Quality budget tools can hit way above their weight class if the steel is decent. I've had good luck with off brand rasps that just needed a quick pass on a sharpening stone to match the expensive ones. Key is checking the tooth pattern close before buying, some cheap ones grind instead of cut.

Wait, what fabric quality issues have you run into with stretch velvet specifically? Like which brands or types tend to be worse than others?

That 18 beams in one day is solid work but 12 stories usually means a taller crane than what you'd use for a standard 12 story residential job. Just a heads up, the height of the building doesn't always equal the crane's reach if you're working on a setback or tight site. Still sounds like a great day, what kind of rig were you running?

Man that "stack up faster than you realize" part is dead on. I did a bridge job over in Gary a few years back and the foreman had a clicker counter. Thought I was around 300 by lunch on day two. Looked at his tally and it was 487. Felt like my arm was gonna fall off after that. @susan81 is right about the whiteboard thing being a solid way to see progress. I just kept my head down and welded. Didn't even feel the count creep up like that. Makes you appreciate the grind in a weird way.

Man I went through the exact same thing with a pair of boots I bought in 2019. That first couple months of breaking them in was brutal but now they fit better than anything I've ever owned.