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Got a job back from a fabricator and the weld symbols were a mess
I sent out a set of steel frame drawings for a small deck project, one set with my usual detailed weld callouts and another with just basic notes for the shop to figure out. The shop sent back the frame from the second set and the welds were all over the place, some too big, some in the wrong spots. It cost me an extra half day to fix and talk it through with them. The frame from the first set, with the clear symbols, was perfect and went right into place. In my experience, taking the extra ten minutes to draw each symbol right on the view saves a ton of headache later. It seems obvious, but I got lazy thinking they would just know. Has anyone else found that being super specific on the drawing saves more time than you think?
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smith.blair8h ago
Tell me about it, I've learned that lesson the hard way too. My laziness always ends up costing me more time than it saves.
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pat14225d ago
Yeah, that's the thing, it's not really about them "just knowing." A good shop can build anything, but they need a clear map. Leaving it up to them means they have to guess your intent, and that's where the small mistakes creep in. That half day of fixes probably cost more than the ten minutes per drawing you saved. It's a classic case of being penny wise and pound foolish with your own time.
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