I swear I saw it....

I swear I saw Boyd Coddington running the lathe (spindle) backwards.

This was the episode where the 65 Yellow Mustang was in the shop and the hood wouldn't close. Boyd had one of those moments where he had to get his hands in the pot and chucked up a little carburetor flange in the lathe to reduce its height.

He appeared to be looking where to turn the thing on.

It occurred to me that the boring bar he was using was mounted upside down but I didn't see that in time.

He eventually knocked the work out of the chuck after making a few chips.

-Matt

I've often wondered what Boyd actually does, and the answer looks like not very much. He's good at bitching, that is for sure. So is that Dwayne asshole. I think productivity in the shop would improve exponentially if they got rid of him. He does plenty but I think sometimes more harm than good when it comes to the HR department. Just one man's opinion. Boyd fired Blue Bear, so I guess its not out of the question.

Back to the topic at hand, I remember an episode when Boyd goes to face some wheel spacers and he had the old chips whippin around something furious. I was waiting for them to snag that kick ass Hawaiian shirt.

Nick

The one show I saw at the in-laws, it was mentioned by his workers that if Boyd runs machines, you need to duck.

"Backwards" might have been a frame-rate issue, like the stagecoach wheels in movies.....

Yeah Jerry, I failed to mention in my original post that I could only tell this after he knocked the work out of grip with the tool *bleep* and then stopped the spindle, caught the spindle rotation just before it stopped.

Thank the TV powers that Bluebear is gone...he had the fabrication skills of a snail.

Surely there's an "A" team which actually cranks out the money and a "B" team which films the TV show. Boyd would surely have a shop filled with wizardly master fabricators if he wanted them.

-Matt

Ya', I watched the show yesterday for a bit and wondered how a guy could amass the investment Boyd has and not "stand tall", handling his employees.
I have never worked with anyone who "debates" as much as Boyd, and figured this must be for the show!

As far as firing Blue Bear, BB is the owner of the car and in essence, he is the customer! Seems to me, all these details should have been finalized prior to build and a contract drawn up to avoid this possibility.-Jerald

Yep Jerald, in reality Boyd surely would have slapped Bluebear on the hand for some of the smaller stuff that the project manager took him "up front" over.

Letting it all boil over makes for a hell of a gripping TV show though. I'm a sucker.

Next time Boyd will have to open a new department "Labor Relations"

-Matt

I'm bettin all these bozo's put together couldn't actually figure out where their stock go to work car's fusebox is at. Probably have to take it to a REAL mechanic.

I actually saw some of this over the weekend. The Machine shop supervisor on one show chucks something up in the CNC slantbed and throws the part out of the chuck and makes a commnet about he throw the part out of the "vise". As to BB the sheet metal guy said it best when he commented on how BB was getting the car for free plus being paid to build it and still couldn't get his head out of his ass (I have the feeling BB is family somehow)(Boyd made the comment about "I wish I could fire him"). Coddington made his first pile making billet wheels on CNCs. Either he had to know something about machining or he knew where to hire the right people. Just think of it as reality TV for for the mechanically unable.

Sad part is that Boyd was one of us in the '70's. He was a top notch machinist and worked days as a maintainance machinist at Disneyland and nights in his shop at home. He and Lil' John Buttera were among the first to make billet alum. parts for street rods and Boyd turned his shop into a multimillion dollar company building cars and machining alum. wheels for the aftermarket and even some OEM stuff. I'm afraid he was a better machinist than a CEO though. He used to run a lathe and mill 16 hours a day when he was younger, I think he probably hasn't turned either one on by himself in over 20 years now. His is a rags to riches to rags to TV "star" story. Quite a ride. By the way, for most of his life Boyd weighed close to 300 pounds. He lost a lot of weight in a hurry about the same time wife #2 came about. If he ever wrote an autobiography I would be interested in reading it. 25-30 years ago he would've been classified as a "Home Shop Machinist" and would've fit right in here with us.

Is this one of those shows that has cavemen in it for machinists/welders/fabricators? Boyd that you speak of is one of those guys?

I think a program about a real shop would bore the public, as the professionalism would cancel out nearly all the theatrics.

Richard

I retired after 25 years from a very large company. Looking back, there were the same sort of people (engineers, machinists, program managers, quality control personnel, etc., etc.) working at that company that you find on the popular hot rod/motorcycle shows today, but not in the concentrations you find on the shows, thank goodness. We had our prima donnas, our temper tantrum throwers, our know-it-alls, etc., but there were enough good workers around to minimize their detrimental effects. I could not stand to work at Coddington's, Orange County Chopper and their ilk with such a high percentage of goof-ups. I guess it makes for good ratings, though.

Cant say I know anything about these kind of shows, but by the time I read through this thread and got to RRogers post, I was asking myself the same queston: Would the public enjoy a show where real machinists make real parts? I think so, although the small audience would probably force it to be a PBS-type production.

A lot of folks must like to watch Norm making furniture on New Yankee Workshop, since he's been on now for nearly ten years, it seems. There was also a pretty good show on HGTV (American Masters?) that showcased various craftspersons making all sorts of utilitarian and artistic things.

Of course, in these shows workpiece recognition is not a problem, but if the purpose of one of our widgets was explained before the work started, I'll bet that the steps and processes that go into the end product would make for interesting viewing. And no, I dont mean watching someone close the door on a CNC, press the green button, then blow the coolant off -- Voila !

Can you imagine the video of someone making a stamping die or mold from scratch, then running the parts on it? (okay, we'll fast forward the polishing).

Maybe I'm over-romanticizing this...probably most of the instant-gratification crowd couldnt wait long enough for the set-up to be over, so the cut can start. A show like this would need a really skillful editor.

i agree that in alot of plants there are the same sorta characters and disagreements and goofups, we have had a few that would make good tv at my work, but luckly as ya say not in the concentration they are on that show. funny how ya see the orange county chopper guys promoting and endorsing everything these days, sunglasses,even perfume, but not a single tool company!!!!

All of these so called reality shows are BS! I can't even stand to watch them anymore.

I had to explain to my nephew that the boys at OC Chopper don't do finish work, they send it out. We just laughed at the show when they couldn't figure out how to turn on a bandsaw.

Boyd's place is the same. They don't show anybody wet sanding a car for 2 days. I also saw the show where the idiot threw that part out of the vise and broke the insert. Hell, the whole end of the tool was gone. And he's the supervisor.

The "house" shows are just as bad. I told the wife that I could make our house look good if I had an unlimited budget and 400 people to help.

The sad thing is that there are people out there that actually buy this crap and think that it is reality. Those people are actually dumber than the ones on TV.
JR

I'd like to see a series where they took an automotive engine (like the viper V-10 )and took it from design to production. I'll even watch the boring parts.

Or maybe a whole show on taking a single plastic part like a tooth brush from design to product. I'd eat that up.

I don't recall the details but Boyd's went bankrupt in the early 90's and there are still a lot of people who lost a lot of money who claim Boyd ripped them off.....apparently he filed for a bankruptcy that left him pretty well off.

"funny how ya see the orange county chopper guys promoting and endorsing everything these days, sunglasses,even perfume, but not a single tool company!!!!" mark ct
Miller and Snapon are sponsors for the show and I recently saw a couple of posters at the welding supply with Jr. with Mad dad and even one with Vinny with the Miller chopper.
Personaly I watch the shows for the crack up. I find them amusing. Choppers is way better then watching monster garage any more cause Jessie seems to be absent most of the time (I think he's lossing interest). I find lately I watch Dan Foose more then anything. Sure they play the stolen car thing a little over the top bot that draws the non gearheads to watch but of the 1 hour show 3/4 of it is the details of reworking the car. Recently the show I think its called "Rides" documented Foose overseeing auto prototyping for Chrysler. From molds to machining he gets in on it and theres no BS. Yes I know his Dad was the original but he's the real deal when it comes to auto designing.
Funny thing I have noticed about the more recent OCC shows everyone seems to be wearing there safety gear pretty regular. Since they moved into the new shop they have that new manger too so Mad Dad screems a little less for most of it. they ow have in house paintwork going too.
What I like most is watching Vinney teaching Mikey and the fact that theres somthing more honest about their interaction then anyone else on the show.
I've been working with metal for 22 years 14 of those professionaly mostly welding Fabrication and restoration. Particularly in the restoration work Ive seen alot of clowns and bad saftey. thing is My dad was a mechanic and since I was 3 I was taught to use common sense when it comes to tools.
Does this mean I never placed the mig gun in place and closed my eyes to do a tac weld?
If I told you No I'd have a nose like Pinochio. Twelve feet or so.
Yes Ive worked on the front of a car without a Jack-stand. I could go on.
Seems to me if people were more honest about what they realy have done in the past they wouldn't get so stressed about the shows and could look past the Hollywood Crap and see something cool is happening.
Even though manufacturing is going overseas. Mabe because of these shows, everyday people who can't turn a wrench see what can be done by professional Bluecollar workers. There intrest is sparked at some level. Right now there are bike shops hiring Mechanics and welders cause the Yuppies want somthing like an OCC chopper. Maybe if the demand for custom made Crap stays on the upswing. We metal workers and wood workers and Craftsman of all works will be able to preserve a piece of American Workmanship. I had to take a hiatis from Fabrication because the maket was tanking in the late 90's and people had less money to have antiques restored and custom things made. Now the economies doing a slow uphill climb. I was in the ARMY for 6 years so I don't buy into everything that flows out of washington and onto the pess floor. I see that The tech industry is dying here cause like cars they make em smaller, cheaper, and faster then we do. but once its gone theres not many high paying midle level jobs left. They have all but eliminated Vocational schooling here in NJ. God it just sickening to know that the steel industry along with allmost all raw metal production and scrap recycling is all but dead here. The Big companies get paid by our own Government to ship the scrap overseas and then resell it back to us cheaper then it could be done here. Thats whats happening to our jobs too.

Getting back ot Please just look deeper then the surface cause OCC was built off the back of a pickup and boyd did Sweat in his garage. I realize we all want the money there getting but in my eyes we should be happy for them and that maybe they might be helping things.
Guess Im just sick of everyone feeling angry. I have to be optomistic too. I have two little girls to raise and damit they should be proud to live here and of who they are individualy. if Everyone keeps P*ss'en on each other then Alkida and those like them win. And I for one cant stand that thought. Yes "Stupid is as stupid does".
Sit back and relax watch or don't but be happy you have the choice. There are a 150 thousand people on the otherside of the world who can't anymore.

Ok I'm going to get off the soapbox now I think I've babbled too much
Sorry if I offended anyone.
John

Oh buy the Way I saw Boyd Run the lathe and if you hadn't of told me he was a machinist I would have never know. I rolled when he distroyed the part.

i dont agree with your statement about how we all have done unsafe things so we shouldnt be worked up that they are, when i do something unsafe in my shop then its only me thats in the picture, and of course any bystanders, but when they are on tv showing unsafe acts they are settin an example, im not sayin i would follow there example, but many people do since thats the only place they see metalworking, and especialy since the show is on a channel thats supposed to be educational tv they should be setting an example and showing the proper way. i have never once watched OCC and said "hey thats a neat way to do that" or "now i know how thats done", jessy james hammering metal on a sandbag and running it thru the english wheel to form a gas tank, yes that i have been very impressed with,even some of the machining on boyd coddingtons show is very impressive, but seeing a gas tank being unwrapped after UPS dropped it off just doesnt give me that same excitement. i mean those guys dont even make there own frames! one of the most interesting episodes i ever saw of that show was the one where they made the snap on bike frame outa hex tubing, the OCC guys didnt do it they had proffesionals do it, but they showed the pros bending and welding the frame

I watched Indian Larry's few televised pieces time and time again. Wished there were more. God rest his soul.

--jr