Can we talk about how nobody hand-drafts isometrics anymore?

My old foreman from the Baton Rouge job said he still keeps his drafting tools in his truck, 'just in case the computers go down.' It made me realize we've lost that whole layer of skill between the blueprint and the bend. Anyone still teach the new guys how to do it?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_charlie2mo ago

Man, you hit the nail on the head. My first journeyman could draw a perfect iso on a napkin with a pencil. Now the kids just stare at a tablet. That skill is totally gone. It was like knowing how to read the real story of the pipe, not just the computer's version. Your foreman is a smart guy keeping his tools.

abby6752mo ago

Gotta push back on this a little. Those tablets let apprentices see a 3D model and walk the whole run before they even pick up a torch. It's a better picture than any napkin sketch. The skill isn't gone, it just changed. Now they need to know how to run the software and check the model, which is its own kind of smart. The old way was great, but the new way gets the pipe in the air faster and with fewer mistakes.

the_linda2mo ago

The old skills are still important to know. A tablet battery dies way faster than a pencil. That napkin sketch knowledge is real backup.