Warning: A client's sharp note about my weld callouts made me rethink everything

I sent a set of structural steel drawings for a warehouse in Phoenix to a fabricator, and they came back with a note that said 'Your weld symbols are a mess, we can't build this.' I had been using the same generic weld callout for every joint for years, assuming it was fine. They pointed out three specific joints where my callout didn't match the load path at all. I spent the next two days re-learning AWS A2.4 and re-did the whole sheet. Has anyone else gotten burned by getting too comfortable with one drafting habit?

3 comments

3 Comments

wilson.sam7d ago

Honestly, that AWS book is brutal. I keep a cheat sheet taped to my monitor now with the five weld symbols I actually use. Saved me last month on a railing job.

thompson.nathan7d ago

My old boss used to say if you're not getting notes back, you're not sending out drawings... guess he was right.

finleyh897d ago

Yeah, "assuming it was fine" is a trap. I once had a whole batch of parts scrapped because my default tolerance was wrong for a press fit.