Let’s discuss the questions and conversations we had in the live video.
Can’t wait!
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We’ll be live in 2 1/2 hours! See you all there!
Is this the thread for questions?
Sure ask away
Hey Jason,
Why did you not have the big fab shop from the first video provide a inspection report like they claimed they could provide? They seemed like the only shop tested with a quality department. That’s not an excuse why they failed, they should have made your parts intolerance to the print without one.
Do you want pineapple on your _____?
Well, the answer is “It depends”. It depends on the rest of that sentence. If it’s roast pork, then yes. If it’s granola breakfast cereal, maybe no.
Is a test for fabricators a good idea? Well, “It depends”.
Are we testing everyone, accross all niche fields, and comparing times? Then there needs to be standard equipment. Because task is different, the challenge is different, depending on what you have to build this frame with. Is it a test for an employer to use to see whether a prospective employee can make it happen with the given tooling? Or is it a test of the tooling in a fab shop, to see if it’s even possible with that setup? These are different, like roast pork and cereal.
If it’s a benchmark for what a tooling set should be able to make possible, then the thing we really need to be asking is ‘who is that test for?’ Is it for every fabrication workshop possible? Or only the few shops that actually need to produce things to the kind of specs so far used in this video series? Trailer builders to aerospace welders? Cause that’s going to determine what the test needs to have built in. For instance, If we want it to be one frame structure applied accross all possible types of fab shop then we need to build in variability. Maybe a different degree of precision? So that trailer builders and aerospace welders build the same thing, but have to hit different tolerances?
And if it’s pizza …
Ahh, too late. I couldn’t figure out how to actually join the youtube video instead of just watching it. Still super informative and you actually answered a question that I had asked in another thread. Thanks for doing those.
Is there some kind of problem with a guy who makes a pretty nice fixture table creating and sharing interesting content online promoting said table? There are A LOT of content creators promoting companies and products of all kinds. Jason just happens to be promoting himself.
A follow up I would be interested in would be going back to each fab shop and discussing with them the idea of adding a fixture table, or even letting them try to remake the frames using a fixture table in a “test drive” type situation. Might be able to sell a few more tables…
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We know what make a more professional shop… a fixture table. 
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Thanks, responded in the thread.
Coming from a computer electronics development background, I can tell you nearly every industry has a certification process whether it’s customer purchase spec or a standard of reference like with construction building codes or IEEE or the miriade other specifications in electronics land. I’ve seen so many metal fabs that say they can do a job without any way to ensure the product conforms to a standard when no standard is specified and as a function of that jobs have been outsource and mailed away to places like japan, china, and Taiwan that have solved these problems decades ago. If you are saying fixture tables have no market then you are part of the problem and honestly your opinion doesn’t matter.
Jason i think it makes a certain amount of sense to codify a minimum standard in fabrication, and you have done a great job trying to make that happen with your tools built to your not that high but higher than the standard specifications. Keep it up.
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dude no this is super tone deaf.
Actually, done off camera it could be super enlightening to those fabricators if they were open to it, but Jason not wanting to throw them under the bus means it would be a delicate situation if he tried to bring them in to try out a table on camera.
I missed the live feed I was working and lost track of time
Maybe he can do it after 3:30-4 so people that work can watch
You get a lot of crap for a guy that is showing people how they can turn out better quality parts faster and therefore should be able to increase profits. Of course you are showcasing your tools and demonstrating how you think they can solve problems encountered in fabrication. Good for you and thanks for sharing and educating us all and coming up with innovative tools to help those who make a living at this, as well as those of us who are just interested in seeing new tools.
I don’t have a fixture table or a need for one as I no longer fabricate parts. I grew up on a farm and made plenty of parts and repairs to equipment on the farm using everything from a couple metal sawhorses a level and a carpenter square in a dirt floor quonset to building more elaborate fixtures for parts that there were going to be multiples of. Everything my Dad and Im built ended up being fit for purpose, albeit to varying levels of accuracy depending on what was required. Often when parts were taken to be built at the “professional” welding and machine shop in town they required re-work upon bringing them home and finding they did’t fit or were so crooked as to be unusable having to cut them apart or “heat and beat” them to get them to work.
Someone with the proper skills could build your parts on a simple table and with care could turn out the part to the accuracy you specified. I would doubt anyone could do it anywhere close to the time you did it in using your fixture table. It doesn’t take much to figure out how long the fixture table would take to pay for itself, even if it is cutting 1/3 off your fabrication time. Using your test which took 3 hours, used $100 in materials and cost $500 works out to $133/hr for welding and fabrication time. If it only takes you an extra hour to weld them not using a fixture table (I think one hour is being pretty optimistic) it is costing you $33/hr. If you assume a one person shop that is doing 4 hours of time using the fixture table/day it would work out to about $34,000/year assuming you get extra jobs for the time you save. That pays for the table and whatever fixtures you need in less than a year.
It would be interesting to see you build the parts on your heavy plate table and see how long it takes to build to the specified accuracy.
Enjoy the videos and the tools and testing
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still, no, not really. the context is important. that still comes off as…
“hey i gave you a task i knew you would fail at LOL”
which is what he’s referring to in all of these videos from the guys that are saying they can do this all themselves on their garage floor, etc.
he could do this and it would be extremely awkward and end in no sale. let them figure it out themselves.
I think he was making the videos because
People said you dont need a fixture table to make good parts
He didn’t know they would fail, he suspected they might based on his experience (or that it might be very time consuming) despite each guy saying they could do the work to the stated tolerance.
I didn’t say it was a slam dunk, I said they’d have to be open to it. I’m always open to learning how I could do better from people who know things, and if he came to me the right way I’d be totally in to try out a table at his shop for free when I have some free time if I was one of the guys he bought parts from. The real problem is that too many people would take it the way you’re proposing and their egos wouldn’t let them take the feedback in the right light.