My old boss told me to never trust a 2D detail from a 3D model without checking the source file first.

This was about eight years ago when I was still working in a big shop. He saw me pulling a dimension straight off a PDF detail for a steel bracket. He said, 'Kid, that's a picture. Go open the actual SolidWorks assembly and measure it there.' I thought he was just being picky. Sure enough, two days later, the PDF detail was wrong by a quarter inch because someone had scaled the viewport wrong. It would have messed up a whole batch of parts. I still do that check on every single drawing I get now, even from trusted clients. How many of you still run into that kind of sloppy file handoff?

3 comments

3 Comments

alice_palmer2015d ago

Trusted clients" still send you bad files sometimes?

dakota_nelson4315d ago

Oh man, "trusted clients" is right, @alice_palmer20. They're the worst for it because you let your guard down. Just last month a regular sent over a "final" PDF for a simple plate. The scale was off by a factor of two. If I hadn't opened the STEP file they also sent, I would have cut a part twice as big as they needed. That old boss advice is the only thing that saves you.

drew_park15d ago

Yeah the "let your guard down" part is so true. I used to think once a client sent good files a few times they were safe. Then a long term client messed up a drawing so bad it would have scrapped a whole batch. Now I check everything like it's from a stranger, no exceptions. That habit is the only reason my shop hasn't eaten a huge cost on a simple mistake.