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Car Forum / Antique and Collectibles / Studebaker / April 2005The Question Of Billet (OT)
Here's a link to a discussion of the term billet on a machinists bulletin board. Scroll down to about the 10th post (by Forest Addy) for the best explanation/definition of the overused term (by hot rodders and custom motorcyle fans) I that I have ever seen. Hell, it's not just a word anymore, I have heard guys at Hot Rods and Motorcycle shows talk about how they are going to "billetize" their Car or MC, and the "reality" Hot Rod (Boyd Coddington) and Custom Motorcycle (The Teutels of Orange County Choppers) TV shows, have made the abuse of this term even worse. (There are some amusing replies on the thread as well) http://bbs.homeshopmachinist.net//Forum1/HTML/011544.html Sad thing is, the author is/was splitting hairs to denigrate a term he disagrees with. Sounds like SDC judges when it comes to paint drips, chalk marks and antifreeze colors. What term would you suggest they use? Heck, you can't even get builders to use the correct grade of anything. 20 gauge sheet metal, 00 gauge wire, 304 stainless.. If you gave a test, only buyers would pass. Aluminum is like wine. Lot's of grades and vintages. Some machine, some cast, all melt if hot enough. The real tragedy is that they pay you .50 a pound for scrap aluminum and sell it back to you for $2 a pound. Jeff (chips they won't take, either <lol...no!>) Rice "Jim D" wrote... > Here's a link to a discussion of the term billet on a machinists bulletin > board. [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] > > http://bbs.homeshopmachinist.net//Forum1/HTML/011544.html This story reminds me of the bozo who came into a friends' bodyshop with a fiberglass '32 Ford coupe and wanted it chopped and LEADED just like the old days! After my pal stopped laughing, he informed the nutball that a torch would burn up his plastic body, and besides - it was already chopped! A little bit of knowledge is dangerous, ain't it? I have a friend who has been punching louvers into hot rod hood and hot rod body panels for a few decades. He's damn good at it, layout, design, cutting and rewelding support structures in the way (like under hood bracing) along with the actually punching the louvers. Every once in a while some 16-17-18 year old comes into his shop a nd wants to "buy" some louvers for his car's hood. He'll say something like: "Can I just buy, like 20 three inch long louvers. Do you have them in stock? Can I buy them right now.? It rapidly becomes apparent to my friend that the kid thinks louvers are some sheet metal part that you buy, then INSTALL on the hood or body panel, and are not essentially a "slot" punched into the panel by a die using a hydraulic press. > This story reminds me of the bozo who came into a friends' bodyshop > with a fiberglass '32 Ford coupe and wanted it chopped and LEADED just > like the old days! After my pal stopped laughing, he informed the > nutball that a torch would burn up his plastic body, and besides - it > was already chopped! A little bit of knowledge is dangerous, ain't it? Give him the part numbers for the Hawk louvers. He can pick chrome or painted. <g> > I have a friend who has been punching louvers into hot rod hood > and hot rod body panels for a few decades. He's damn good at it, [quoted text clipped - 18 lines] >>nutball that a torch would burn up his plastic body, and besides - it >>was already chopped! A little bit of knowledge is dangerous, ain't it?  SignatureJP/Maryland Studebaker On the Net http://stude.com My Ebay items:http://www.stude.com/EBAY/ 64 Challenger (Green Wrapper) 63 R2 4 speed GT Hawk 55 Speedster 50 2R 10 truck This just illustrates that the general public doesn't know how anything is made anymore, sometimes to the extent that they just take it for granted when a new product or service appears. Maybe somebody just "grew it". As a tool&die maker, I am intimately involved in the process of "making".......... some of the old farts can do voodoo with tools that amazes even me! Arthur C. Clarke had it right - "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic!" - Chris Pile |
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