You want to be loved and liked by everyone but loved for the right reasons that glorify our Lord. 

Sounds reasonable right? The problem is, how do you become someone who is genuinely likable, encouraging, and fun while not being a people pleaser? The good news is, it is not only possible but a good and noble thing to do. 

I'm here to tell you that it's all your fault... let me explain,

I'm sure we all know certain people in our lives that seem to be comfortable with everyone and don't have any trouble starting up conversations or keeping them going. Some of us may write it off as "oh, they were just born like that" or "they only give people what they want" or even "they're an extrovert, and I'm not". 

Have no fear because you don't have to leave those seemingly extroverted people on their own, and you too can enjoy amazing fluid conversations and relationships that both you and the person you talk to think about it long after it's over!

We've all heard the term "just be yourself," and I'm probably not the only one who cringes at this, thinking it's one of those "sunshine and rainbows, there's nothing bad in the world" overly optimistic view. However, there is some amazing truth to it that is both realistic and beautiful at the same time! 

Being yourself does not mean giving in to whatever fancy you happen to feel at the moment. Being yourself is being who God made you to be. God made each one of us in His image and each one distinctly different; there are no two persons alike. Being made in the image of God, we want to understand things, and how they work, we want to be like Him and be all-knowing, which is what lead to the fall of Adam. 

Because we have this innate desire to understand the world, we tend to want to 'box things up' by observing something, naming it, and applying those observations to other things we see. We see creatures that walk on all fours in a field and call them cows; we see slim shiny things in the water and call them fish. This is a good thing because if not, the sheer amount of information in the world would be too much for our minds to comprehend, so we put names to things with the same qualities. 

The issue is... we can get trapped inside the box we made. It may have served us well in the past, but as we learn, grow, and expand our understanding, it becomes more constrained and makes it harder to really move on to bigger and better things! If we think all creatures in the water are fish and exactly alike, that may be okay if we don't see many fish, but if it's our only source of food, then the type of fish can mean life or death. 

Starting life, we lean on the understanding of those around us. We take for granted that there is a country called Brazil even though we've never been. And this is great for the things that don't necessarily affect our everyday lives. But when it comes to something more personal and close to use, like who we are to be before the Lord, there has to be personal exploration and learning on your own. You have to carefully, prayerfully consider what you are doing to see if it's in alignment with God's word. 

A good example of this in history was slavery; at one point, someone said that these persons were inferior and found that the majority of those people had a certain color of skin, so trying to understand the world better, they put them in a box saying "most people with that color of skin are inferior". 

While it may have served them originally in a specific time in their life, they haven't changed their understanding because it was already a comfortable idea and would force them to give up the notion that they fully understood that part of the world as it was. 

Now you're probably saying, "Gideon, what does this have to do with being a more genuinely likable, fun, and outgoing person?" well, dear reader, because we put ideas in boxes, we also put people in boxes. This includes yourself. I am an introvert, so I can't be super outgoing; it's just not my way. While it's just a thought in your head, it's written into your subconscious that you cannot be an outgoing and likable person whether you really think it or not. 

While it seems like just wishing away the deep written thought that you aren't or can't be an outgoing, likable, fun person fixes all things, it's not that far off from the truth. 

Something I am not saying is that it will be easy to change. Going up to someone you've never met before and introduce yourself will probably still be very uncomfortable and awkward no matter what. This absolutely does not mean that you can't or aren't a naturally fun and likable person that gets along with everyone you meet; it just means that you haven't had the practice yet to be who you are to be (yourself). 

The question then arises, "How do I be myself if you're telling me to be something I'm not?". Being yourself has been thrown around so much that it's almost lost all meaning. Being yourself means that you have first to understand who you really are, and most of us only have a clue as to who we really are. 

It's a lifelong question that no one but God fully understands, and we all seek to find. Yourself is not your feelings; it's who God made you be. Beginning the journey of finding out who you are has to realize that you aren't all-knowing. It's laying down the fact that you might, just possibly, could be wrong "trust in the Lord with all your heart; and lean not on your own understanding." 

My own journey started with prayer, asking the Lord to open up my mind to His understanding and allowing me to see the path He has for me to go, day by day week by week, and month by month, every day petitioning the same request. Slowly but surely He revealed to me small snippets of understanding who I am to be, and each day I learn more about it, the more I learn how far I am and the path keeps getting longer and longer the farther along it I go. But the adventures along the way keep getting more exciting and the stakes rise each time. It's living life as a quest and getting to learn, understand and grow along the way. Every week is so different from the last it feels like a whole new book. 

The foundation of being a genuine, likable, fun, outgoing person that gets along with everyone is all within your head and starts with understanding who you are to be. It's whether you choose to be who God has you to be or to avoid the path with distractions and self-indulgences. You can't avoid it, it's going to be difficult and hard, but it will be nothing you cannot withstand. 

It's not easy to change, but changing is a good and noble thing to do. It's a selfless thing to do. Being outgoing and easy to get along with everyone gives you the ability to lead and encourage others closer to Christ. Thankfully, it's not an impossible journey, and there are things you can do to make your path easier!

Later, I'll share some super helpful tips to have meaningful, engaging conversations with anyone that leaves both parties ecstatic for the next one!

Moving back to the plate parts again after shipping out the Delrin pieces, I need to mill out a couple of challenging features on the tall edges, proving to be an interesting challenge!

One of these large flat parts' interesting and difficult features is that they need threaded holes on the sides of the 0.5" plates. Normally this wouldn't be an issue, and I could just set it up in the vice upright. However, the problem is that they extend longer than the z-height can reach.

I will be doing these plates by setting up a large flat square directly on the mill's surface whose face will sit flush with the backside of the X-Y table. Setting the square at the back, I can let the part hang on to a flat face while reaching below the table itself. It's a bit difficult to put into words, but I will show visuals next week on the process. 

One of the plate parts I finished up today was a half-circle that needed counter-bored holes on the arc's surface. This wasn't as difficult as I initially thought it would be to do and only took me a few minutes to program the operation. I was able to set it up on long jaws. 

Since there's no flat surface on it, I was initially thrown off on how you would find the center and top of the part. Thankfully I was able to use a web probing cycle (the tool moves in a pattern to find the center of two different points by moving out, down, inward, then repeats on the other side and moves to the difference of those numbers) 

Making my way very steadily through these Delrin pieces! 

It's been a fun and interesting challenge to make these in one complete setup, but it's a success! 

The parts aren't complicated and only have a few features on each face; however, doing this on the 3-axis would be tedious and time-consuming. Plus, I would run the risk of scrapping each time I took it out of the machine due to my own errors. So, my boss made a simple podium blank for the 5-axis, which I got to use in manufacturing these parts!

The basic rundown of the sequence is using double-stick tape to attach the raw stock onto the top of the podium, then milling it down to its final outer depth with a shell mill, then using smaller endmills; I could pocket out all the little features. 

One of the areas that were a bit of a challenge was getting square corners on the side features of the parts, which required them to past the top height of the fixture plate. I was able to overcome this by cutting into the podium just enough for an endmill to pass by below it; in this manner, I got all the features in a single setup and just had to load new stock on, press the button and come back a few minutes later to rinse and repeat!

I'm getting a lot more confident on the 5-axis overall, and my speed is rapidly increasing from programming to the finished part! :)

I came in this morning to find, a wonder of wonders, a finished part without a smoking shop! 

Today I focused on finishing up the remaining plate parts and getting those ready for their final operation, which is drilling and tapping holes on their side, which will be an interesting challenge!

One of the rectangular pieces I got to work on today had only a couple of basic hole features but was too long for the minimill to reach in one setup. So my boss cut the width to length on the manual mill, then I put it off-center in the vice of the minimill and machined half the features, then slid it down, dialed off one of the existing holes, and was able to finish the other side. It's a bit of outside the box thinking my boss came up with to get this part finished up, though very simple!

I also got started on the podium fixture plate for the 5-axis, which I will be using for a Delrin contract! Super basic concept, a cylinder with a large groove cut in the middle will allow me to use toe clamps and prevent it from rotating on the b-axis table. With the upper portion of the podium, I can use small c-clamps to hold my stock onto the fixture plate, allowing versatile use on many different projects!

Running through these new plate parts that came in the other day! 

Super basic pieces with only a few complicated hole features on the sides of the parts that I'll machine out on the 5-axis. There are hardly any tolerance requirements to speak of, so I was able to quickly program and get them milled out very quickly. I took 0.02" stepdowns with 0.008" on the walls that I cleaned up at the final depth for the contour. I'm able to contour each of these parts completely using double stick tape on the fixture plate (see the previous post) and require almost no cleanup afterward!

For locating each piece of stock, I have pins set up in the fixture plate that I can push the aluminum up against. I don't have a ton of stock on these parts' sidewalls, so I'm amazed by the pin locating method's repeatability and accuracy!

I'm quite pleased with the results I'm getting, and I've only got one more piece before I'm finished with this set!

A new contract came in for a small Delrin piece, fairly basic, though it will require some interesting angles to get all the features. My boss made a simple podium fixture plate I'll be using on the 5-axis where I can double stick down the delrin stock onto! 

We've got our own little assembly line of Unimog vehicles!

I was able to get the final program proofed, and I'm now slowly running through all the anodized trucks we've got in the shop to get the machine ready for new contracts! 

It's been a slow and tedious project, but I've definitely learned a ton from it, and all the little dumb issues I had to go through were a great lesson in perseverance and patience. I'm not going to say the trucks themselves were entirely worth the headache, but at least I got to take my time and try a lot of different machining techniques on them!

I had an odd issue with cutting these windows out where the cutter only seemed to like very specific RPMs to get a decent finish. I played around with different combinations of RPM and chip load, and the only one that gave me a clean and smooth finish was running it at 8k RPMs and 6 tenths per tooth (3 flutes). I'm not entirely sure why this is the case, but it works, so I'll leave it at that for the time being. 

I got another contract that comes in the shop today from a nuclear testing facility, so I've got some special spec requirements for these plate-like pieces!

These parts are straightforward, with a basic contour and wide open height thickness tolerance.

My plan of action will be double stick taping the raw stock onto a fixture plate, contouring, and engraving for the first operation. Then, due to their height, I've got a square that I will bolt directly onto the bed, which I can clamp the plate part onto. I don't have the clearance height in the Minimill if I have them set upright in the vice. 

Because I'm using double-stick tape, I can't use coolant, so I will have to carefully step my endmill down, taking very light cuts. I've got the fixture plate all cleaned up and located the part on the fixture by pushing my stock up against temporary pins. I'm all ready to go for tomorrow, and I don't think (knock on wood) I'll run into any issues with these pieces! 

I got to finish up the 5-axis vice for the truck project (see previous post) today!

I initially had some issues with the VF2 where the probing system would keep giving me "Error Probe Open 1092" when trying to probe each of my tools. Thankfully it was a quick fix by replacing the batteries and moving aside some cables that blocked the main unit from reading the tool probe. 

I'm finishing the vice on the 5-axis and not the minimill so that it will be true to the machine I plan to use it. If I were to finish it on the smaller mill, it could be slightly off when I put it on the VF1; however, it will be closer to the same position each time since it's finished on the larger. 

I'm not going to lie; I was a little nervous about rerunning the 5-axis after the crash earlier this week (see previous posts). I ran everything at 5% rapids and very slow feedrate with my finger hovering the feed stop to catch any potential mistakes. Thankfully, nothing went amiss, and I was able to build my first 5-axis vice without trouble! 

Today I was given the opportunity to make a 5-axis vice for the truck project!

A little backstory:

My boss started a marketing campaign to reach out to potential clients by sending eye-catching Unimog truck model toys to promote the company and show off our capability. 

The process of making these was to put a block of metal on a dovetail vice on the 5-axis, finish the part minus the windows and engraving, send it off to get plated in blue, then when it returns, put it back on the machine and mill out the highlights. One of the problems we encountered was putting the trucks back on the machine. 

The issue is that the remaining stock that was cut away from the truck works well as a fixture. However, you have to keep it on the machine as long as you wanted repeatability. But the second you moved it, you could never have the same part run the same way and would be slightly offset.

The solution to this problem was what I worked on today, building a new vice that bolts directly onto the b-axis table designed specifically for this truck. So if a job came in and we needed the machine, I could take the vice off, put the dovetail one on, run the job, and then bring the truck vice back into place without having to cut another truck. 

I just completed these nuclear parts today, and I got to clean and ship them out!

The pieces were a bit more complicated than my boss initially quoted them at, so the time was a little longer than was expected; however, each part is within spec and before the deadline. There were a few close calls due to some unconventional workholding setups that the client required to get 0.0003" tolerances, which is slightly higher than what Haas is built for.

For the cleaning process, I gave each part a good swishing around in hot-soapy water, then rinsed in water, and finally cleaned thoroughly with alcohol to remove any remaining grit on the parts! The application for these parts requires an extensive cleaning, which is only what we do before it gets sent off to another facility to get deep cleaned. 

All in all, I learned some new techniques to get almost spot-on accuracy by releasing the material of bulk of the material, letting it rest, then coming back in again to finish the surfaces. It's amazing to see how big a difference in the room's relative temperature will affect the size and shape of the part!