Had a talk with a journeyman last week that totally shifted how I look at bending pipe

I was running some 3/4" EMT on a commercial job downtown and a 30-year journeyman watched me fight with a kick for about five minutes before walking over. He just said "you're measuring from the wrong end, kid" and showed me his method. Turns out I'd been eyeballing the star on my bender wrong for like 2 years and adding extra degrees to compensate. He spent 15 minutes showing me how to use the deduct properly and my bends came out perfect on the first try. It hit me hard because I thought I had it figured out but I was just making extra work for myself. Has anyone else had a simple trick from an old timer completely change your speed on a common task?

2 comments

2 Comments

oliver21mo ago

Admit I was doing the same dumb stuff for way too long, lol.

lunakim1mo ago

I think the part that really got me, @oliver2, is how we don't realize we're in a loop until something breaks. I was rewiring my whole shop with the same janky extension cord daisy chain for months, convinced I'd get around to fixing it "next weekend." Took a buddy walking in and being like, "dude, that's a fire hazard" for me to see I was just being stubborn about convenience, you know?