Old rivet book from 1974 got me thinking about grinder sparks

Found a beat-up trade manual in the union hall with photos of crews using sledges on hot rivets. Made me realize how much we lean on grinders and flap wheels now, sometimes without reading the metal first. Anybody else ever go back to basic hand methods when a job gets finicky?

1 comments

1 Comment

ben82727d ago

Man, that book sounds like a treasure. My old man had one from the 60s with diagrams for everything, and it still made more sense than half the modern stuff. I tried to use a hand file on a stubborn keyway once because my die grinder was being a punk, ended up with blisters and a part that was slightly too tight. Real smooth move there, real smooth. But yeah, sometimes slowing down and just looking at the metal, feeling the cut, saves you from chasing your tail with power tools that just scream at you.