Seven Observations on Learning

So  read an article for homework about how learning works, and our duty was to respond to it by relating two of their observations to our project.

First was that the idea that learning begins with tolerance applies to my project because I've come across many different solutions on how to make my putter, and I've accepted some solutions, put aside others, and rejected a method or two.

Second was that learning is inconclusive and that's basically how I've been researching so far because with every new thing I have brings up new questions; just like when I learned that milling metal sometimes requires coolant, I then tried to figure out what kind of coolant was best for aluminum, how much I need, or do I even need coolant.

Sources used since 2/1

Since Mr. Creagan recommended to me that I do a blog post of all the sources I've had so far for my research, this is my blog post for them. I had almost 30 sources before I started this project; these are just the sources I've used since I started the project and I haven't had to use much outside of my initial research.
All of my sources so far:

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0HFI/is_3_54/ai_100463197/
For when putter grooves were first used and CNC machining putters

http://www.gelputter.com/
Different kinds of putter faces

http://www.andrewricegolf.com/tag/putter-weight/
How much putters usually weigh

http://www.franklygolf.com/gripsizeandputterweight.aspx
Another source on the weight of putters

http://csquaredgolf.com/tag/putter-head-rotation/
General swing path of a putter

http://puttingzone.com/MyTips/lengthlie.html
Very useful site for putter shafts, including lengths, lie of the shaft to the ground, etc.

http://puttertalk.com/community/index.php?topic=25054.0
This was very helpful in determining how wide the putter shaft is

http://golf.about.com/od/faqs/f/shaft_weight.htm
Good for figuring out how much heavier my shaft was compared to metal ones

http://www.cnczone.com/forums/general_metal_working_machines/20588-what_coolant_do_you_use.html
Different kinds of coolant

Happiness Revisited

We read an article on Happiness a while back in class and this is just my response to it.

When do I feel the most happy?

I feel the most happy when I am out playing golf, although it’s not always the most rewarding or satisfying experience. Being able to escape for a couple of hours is very relaxing, and at the same time golf gives a challenge that I love and will always be there. There are other things that are enjoyable for me, like reading, going places with friends, video games, etc, but none can relax and challenge me at the same time.

Respond to the article:

I found the article very interesting after writing that first response to what makes me happy, since the article’s author found  a combination of skill and challenge that would make people the most happy, and I can really relate to that since I always like to challenge myself and when I have the skill to meet that challenge I really enjoy myself. This “flow” he talks about I think I can relate to very much, and have also experienced a kind of it when doing calculus or playing a rhythm game.

Where am I on the flow chart?

With life, I believe that I am probably a little north of the “flow” zone, since right now I’m a little overwhelmed with school, but other than that I think I’m right in the middle of the flow otherwise.

How has my "flow" changed throughout the course of my project?
Well I think that it probably has been a little in the "boring" zone so far just because everything I've done hasn't been extremely challenging, although it has taken a good bit of effort and creativity so far for coming up with ideas for the head design, different materials, etc. But I have had fun with the project and I don't feel overwhelmed with it, and I guess so far I've had a pretty positive experience.

How can I achieve flow?
Well I think in my activities outside of school I've done that pretty well, but with life in general I think I need to start to realize my shortcomings and the fact that I cannot do everything in life or be the very best in whatever I choose to do. So if I were to achieve flow in life I would have to lower my expectations for myself. However, this is something I cannot do, or else I fear I will lose all drive to become something better than I am right now. Setting unrealistic goals is my way of achieving important goals, and putting myself in a "challenging" area like the article suggests is just how I want to become a better, more well-rounded person. Maybe in retirement I can finally sit back and be truly happy, but until then I don't think living in a state of bliss is how I want to go.

Update 4/2

Well, unfortunately I haven't been able to do very much over the past week. I wanted to talk to Mr. Breigle about the CNC Mill and coolants and such like I said I was going to last week, but it turned out that he was away every day except Wednesday, when I had no free time. I did play around with Edgecam a bit more but couldn't do much since all I could really do was figure out milling profiles and how to change at what angle I mill the face. The more important aspects of milling depth, feed, and spin were out of reach since I first don't know what kind of aluminum alloy I'll be buying, so I don't know how fast to spin the mill, and also I have no idea how fast I can make the feed due to the moderately tight turns the drill bit would do in order to profile the putter head. I don't have any experience milling metal, only some waxy stuff and soft wood we used back in CIM my sophomore year, so I don't know how much the mill can handle.

I guess this is really my first big stumbling block, and until I can find time with Mr. Breigle, which I hopefully will this week since spring break is next week, I'm not going to be able to get much farther with my project.

IC JE

Today in class we are to talk about how we've been researching, or our method. Personally I tend to Google the problem initially, and then if the answer isn't really apparent, I'll call the store of the product I was looking for, or I'll ask a tech teacher at school or my mentor.

In terms of macro research I really haven't been actively, on my own time, looking up engineering facts or golf club making information. I have however, been learning a lot more about  physics in my physics class, and design and engineering techniques in EDD, both classes taking up a good amount of time.

For micro research I've spent time looking at all the little things about my project, mainly like I said in my last post things like coolant, or drill bit size, type of aluminum alloy, etc.

For kinds of research I haven't been doing, I haven't really self reflected enough since I haven't had much free time to do anything other than focus on my project, so I've forgotten about analyzing my past problems and what I've learned from past mistakes.

Update 3/26

I've been working mainly in Edgecam for the last week or so whenever I can find free time in school to use the tech computers, since Edgecam costs upwards of $400 to license for a year. Most of the time I've been simply trying to figure out how to use it again, since I forgot how to use most of the features on it. After a couple of tries and a youtube tutorial video, I figured out how to click the manufacturing button on the toolbar to get myself started with milling operations. I did some really basic stuff with profiling the putter and that sort of thing. I've actually got some pictures to show too!

You can somewhat see the outline of the putter underneath all of the purple lines, but that's not really the point of this post to show the putter head. The purple lines are basically the path the mill head is supposed to follow in order to cut the main outline of the head. Each cut has to be shallow or else the risk of the mill head breaking or overheating becomes significantly higher, since it is metal cutting metal.

This would be what it looks like after the 3 profiling operations I implemented; each operation cut a different tier of the back of the putter. The reason it's not completely cut out of the metal, or the reason the metal around the head isn't all gone, is because 1) the surrounding metal is essentially scrap metal and there's no need to cut more than I need to, and 2) I'm still awful at using this program. However, being terrible at this and improperly using the profiling operation opened b=my eyes; the putter with the thicker back and curved cut-out looks much better than the original head, and so I've updated the original head to look more like it.

Also, the process of cutting this made me think about how exactly I'm going to mill the head, so I looked it up and found that cutting aluminum involves a lot of coolant; even more if the aluminum alloy has harder metals in it. And that made me look for different types of coolant to buy, since I don't know if the school 1) has enough coolant or 2) would be willing to let me use their coolant. The most recommended type of coolant that I found was Qualichem Q-cool 361 ($30/gal). I then couldn't find how much of it I would need, and then found even more about CNC milling aluminum WITHOUT coolant, so I'll be asking Mr. Breigle very soon about the coolant situation.

This week I'll be working more on Edgecam and my goal is to have a complete milled profile by next week.

Poem thoughts

On Monday in class we read the poem 'Two Tramps in the mud Time' by Robert Frost, and we were asked to write a blog/journal entry about what we thought about it and how a part of it relates to our own project. For me, it was the stanza about him chopping wood that resonated with me:

"Good blocks of oak it was I split, As large around as the chopping block; And evert piece I squarely hit Fell splinterless as a cloven rock. The blows that a life of self-control Spares to strike for the common good, That day, giving a loose my soul, I spent on the unimportant wood."

I chose this because I get the same, enjoyable mindless experience when sanding my golf shaft, because even though it's slow work I enjoy knowing that it will pay off in the end with a good looking piece of wood. There's also another stanza later on when he talks about him loving the prospect of chopping wood even more and relishes it when he is surrounded by problems; although I don't think I could ever love sanding wood, I have experienced that same situation and can relate.

I've got a funny feeling that other people in the class are going to choose the same lines, since the other stanzas are kinda abstract and I asked the people around me and they all said that same thing as me.