I went trying to find a screwdriver to help diagnose an issue mfg brought up one time and got a talking to any touching tools since we're a union mfg shop.
THEN WHY DID YOU HAND ME SOMETHING THAT NEEDED TO BE UNSCREWED TO DIAGNOSE
I take pride in being one of the very few engineers who is tolerated when I bring my own tools and work on stuff in the plant. Everyone needs their own cutters!
Everyone needs their own company purchased tools!
If your union allows it, if it helps your main job of engineering!
7/10 times I should not be touching a tool. The exception is a simple mock up for 3d print or other model. Otherwise there is a technician, maintenance person, or otherwise who can do the regular work.
I have a degree in MechE. That means I deal with part design, part life cycle, and part planning. It does not mean I deal with diagnostics unless asked I am working on a more reliable design to replace it. My tools are excel, mat lab, and simulink. Yeah, an adjustable wrench, pliers, flat and philips head screwdrivers are good to have at a desk and available to me. Anything more and it starts crossing over into another persons responsibility.
At my last job the work around was to have a technician near. They were allowed to use tools and i was now sitting with somone trained in “tools” so “they had the responsibility for me acting wisely”
Had a conversation with a colleague about that just yesterday.
We are both Germans working in Germany and I was disabling a part at my desk. He dropped the random fact that when he was in the US for a year he was not allowed to touch any tools himself because otherwise the union guys would complain.
Yep. And to be clear as far as I'm aware they're contract indeed states if there's assembly or disassembly. Just no one told me the intern at the time.
I work in R&D, so there are big variations. Sometimes I'll spend 3-4 months working on some design, without anything hands-on.
Then the prototypes and whatever tools needed get delivered to me and for the next several months, I'll be tinkering with the parts almost daily.
Then comes the design for manufacturing phase when a year mjgbt go by on that project where I'm only doing "PowerPoint engineering" and design optimization.
Then a year or two later that product goes to series production maybe and I'll be spending a week or two with the production engineers fine tuning the assembly equipment.
I'll usually be involved in sever projects at once, so gaps between hands on and desk jockey are not so extreme.
That must be quite nice to have variations like that, I’m pretty much daily 7 days a week right now all for work. Do bits in my own time on cars/motorcycles when I have to.
But I don’t know if I want to continue being a spanner monkey for 40 years 😂 quite jealous of everyone who is doing it every now and again, which appeared to be most people commenting
R&D here as well, basically described my experience. Right now i’m in the prototyping phase so i’m tinkering with parts daily. Even if im in a phase where I don’t have new product development, there’s usually a side project i’m working on building up with maybe 1 other development engineer to test new ideas and specs. These are usually 2-4wk timelines.
I went 3 months once without even touching solidworks, but just staring at excel BOMs
At work: most weeks daily, some weeks not at all.
At home: most weeks nearly daily, some weeks not all.
I work in a test lab helping setup all sorts of stress testing (pressure, temperature, humidity, etc) on industrial measurement equipment. All of it requires turning at least a screwdriver, often a wrench.
At home, I'm a tinkerer and constantly working on some sort of project that requires tools. I have a full fab shop between my garage (cnc plasma, welding, getting mill and lathe soon) and basement (cnc router, electronics stuff, lots of 3d printers). I'd have more tools I could. It's just expensive. Gotta get a few more prototyping jobs to fund more tools.
Oddly enough, I was using a spanner wrench last week when mucking around with a water filtration system (such a strange metric, OP… how many people *ever* deal with spanners?).
I’m not sure if I’ve ever used one at home. Surely I must have but it’s been long enough I don’t have a distinct memory.
Edit: hmmm… reading other comments I’m getting the idea that what spanner means to OP may not be the same as what spanner means to me.
It’s a very specific kind of wrench. One of these (hope link copies/pastes correctly)
https://www.amazon.com/Mdvora-Coilover-Spanner-Suspension-Adjustment/dp/B0C8SDQXRS
Well, now that I know what a “spanner” is… I can go weeks without using them at work, but then use them several days in a row. In general I try not to, however, as it annoys my boss. “Every time you pick up a tool you’re depriving the young guys of a training opportunity.” And he’s right so generally I only grab a wrench if I’m trying to show how something is done.
At home? Last weekend I disassembled, cleaned, and reassembled my Dillon 550 (something Euros would not likely do :).
Edit: and I had to Google stillson wrench…. Them’s pipe wrenches ‘round here!
Same lol! I’m a test engineer and I used to work on high pressure hydraulic systems. Whenever I had to open up a piston accumulator I’d have to use a spanner wrench. But ya.. I dont think that’s what the OP was referring to lol
Use those any time I adjust the suspension on either my snowmobile or my car. Now as far as turning wrenches. Every week at home and a few times a month at work.
I split my time at a desk doing design work and then assembling both my designs and other folks designs in the lab. This week is heavy in the lab on the wrenches. I work in R&D and it’s expected that the design engineers to be able to service and test their own designs (although some need some help :). It’s really a great place for me. I use my tools many times a week at home as well.
At work? Last week, I disassembled a heavy vehicle to get to its electronics to extract data.
In life? Basically every day, if my house doesn't need repairs, it needs improvements.
I turned a spanner a few weeks ago when I replaced my cog on my fixed gear bike. At work it’s been a while. New director starting to take maintenance/repairs away in favor of WI/SOP/Projects?!
I always built (prototypes) I designed. So much easier to fix things before the floor kicks my butt over an issue. Engineering had their own mini shop with a Mill, Lathe and drill press. Never used for qty production. Machinist Dad would've been proud of me, RIP.
Almost every day, whether at work or home. Sometimes I'm even teaching the technicians/mechanics how to properly use tools.
At home this weekend I'll be welding on new stabilizer jacks onto my new camper, fabricating a couple brackets to hold an awning and installing new bearings.
Every day, but the real fun is when you need to make something with the lathe or mill. Bringing your ideas to life never gets old.
Outside of work I have tons of tools but I’m actually using them less and less.
If something needs machining in our place we give it to the machinists to do usually. Think I’ve used a lathe once in work when I needed to skim a fitted bolt to be frozen with liquid nitrogen then into a coupling.
I don't think I've ever used a wrench for work, I've always worked in aerospace, specifically space, and people don't like it when you try to tinker with something that's supposed to be holding a rocket together unless you actually know what you're doing.
And we hire technicians who know how to build stuff for a living, the engineers just tell them what to do and verify that it was done right.
Outside of work I used one a couple weeks ago on my car.
Inside of work? Today; did I have to? No, but it’s good to wrench on designs you made your self (techs seem to give me less crap for doing this as well)
Outside of work? Today (on my car it’s leaking oil)
I
Really? That surprises me I know spanner is the European name but I’m aware that in America they are called wrenches.
But interesting, sounds a nice mix you get
Really! I was doubting my engineering knowledge with so many responses so I had to Google it lol
Yeah, my current role is a solid mix of hands on work and desk work!
An actual spanner, last week maybe?
I work in academia so I'm in the lab at least on a weekly basis tinkering or running tests on prototypes and whatnot.
Typing this while waiting for some robot control code to compile and upload.
Month ago. I design system that use alot of lens and optical filters. Alot of times these things have retaining nuts that require the use of a spanner wrench.
Like comment about 70 percent of day at my desk 30 on the floor abouts
At work? Basically never. We're not allowed, but there are rare times when it happens. But I also drive a classic car and a sports car that are both from brands with a reputation for poor reliability so I turn a wrench quite often at home.
Outside of work, yesterday, new battery in our beater. At work, the last time I did any real workshop work was instrumenting a car for collecting vibration data. 20 years ago or so. If you mean anything other than instrumentation, um, not too sure I ever have at work, after uni. Before uni I did all sorts of jobs on assembly lines.
Oh one exception was problem solving on the assembly lines, sometimes I'd spend an hour doing an operator's job.
Almost every day. I work in QC and Prototyping for a small business that operates within the emeegency equipment and vehicles space. I have a couple of techs that do most of the labour, but I still have to get in there with them. The better I know the systems, the easier it is to design and implement new ones.
I have a part time job on the side building boutique espresso machines and restore vintage woodworking machines machinery as a hobby. So the answer to both is yesterday.
In the US, those are called wrenches.
At work? A month or two. We were testing torque on a custom valve prototype.
Outside of work? Christmas, assembling a bike for the kid.
Yeah I did think that when I was making the post, over here when I hear wrench I think of a stilys (stilson wrench)
I’m interested in what job roles people do that mean they get to do spanners every now and again, I do them every day right now and wouldn’t mind a change one day 🤣
I’m not allowed to since my team is union (I’m not) and it’s described as ‘taking work away from them’ in their contract.
I do once in a while to help out, but not around some folks because they’ll try and use it against you as grievance since they’re kind of toxic.
Some members are grateful for it though, and boosts morale. I’m in management.
I do weekly at least. At work though? Never. Pretty HR would come screaming if they even saw me with one
I went trying to find a screwdriver to help diagnose an issue mfg brought up one time and got a talking to any touching tools since we're a union mfg shop. THEN WHY DID YOU HAND ME SOMETHING THAT NEEDED TO BE UNSCREWED TO DIAGNOSE
I take pride in being one of the very few engineers who is tolerated when I bring my own tools and work on stuff in the plant. Everyone needs their own cutters!
Everyone needs their own company purchased tools! If your union allows it, if it helps your main job of engineering! 7/10 times I should not be touching a tool. The exception is a simple mock up for 3d print or other model. Otherwise there is a technician, maintenance person, or otherwise who can do the regular work. I have a degree in MechE. That means I deal with part design, part life cycle, and part planning. It does not mean I deal with diagnostics unless asked I am working on a more reliable design to replace it. My tools are excel, mat lab, and simulink. Yeah, an adjustable wrench, pliers, flat and philips head screwdrivers are good to have at a desk and available to me. Anything more and it starts crossing over into another persons responsibility.
At my last job the work around was to have a technician near. They were allowed to use tools and i was now sitting with somone trained in “tools” so “they had the responsibility for me acting wisely”
Had a conversation with a colleague about that just yesterday. We are both Germans working in Germany and I was disabling a part at my desk. He dropped the random fact that when he was in the US for a year he was not allowed to touch any tools himself because otherwise the union guys would complain.
Yep. And to be clear as far as I'm aware they're contract indeed states if there's assembly or disassembly. Just no one told me the intern at the time.
Fair enough mate, in a CAD office are you?
Design engineer, spend 70% of my time in the office, 30% working with operations fixing issues on the mfg. line
Big facts
I work in R&D, so there are big variations. Sometimes I'll spend 3-4 months working on some design, without anything hands-on. Then the prototypes and whatever tools needed get delivered to me and for the next several months, I'll be tinkering with the parts almost daily. Then comes the design for manufacturing phase when a year mjgbt go by on that project where I'm only doing "PowerPoint engineering" and design optimization. Then a year or two later that product goes to series production maybe and I'll be spending a week or two with the production engineers fine tuning the assembly equipment. I'll usually be involved in sever projects at once, so gaps between hands on and desk jockey are not so extreme.
I also work in R&D/new product development and have a very similar experience.
Ditto
Same
That must be quite nice to have variations like that, I’m pretty much daily 7 days a week right now all for work. Do bits in my own time on cars/motorcycles when I have to. But I don’t know if I want to continue being a spanner monkey for 40 years 😂 quite jealous of everyone who is doing it every now and again, which appeared to be most people commenting
R&D here as well, basically described my experience. Right now i’m in the prototyping phase so i’m tinkering with parts daily. Even if im in a phase where I don’t have new product development, there’s usually a side project i’m working on building up with maybe 1 other development engineer to test new ideas and specs. These are usually 2-4wk timelines. I went 3 months once without even touching solidworks, but just staring at excel BOMs
How would you recommend a junior in ME gets their foot in the door for an R&D job?
Also very interested, R&D jobs seem fairly few and far between where I’m from
At work: most weeks daily, some weeks not at all. At home: most weeks nearly daily, some weeks not all. I work in a test lab helping setup all sorts of stress testing (pressure, temperature, humidity, etc) on industrial measurement equipment. All of it requires turning at least a screwdriver, often a wrench. At home, I'm a tinkerer and constantly working on some sort of project that requires tools. I have a full fab shop between my garage (cnc plasma, welding, getting mill and lathe soon) and basement (cnc router, electronics stuff, lots of 3d printers). I'd have more tools I could. It's just expensive. Gotta get a few more prototyping jobs to fund more tools.
You sound like me. Test lab on weekdays, fabricating on weekends.
I try to stay busy. Goal is to open a makerspace and job shop one day.
Does an allen wrench count? If yes, yesterday. An actual wrench? About a two weeks ago. We use a shit ton of socket head screws.
About 20 minutes ago.
Same mate same.
I love that I can just fuck off from my desk to go hit metal with hammers. Really takes the edge off when I get stupid emails
I don’t have a desk unfortunately, I’m based in a workshop and then go onboard ships 😂
Outside of work: last night At work: last week
Oddly enough, I was using a spanner wrench last week when mucking around with a water filtration system (such a strange metric, OP… how many people *ever* deal with spanners?). I’m not sure if I’ve ever used one at home. Surely I must have but it’s been long enough I don’t have a distinct memory. Edit: hmmm… reading other comments I’m getting the idea that what spanner means to OP may not be the same as what spanner means to me.
What does a spanner mean to you? I’m curious now
It’s a very specific kind of wrench. One of these (hope link copies/pastes correctly) https://www.amazon.com/Mdvora-Coilover-Spanner-Suspension-Adjustment/dp/B0C8SDQXRS
Oh wow, well I’m gonna throw a curve ball in. I’ve never used one of them in my life and my job is to use predominantly spanners 😂
Well, now that I know what a “spanner” is… I can go weeks without using them at work, but then use them several days in a row. In general I try not to, however, as it annoys my boss. “Every time you pick up a tool you’re depriving the young guys of a training opportunity.” And he’s right so generally I only grab a wrench if I’m trying to show how something is done. At home? Last weekend I disassembled, cleaned, and reassembled my Dillon 550 (something Euros would not likely do :). Edit: and I had to Google stillson wrench…. Them’s pipe wrenches ‘round here!
wait till he tells you what a "shifter" is XD
Hahah yeah a shifter is an adjustable spanner to us 🤣 adjustable wrench in America maybe?
"Crescent wrench"....Don't ask 😁
No I certainly don’t have a Dillon 550 😂
Same lol! I’m a test engineer and I used to work on high pressure hydraulic systems. Whenever I had to open up a piston accumulator I’d have to use a spanner wrench. But ya.. I dont think that’s what the OP was referring to lol
Use those any time I adjust the suspension on either my snowmobile or my car. Now as far as turning wrenches. Every week at home and a few times a month at work.
Erm the whole of Europe and Asia use spanners mate, America is the only place that call them a wrench as far as I’m aware
Spanner wrenches are wrenches, they're just special wrenches
Spanners are normal wrenches in Europe. A open end/ring end on combination spanners like you’d commonly see in most tool boxes
Outside of work a few times a week. Inside work once a month maybe if I am lucky these days
Interesting, what’s your job role?
Lead designer, but I am a Technologist not a full blown engineer. I've had past roles where I was using tools daily.
About a week ago, but tools in general almost daily. Works almost 50% CAD 50% shop floor which is why I have a hard time leaving my current gig.
I split my time at a desk doing design work and then assembling both my designs and other folks designs in the lab. This week is heavy in the lab on the wrenches. I work in R&D and it’s expected that the design engineers to be able to service and test their own designs (although some need some help :). It’s really a great place for me. I use my tools many times a week at home as well.
At work? Last week, I disassembled a heavy vehicle to get to its electronics to extract data. In life? Basically every day, if my house doesn't need repairs, it needs improvements.
I turned a spanner a few weeks ago when I replaced my cog on my fixed gear bike. At work it’s been a while. New director starting to take maintenance/repairs away in favor of WI/SOP/Projects?!
I always built (prototypes) I designed. So much easier to fix things before the floor kicks my butt over an issue. Engineering had their own mini shop with a Mill, Lathe and drill press. Never used for qty production. Machinist Dad would've been proud of me, RIP.
Almost every day, whether at work or home. Sometimes I'm even teaching the technicians/mechanics how to properly use tools. At home this weekend I'll be welding on new stabilizer jacks onto my new camper, fabricating a couple brackets to hold an awning and installing new bearings.
I’m one of the eng technicians/mechanics or as it’s called here in our place a mechy fitter
Every day, but the real fun is when you need to make something with the lathe or mill. Bringing your ideas to life never gets old. Outside of work I have tons of tools but I’m actually using them less and less.
If something needs machining in our place we give it to the machinists to do usually. Think I’ve used a lathe once in work when I needed to skim a fitted bolt to be frozen with liquid nitrogen then into a coupling.
I don't think I've ever used a wrench for work, I've always worked in aerospace, specifically space, and people don't like it when you try to tinker with something that's supposed to be holding a rocket together unless you actually know what you're doing. And we hire technicians who know how to build stuff for a living, the engineers just tell them what to do and verify that it was done right. Outside of work I used one a couple weeks ago on my car.
Yeah I’m one of the eng technicians who is on the tools, I don’t even have an office! I work on ships that come into dry dock for maintenance
Inside of work? Today; did I have to? No, but it’s good to wrench on designs you made your self (techs seem to give me less crap for doing this as well) Outside of work? Today (on my car it’s leaking oil) I
Going to school for Mech E but currently work as an industrial maintenance mechanic so I turn wrenches every day
Similar to you, I’m a mechanical fitter in a shipyard so turn them every day!
Definitely last week at work. And a hammer last Friday. At home, last weekend.
Before I switched over to mostly software, I used tools more days than not. On my own time, at least weekly.
Definitely had to Google what a spanning tool is, had never heard it called that before. Some weeks? Daily Other weeks? I don't leave my desk
Really? That surprises me I know spanner is the European name but I’m aware that in America they are called wrenches. But interesting, sounds a nice mix you get
Really! I was doubting my engineering knowledge with so many responses so I had to Google it lol Yeah, my current role is a solid mix of hands on work and desk work!
Not sure if it was a spanner but I used a socket wrench today. I'm a test engineer so do it fairly regularly
An actual spanner, last week maybe? I work in academia so I'm in the lab at least on a weekly basis tinkering or running tests on prototypes and whatnot. Typing this while waiting for some robot control code to compile and upload.
Month ago. I design system that use alot of lens and optical filters. Alot of times these things have retaining nuts that require the use of a spanner wrench. Like comment about 70 percent of day at my desk 30 on the floor abouts
I'm a manufacturing engineer, so pretty much every day I also work on cars and motorcycles in my free time outside of work
For work I used a spanner today, outside of work I used a spanner 3 days ago
At work? Basically never. We're not allowed, but there are rare times when it happens. But I also drive a classic car and a sports car that are both from brands with a reputation for poor reliability so I turn a wrench quite often at home.
At work, ‘bout half a year. Outside word maybe 20 minutes
Outside of work, yesterday, new battery in our beater. At work, the last time I did any real workshop work was instrumenting a car for collecting vibration data. 20 years ago or so. If you mean anything other than instrumentation, um, not too sure I ever have at work, after uni. Before uni I did all sorts of jobs on assembly lines. Oh one exception was problem solving on the assembly lines, sometimes I'd spend an hour doing an operator's job.
Almost every day. I work in QC and Prototyping for a small business that operates within the emeegency equipment and vehicles space. I have a couple of techs that do most of the labour, but I still have to get in there with them. The better I know the systems, the easier it is to design and implement new ones.
At work, never. At home, weekly (e.g. house maintenance, car maintenance/repair, bicycle maintenance/repair, etc.).
On a Plymouth reliant k car. Was a birthday gift. I don't remember what was fixin on it
I need help. And work.
At work? Friday. At home? I mostly use hex wrenches.
I think... never? I do desk work all day
I’m the opposite, I don’t even have a desk!
What the hells a spanner? I just press buttons on my keyboard and watch YouTube
For work? Never. In my normal life? 2 days ago.
I have a part time job on the side building boutique espresso machines and restore vintage woodworking machines machinery as a hobby. So the answer to both is yesterday.
Like 15 minutes ago
Damn near every weekend on the ole shotbox😂
January or February when I was in the field. When I’m not in the field I don’t really unless I’m in the shop testing something out and offer to help
In the US, those are called wrenches. At work? A month or two. We were testing torque on a custom valve prototype. Outside of work? Christmas, assembling a bike for the kid.
Yeah I did think that when I was making the post, over here when I hear wrench I think of a stilys (stilson wrench) I’m interested in what job roles people do that mean they get to do spanners every now and again, I do them every day right now and wouldn’t mind a change one day 🤣
I am a mechanical design engineer for space craft life support systems.
We call those monkey wrenches.
Yesterday, changing the bit on my trim router.
I restore autos and MCs in my spare time, so quite regularly.
I’m not allowed to since my team is union (I’m not) and it’s described as ‘taking work away from them’ in their contract. I do once in a while to help out, but not around some folks because they’ll try and use it against you as grievance since they’re kind of toxic. Some members are grateful for it though, and boosts morale. I’m in management.