The old boilermaker in Gary told me to quit chasing the perfect rollout and just tack it
Was talking with a guy named Sal who's been at the trade 31 years while we were waiting on a fit-up in Gary, and he watched me spend 40 minutes marking a shell course to death before I even struck an arc. He said the fit only has to be as good as the tolerance, not as good as my feelings, then tacked it himself in 10 minutes and it passed. Thing is, he's right, I've been burning half a shift on rollouts that were already fine. Any of you older hands got a rule for when good enough is actually good enough?
Man I know that feeling all too well, been there myself more times than I can count. It stings a little when the old timer shows you up in ten minutes after you spent forty, but he did you a favor. The rule I picked up somewhere along the way is if it fits the print and passes your level and tape, stop staring at it and start burning. Your eyes start lying to you after the first twenty minutes anyway, you just keep seeing flaws that aren't there. Sal sounds like a good one to keep buying coffee for.