"Mathew"Replica

[graham]

\"Mathew\"Replica

The Mathew replica is normally moored in Bristol City Docks.A bit of a celebration of Bristols maritime history.Its not just a tourist attraction but a seagoing vessel that has crossed the Atlantic.

It amazes me that people with the skills to build her are still to be found.No doubt any schoolkid these days could spark up a lap top and produce a computer generated 3d design complete with templates for every tiny component.

But how many would actually have the skill to build it?Or be willing to get dirty and sweaty in the process?

 

[Casey]

Re: \"Mathew\"Replica

"It amazes me that people with the skills to build her are still to be found"

That is a rather broad statement for this particular forum. There is no end of skill if one looks for it or if one wants to acquire it. Modern tools and materials have made a job much easier but the skill required remains the same. If you want to look at modern skills then a visit to the restored Windsor Castle will convince you. In particular look at the new lantern which I think is the very epitome of the woodworkers art.

If that fails to convince then a visit to Parnham House in West Sussex which was burned out a few years ago and has been fully restored.

If all that fails then look at some of the older boats still in private hands which have been lovingly restored by the owners themselves. Most of us have learned how to work with wood by simply doing it and if it wasn't right then tearing it out and doing it again often with detailed advice from this forum.

This is the end of my rant but I owe so much to many skilled amateur craftsmen who are brilliant with their tools and I hate anyone denigrating in any way, their considerable skills.

 

[graham]

Re: \"Mathew\"Replica

I was in no way trying to denigrate the amazing skills that the shipwrights and other trades have demonstrated in the Mathew and other projects.

I only hope that enough young people will carry on having the opportunity to learn the traditional trades to prevent them fizzling out .

 

[tcm]

Re: explanation for daft old codger

well, see, - if they'd generated the 3-d model of every component, they'd need to then carry out the transfer sequence to have those parts produced on a machine tool with no further interaction or sweatiness required with an hour or so. That's the whole point of the 3-d generation of the component, innit? It's not for nice pix in the boat mags. I wd imagine that they'd have exactly the skils needed to do this, a fairly simple and well-established operation that's been possible for at least 15 years, and for over 30 years in 2 dimensions.

It's a pity that the younger generation would evidently be dogged along the way from some quarters with a generalised and very scathing lack of confidence in their abilities. Those who do so are likely to attract the same sweeping and derogatory treatment as in the title of this post, i supose. I beleive that the same attitudes are less prevalent abroad, which is partly why their manufacturing is much better, populated by bright young people eager to show their skills to older genration willing to back and invest in their ideas, whislt the uk maufacturing is down the pan. Any decent boats or cars or anything much made in this country in real volume? Nope.

Yours etc.

tcm
(Engineering grad. who went elsewher after several years of banging his head against daft old computer-illiterate engineering directors with similar beielf in sweat/toil and similarly misguided scathing attitude towards use of computers in manufacturing as displayed in the original post.)

 

[graham]

Re: explanation for daft old codger

I think you have based your reply on an awful lot of presumptions.

 

[tcm]

Re: what presumptions/assumptions?

The directors of several (now defunct) manufacturing companies said much the same. But what might these presumptions be?

 

[graham]

Re: what presumptions/assumptions?

TCM As you , I and presumably everyone else on this forum share an interest in boats classic or otherwise perhaps we should stick to the common ground of our shared interests.

my original idea was to share a picture I took of the M athew and maybe kindle a discussion on ways to keep the traditional methods of boatbuilding alive ,if we dont inspire young people to take up practical skills they WILL eventually be lost.

I dont think Classic Boat forum is really the place for a discussion on the decline of British manufacturing so I am drawing a line under it now.

PS I graduated with honours from the school of hard knocks .

 

[halcyon]

Re: what presumptions/assumptions?

Totally agree with you, watched the Mathew grow from keel, used to collect parts from a firm in Bristol near by.
Local boatyard to use started building a local wooden yacht again, only because they had an old shipwright with the knowledge gained over 40 plus years.

As for daft old computer-illiterate engineering directors, I would like to point out that some of us were using computor for design back in the 1960's. The wife when she worked in computors used to say rubbish in, rubbish out, this applies as much to-day as it did 35 years ago. Afraid looking at some modern computor designed items by graduates, we still have to learn the old moto.

Brian

 

[tcm]

okay, hard knocks.

oK. Fair enough to share a photo, and i agree that it's a great looking vessel. But that wasn't the limit of your commentary, and i took exception to the unwarranted remarks at youth in general, and the the simply incorrect assumptions regarding computer-aided manufacturing. I fully agree that we should be inspiring, but your original remarks weren't really inspiring at all - quite the reverse, really?

Inspiration-wise, if we aren't part of the solution and inspire those around us - then we're part of the problem, and are contributing towards the reason that others aren't already inspired.


Separately - I wasn't aware of your special qualifications! - perhaps you would agree that it is time to perhaps demolish the School of Hard Knocks or at least upgrade it such that the hard knocks don't dominate the entire curriculum?

cheers anyway.

 

[tcm]

Computors : I agree!

..provided that seeing others do something wrong (such as make a poor design) is a cue to help them out, corrcet them with a smile and encouragement - not to shake one's head in despair - as seem to be the fashion.

And, given the design of the boat as above, the execution of the drawings in 3-d was at issue, and their subsequent manufacture - a project that would be ideally suited to those with experience of the function and design (from around here, perhaps) together with those others possibly/probably more youtful with expertise in computer useage who would get the parts made with remarkable accuracy - a team effort warranting no denigration of these complementary talents!

Separately, (and especially if computer-aided design is the subject matter on which one plans to give an opinion....) dare i say that since about 1965, the word has been commonly spelled "computer" rather than "computor" - i imagine that this wasn't a typo since the same mistake was made three times?...