A foreman in Spokane told me my weld prep was too clean

He said I was spending an hour grinding a bevel to a mirror finish on a 3-inch pipe for a low-pressure steam line. His exact words were, 'You're building a boiler, not a show car. That extra time adds up for no gain.' I cut my prep time down to about 15 minutes, just getting it clean and to the right angle, not polished. The welds hold just fine. Anyone else get pushback for being too careful on non-critical joints?

4 comments

4 Comments

terryk281mo agoMost Upvoted

My first boss called me a 'polish fetishist' before I learned what good enough was.

garcia.tyler1mo ago

That's a wild thing for a boss to say out loud, @terryk28. What kind of work were you doing that made them call you that? It sounds like you were maybe putting in a ton of extra effort on small details. Was it hard to figure out when to stop and call something done?

norab211mo ago

Wait, your boss actually said that to your face?!

grace6071mo ago

Ever learn the hard way what 'fit for purpose' means? I mean, I used to overdo prep on stuff that just needed to hold water, not win a beauty contest. It's a balance between doing it right and wasting time.