"pyotr filipivich" wrote in message
...
|SNIP
| It tends to follow you around. Friend is working making pallets. He
| determined that their machines were a few thou off.
| I figured out the shear I was working had a 3.6 thou per foot taper
| between the back stop and the shear, and that of the 4 1/2 feet of guide
| only about 4 inches was square to the blade. So why am I getting
| dimensions to three decimal places, when I can only hold, at best, a 32nd?
| I didn't stay there long.
|
|
| tschus
| pyotr

In my aerospace day job I often work to thousandths or tighter, so when
I come home and get out my tape measure, the thickness of the line is a big
issue with me, so much that I use a ballpoint pen or a mechanical pencil
instead of a clumsy standard or carpenter's pencil. As a kid I never knew
why my father always drew little arrows on one side of the line or the
other, and now I know that the kerf was way too sloppy for him. He was
pipefitter in his job, and I don't think he worked to the same tolerance as
I have to, but they sure add up quickly.
I have noticed that the very best carpenters are really anal about
square corners and good lumber. I'm getting there fast. Working with metal
gets even worse for me, and since I don't have accurate metal cutting tools,
I really spend a lot of time trying to get it right, which following my
torch use is hard.

There's terms for the various mental conditions that cause such anal
retentiveness and compulsions, which I don't think are all bad!