Remember when we used to layout tube sheets with a center punch and soapstone?

I was working on a condenser retube down in Baton Rouge a few weeks back, and the old foreman showed me his trick for laying out the hole pattern using a simple cardboard template he cut himself. Saved me over 2 hours of measuring and marking compared to the digital layout tool I usually lug around. Makes me wonder how many of the old school methods I've been ignoring. Anyone else find a dusty old trick that worked better than the modern way?

2 comments

2 Comments

cooper.drew7d ago

Did you catch that Mike Rowe podcast where he talks about old school trade tricks?

emery2907d ago

Be honest with yourself for a second. You're talking about saving two hours on one layout job. Does that actually matter in the grand scheme of things? Cardboard templates are fine until they get wet or bend out of shape, then your whole pattern's off by an eighth of an inch and you gotta redo it anyway. Plus that digital tool's probably got accuracy specs down to a few thousandths, which matters when you're dealing with tight tube tolerances. The old timer's trick is neat and all, but one bad cardboard edge and you're drilling holes in the wrong spot, costing way more than two hours to fix. Just saying, maybe pump the brakes on calling it a miracle method.