Old timer told me to blue my plans before drafting...

I had this senior drafter named Frank at my last job in Toledo. He kept saying to spray adhesive my blueprints to a board before laying out new lines on top. I thought it was old school nonsense and just worked off my screen. Three weeks into a big commercial HVAC layout, I lost 40 minutes of work when my paper shifted mid-draw. Now I always blue them down first thing. Anyone else have an old school trick that actually saved them time?

2 comments

2 Comments

emma34919d ago

Frank over at Toledo swore by spraying down his paper with adhesive before any layout. I blew him off until my own paper slipped and I had to redo 40 minutes of pipe work. Now I never skip that step either.

cameron31819d ago

I had that happen to me too, with a set of duct plans. The Frank in that story knew what he was talking about. Spray adhesive is cheap insurance against losing your layout when you're in the middle of a tight bend or a tricky transition. I also learned to tape down the edges with drafting tape on top of the spray, just for extra hold. That way nothing shifts even if you're leaning on the paper a bit. Another thing that saved me time was using a triangle template for angles instead of measuring every single one with a protractor. It's slower to set up at first but you cut out a lot of guesswork later.