Test of Time

Posted by stephens on Sep 3, 2010 in Engineering Decisions, Events, Tips & Techniques | 0 comments

While thumbing through the GM Die Standards last night, two things were lost upon me until that moment. One is that I am the last surviving industry active person to have written a die standards book for an OEM. From scratch. I guess that is kind of like being the oldest person alive in a morbid way. The second is the organization of the book is still relevant...

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Free George Keremedjiev

Posted by stephens on Sep 2, 2010 in Events, Tips & Techniques | 0 comments

“Hey Tim. Do you know George Kere …”, my boss begins to ask me. “Keremedjiev? Hell yes I know him! He is a rock star! Why do you ask?”, I respond. “He is here in the conference room.” I go find George and got a warm greeting. Not because he is doing business with my employer. He gave me a warm greeting because we have a...

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WaterBored

Posted by stephens on Sep 1, 2010 in Demos, Events, Rants, Tips & Techniques | 0 comments

Given a choice between sitting through an unorganized technical presentation with awful PowerPoint slides and torture by waterboarding, I will take waterboarding. Why? Because I know waterboarding lasts 40 seconds not 40 minutes. Plus, the psychological damage with waterboarding is only temporary. Shitty slide presentations are burned into my brain forever. I...

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Move Along

Posted by stephens on Aug 30, 2010 in Events, Rants | 3 comments

I think Christopher McCandless had the right idea. If I could turn back the hands of time, I would have chosen that path instead of the one that I did. I won’t be blogging on dies and stamping for a while – if ever again. I have said all I have to say for the time being. And all I say is met with skepticism or criticism – so I will save us all...

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Have You Tried …

Posted by stephens on Aug 6, 2010 in Events, Rants, Tips & Techniques | 7 comments

“Have you tried a different process?” “Yes”, I say. “How about different form steels?” “Yes.” “How about different materials?” “Yes.” “Well, try different materials until you find one that works,” the engineer says to me. Now, nevermind that the forming condition is impossible to...

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Help Wanted: Sr. AutoForm Simulation Engineer

Posted by stephens on Jul 30, 2010 in Events, Rants, Tips & Techniques | 1 comment

The job scene for die guys is picking up here in the Motor City. Personally, I think it because there is more high strength and super steel automotive stampings than die knowledge. This always leads to more processing and more simulations than normal. Elongation limits be damned! At any rate, I have been getting a call or email at least once a week for several...

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24

Posted by stephens on Jul 21, 2010 in Events | 0 comments

Most days these days, I feel like Jack Bauer. You know what I mean. One long day of everyone gunning for you. Today marks the 24th anniversary of my first day on the UAW / GM Die Engineering Apprenticeship Program. 24. It has been a good ride overall. I am proud of what I have accomplished in this business. More so, I am grateful for the respect and recognition...

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Book Shelved

Posted by stephens on Jun 22, 2010 in About, Events, Rants | 6 comments

My die guy friend and loyal reader of past articles and current blog posts, Greg from Spaulding & Day Tool & Die emailed me a question yesterday. He responded with a “thanks” email and suggested I write a book on modern die practices, mainly because the books out there now are quite dated and have, for the most part, lost their relevance due...

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Where is Timmy?

Posted by stephens on Jun 15, 2010 in Events, Rants | 2 comments

My apologies for not posting in a couple weeks. I moved 1,250 miles across the country and just have been slammed busy. I expect to be back on track in a week or so. Thanks for your patience …

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Light Cars. Heavy Dies

Posted by stephens on May 14, 2010 in Engineering Decisions, Events, Rants | 2 comments

Dan Grieshaber gave a presentation titled Lightweighting Automotive Body: Enablers and Manufacturing Challenges at the Great Designs in Steel 2010 event. As I have mentioned before, I genuinely thought Dan did a fabulous job of presenting. His slide presentation was generally good. He spoke freely without notes or a script. Dan was relaxed and knew his topic...

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