Cussler, Jon Schiller, John Grisham, Tom Clancy, William hope Hodgsens, sci-fi, fantasy, by Jules Vern, Isaac Asimov, Robert Heinlein, George Orwell, Stephen King, drama. Too numerous to mention Crime detection, dozens of religious doctrines in theology,
I have read thousands to technical manuals , tens of hundreds of books on engineering and design principles in structural ,civil, electrical, hydraulic, aviation, mechanical, hydrology, electronics, heating-ventilation and air-conditioning, thermal conductivity, thermal convection, seismic soil stabilities, earth quake zone effects, metallurgy, mathematical principals, technical science journals, Automotive designs, factory production layout, conveyor systems, elevator design systems, aeronautical design theories, aerospace technologies, drafting , building construction principals, power transmission design, static/radial/dynamic and tensional effects on bearings gearing , shafting and housings designs, the effects of wind resistance on stationary or moving objects and structures, oil and gas production, refining technologies, injection molding, productions of elastic polymers, plastics molding, modeling designs, mold designs, flow principals of production lines, kiln designs,
I’ve even read a few books on physics, and some medical texts on nutrition home remedies, medical symptom diagnosis, Emergency medical procedures, field survival medicine and surgeries, self motivation leadership books,
Books on functioning in business, business planning, business law, international business law, copy right law domestic/international, accounting principles, international trade principles and law, political science, economics, regional culture and politics,
I have read books on geology, geography, topography, horticulture, surveying, environmental impact, global climatic intervention, atmospheric industrial impact,
I have studied German, Italian, Spanish, Arabic, and other languages.( can not speak any of them well enough to hold a conversation).
When I stop and think about it one might say I have read from Albert Switzer to Zig Ziegler, It is next to impossible to name even just all of the authors let alone their works,
I am no longer as voracious of a reader as I used to be since at my age I now need reading glasses my reading has slowed way down, At one time I could read through a 500 page novel in an hour or 2.having to wear reading glasses tires my eyes out to read fast or for long periods of time,
Since I have been involved in so many projects that required the research of materials to design and manufacture I have read countless hundreds of thousands of technical pages and catalogs
In my personal library I have approximately 4000 books; it breaks down like this religious or theology 20, literary classics 50, biographies 20, history 20, geographical 20, nonfiction 100, fictional adventure300, drama 100, crime drama100, action adventure 100 science fiction400, fantasy 100, Mechanical engineering 20 structural engineering 10 civil engineering 5, metallurgy 5 electrical engineering 15, electronics 10, hydraulics 300, geology 2, horticulture 3, hydrology 2, avionics 4, chemical engineering 13, mineralogy 2, materials stress analysis 5 drafting 4 designs technology 10, automotive technical 400, industrial technical 300, accounting1 business law 3, international law 3, topography 20, astronomy 2, bearing technical 100, management 10, Masonic 30, welding technology 30, plastics molding 10,carpentry 20, injection molding 5 mold designs 4, drafting 6, machinist guide 5, elevator technology 5, power transmission design 20. Gearing technical 50, industrial fasteners 20 hydraulic valves 50 hydraulic fittings and hose 30 hydraulic cylinders 30 hydraulic pumps 100 hydraulic motors 50 pneumatic designs 30 the rest are an acumination of many things.
This is my 3rd library the first 2 were in large part destroyed one in a flood the other in a fire,
Having worked by myself many years required me to figure out how to do things on my own and how to do something by myself that normally would take several people to do, this has caused me to design many items to save labor or hold and automatically move.
Having had my own machine and fabrication shop taught me how to maximize my productivity with a minimum amount of time and labor. I would sometimes have as many as 5 lathes a band-saw and a mill running all at the same time and be in the shop by myself. None of these were modern enough so that they could be set up and just switched on all were full mechanical I had created certain stops and cams to switch them to another mode but none would automatically reset or change out tooling. This has taught me several better ways to efficiently set up factories.
Having driven trucks and hauled some very heavy oversize loads many hundreds of thousands of miles, has taught me a lot of things about road construction, and the placement of off and on ramps. Even some better ways to control traffic flow patterns.
Having read as many books as I have, has given me a decent vocabulary, one that allows me to converse with any one of any education or the lack there of.
Not that I have ever paid much attention to the various Aptitude, IQ, or Physiological tests I have taken many of them just for the fun of it over the years most are so humorously silly I find it often times difficult to believe that a 10 year old child shouldn’t be able to score in the upper percentile levels if they only would pay attention.
AS I stated earlier when I went into the military I took their battery of tests and continued taking them until they got tired of issuing them to me a few years later one of my friends had bought an IQ test he asked me if I wanted to take the test I thought oh well just something to pass a few minutes. Afterwards he applied the answer sheet to it then asked me if I knew what I had scored I told him since the test had 130 some odd questions and I knew for a fact that I had missed at least 4 of them because I wrote the answer in the wrong place. I had no idea nor did it much matter because I only took it to pass a few minutes and to make idle conversation. He said I had scored 150 which meant nothing to me. I still take several of the tests once in a while to have something to pass the time or just for the fun of it. I generally score anywhere from 136 to 155
Another pastime of mine is the internet I will do a search to just about any subject then search and search to see if I can determine if what has been published is fact or from a fervent imagination.
This has not been intended to be any kind of a resume nor is it by any stretch of the imagination a complete biography. I have not listed many thousands of the items that I have repaired or built. For me to have done this I would have had to start from my first learning to write and made a daily log or journal of my activities. To do so in any form of completeness would occupy many hours of time each day.
Epilog; I trust you have been able to understand most of the things I wrote about. I made every attempt to be as explanative as I felt prudent.
Now for a few of my back burner items that I have been working on over the years. Like I sated in the beginning, many of these I chose not to disclose for copyright and patent rights protection, Copyrighted intellectual property remains that of the originator only so long as they do not put pen to paper.
All the way back in 1974 or so I came up with the Idea for a VTOAL vertical take off and landing Craft, it was to have a cabin in the center with a vented frizzbe like rotor mounted amidships of its body with a pair of foldable wings for regular fight. Instead of a tail rotor it would have had a pair of engines mounted in the vertical stabilizer that steered like the rudder, the center curved disc would have had short blades all around within its body, to act as the rotor blades of a helicopter during take off, landing and hovering, then would have been closed to form a continuous disc in flight spinning at very high speed. The rear mounted engines would provide the forward thrust as well as craft rotation left or right. The disc would act as a gyro for stability. I submitted a brief description of this craft to Bell Textron in 1980 but with out sending any drawings their reply was that while it might be made into an air worthy craft they had no interest in such a design due to its restrictive size nature, So they came out with the OSPRAY and to this day that thing is still not widely accepted as an air worthy craft.
Another item has to do with a truck and its trailer. I started doing research on this around 1985. my idea is to provide power to each and every wheel on both the truck and its trailer/s, this will be done by electric motors naturally but the similarity between the motors that I am designing and those currently being made is very little also the generation of the electrical energy will be done in quite a different fashion than what is being done now, hence the controlling will not be in any way like what is currently being done I will have variable voltage and hertz, multiple phase and phase combining to deliver the optimum torque and speed at a given load requirement, the braking will regenerate up to 90% of the energy used to slow the vehicle. As it will be all wheel drive some of the benefits will be lower tire wear improved rain and snow handling no drive train to wear out since there will be no transfer of torque or delivery of power through the use of gears the power usage efficiency will increase. A much lighter vehicle will be possible with a lower center of gravity.
Another item has to do with the towing of trailers behind RVs SUVs and Lt trucks I have built a model tested and subsequently cut it up and destroyed it to prevent someone from taking my idea and putting it on the market without my knowing it the unit worked very well to control weight distribution sway while traveling jack-knifing in corners while braking and could be connected and disconnected without having to get out of the tow vehicle, except to connect the safety and electrical lines. Even trailers that had extreme tongue loading would transfer the weight throughout the tow vehicle equally.
Another item deals with the handicapped persons who require daily injections of medicines I built a model of this once as well but not a surgically pure one. It would enable a blind person that had limited use of their arms to give them selves the proper amount of insulin through an injection it was impossible for them to injure them selves on the needles and disposed of the spent needles this was back in1995 so now technologies have surpassed my idea for that one.
Another project that I have been working on deals with the mounting of wheels and tires on heavy trucks it would greatly reduce the possibility of broken studs and make changing out a flat a much simpler task.
Another project deals with storing vehicles for long periods of time it is a way to protect the tires from getting flat spots and cracking.
One project that I designed many years ago would be used in the farm industry to remove rocks and other debris from fields while preparing the soil with the amenities needed for planting crops. it would be driven through the field while doing so it would till de-rock mix and bed for planting in one motion. The refuge would be conveyed up and out to be loaded in an awaiting truck to remove it.
These are but a select few things that I have been working on or modeling and doing research on, and are by no means some of the more technical ones.
To anyone who has read this not so brief essay if you are still young, I would make a couple of recommendations. If you are fortunate enough to possess the means of furthering your education at one or more of the many fine higher learning institutions do so. However should you desire to do this, do not waste your time there, and learn as much as you are capable of.
If you are not fortunate enough to attend collage beyond a couple of years try your best to get some degree if you can. If not remember this; you are the one that will have to become your teacher. Develop a propensity for reading develop memory skills ingrain them into your everyday life be aware of your surroundings learn from watching others, understand the reasons some things are accepted as natural laws then investigate these to know if they are natural laws or just folk lore. Build a data base of your knowledge try to never do things that you will regret later in life. Everyone needs down time or time to let their hair down just make sure you don’t let it down so far that you step on it and trip.
To those of you who are in your middle years you still have many years left to make changes should you have the desires to do so take the many things you have done and experienced compile them, from these determine if you have some latent traits that would help you to start a new carrier if that is what you would like to do. Go to night school or attend some online remote campus universities. Seek out those that will allow you to challenge their academics for credits or possibly degrees. Stay away from the diploma mills as those are nothing but a gimmick to take your money. There are some institutions that do offer real accredited degrees and diplomas for your prior experiences but usually you will still need a few hours of coarse studies, you might be able to bypass some of the lengthy and time wasted redderic of many of those courses if you can score high enough on the exams.
It took me many years to realize this I never thought much about perusing a PHD until I was in my late 40s by then I had gained a considerable amount of knowledge in many fields of study. So I started talking with several Alumni from dozens of universities. In our conversations I formed a conviction that I could qualify for just about any degree that I desired. All that I would have to do would be some research and write a few letters, and include as much of my history and experiences as possible. In doing this I met many Doctors and Professors who felt the same way as I. That being, an individual who has read countless books, has worked in many technical fields, and has obtained a vast amount of experience should be able to bypass a certain amount of the academia to obtain their goals. During my research I have written countless short essays answered thousands of questions, sent emails to dozens of institutions, and yes had to take several exams. For my troubles I now have hanging on my wall in my office several diplomas and my appointment to Professorship. Had I to do it over again I might have been better off spending a $100,000.00 Dollars and spent 8 to 12 years in some university. But as one of my examiners pointed out I would not know any more than he does and would be just another paper hanging PHD with no practical application to my field of study.
Now could I tell any of you some short cuts to obtaining your degrees? Yes I could, however I will not because to do so would not help you in the long run. Each and every one of us must walk our own walk. We need the trials, the setbacks, the rejections, and the refusals, to accomplish our goals. Otherwise not only would you not be prepared for what followed but your goal would have little meaning to you on a personal level. For this reason I have revealed all I that I feel obligated to do. I will say this if you have only limited experience in your field forget about even attempting such a feat. Go to Night school or enroll in a reputable university that has online studies, even if it takes you 10 years to get the degree that you are perusing it will be far easier. I was fortunate to know a few Professors and having read over 30,000 books in my life helped immensely.
For those of you in your latter years if you are comfortable in your life and do not seek a degree or anything of that sort you need to keep your mind fertile by doing mental exercises or read books take up a research study that will require you to really do some analytical thinking after the age of 50 people who do not exercise their minds can lose as much as 10,000 brain cells a week total sedentary habits can cause you to lose 10,000 per day. One of the reasons we are born with such large brains and the average person only develops the use of 7 to 10% of their brains, as we grow older if during our lives we learned as much as we were capable of we can lose 90% of our brain cells and still remain cognitive, baring the onset of a genetic disorder or other disease. It has been studied that even the onset of Alzheimer’s can be delayed in many cases until very late in life. Each and every thought and memory is routed through millions of neural pathways in our minds these need to be kept active in order for us to remain functional.
This is for every one; eat what your body tells you to eat not what your stomach’s signals are telling your mind. Do not blindly assume that a self proclaimed nutritional Guru says is what you need to eat to stay healthy even those who possess a doctorate in their field. They do know many things that are good for the human body at the same time if they are selling some wiz bang cure all be all nutrition supplement be wary, do your own double blind study of their products many have some great values others are just about the money. Every human body has different daily requirements above the basics.
What does any of this have to do with education, learning or personal well being you may ask? It is like this a healthy body can help to keep the mind healthy. A virulent active mind can help to keep the body healthy. One goes hand in hand with the other
A very old but wise saying is USE IT OR LOSE IT. This is one of the most profound statements there ever was.
In closing I will leave all with this; no matter where you go when you get there you will always have your best friend and worst enemy at your side when you arrive.
Frank Surber, Prof. of Philosophy in Engineering.