2
Warning about that drafting template I used at the job site on 5th street
Had a template shift on me during a 60-page set of plans for a new office building downtown. The alignment was off by a full 3/16ths and I didn't catch it until after the prints went out. Anybody else run into this with the older plastic templates?
3 comments
Log in to join the discussion
Log In3 Comments
ward.anna18d ago
A half inch off on a whole floor layout? That sounds more like a setup problem than a template issue honestly. Ive been drafting for fifteen years and Ive dropped plastic templates down stairs, kicked them across job sites, and left them in the truck during summer heat. Sure they stretch and warp but 3/16ths on a sixty page set is barely noticeable unless youre checking with a micrometer. People act like the world is ending over a little drift. Most of those homeowners wouldnt catch a quarter inch shift unless you pointed it out and made a big deal about it. Maybe slow down and double check your registration marks instead of blaming the tool.
10
Only 3/16ths? Lucky you. I had a template slip last week and now the whole second floor of a house I'm framing is off by a good half inch. Now I get to explain to the homeowner why their door frames are leaning like theyre headed to the bar. Makes you wonder if those old plastic templates were actually designed by a sadist who enjoys watching us suffer. Are you going to switch to the metal ones or just start tracing everything on site with a straight edge?
9
green.iris18d ago
Funny you mention the metal templates, cause I've been eyeballing them for a while now but then I hear stories about how the metal ones can warp if you drop them on concrete just once and then they're basically scrap too. So what do you do, just buy a new one every few months and call it a cost of doing business. That half inch thing sounds like a nightmare though, honestly makes me wonder how much of this is just the materials being cheap now versus us making mistakes. Are you finding the metal ones hold up better to the day to day abuse or is it more of a trade off with them being less forgiving when you do mess up? Cause I'd rather deal with a little slip now and then than have to redo an entire floor layout because the tool itself gave out.
2