Why is it so absurd to have a welder that knows how to read engineering drawings? If they could read accurately formatted drawings and actually abided by the tolerances, the parts would be in spec, right?
For the second part, yes it should be standard practice to ensure the part you made meets the drawing spec but we have evidence to the contrary.
Jason, you did call out the material as steel in the BOM! You called out TS2x2 TS=Tube STEEL. There is no excuse for the aluminum frame.
nah, the comments are off to bring us over here, to his site instead of YouTubeās.
Itās not absurd but youāre trying to change industry standards here. Thatās absurd. Engineering drawings are missing weld symbols also, which makes it impractical to either force them to those or have them missing altogether. On top of that, each company have their OWN standards on design drawings which is fine as long as itās being taken care of that other readers understand themā¦which is the case here.
Iād visit each shop and explain the problems with their work. Get them to watch the vid and then give them the option to reimburse you with what they think you deserve.
Customer satisfaction is key to a thriving business. As you said, ādo I ask for a refund or just not go backā
They could use this info to improve their fabricators, equipment, customer service or all.
Another great video Jason and team. Keep em coming.
I would defiantly tell them about the test and redirect to the YouTube video
they need to know, how can anyone improve if they can not identify problems ?
that big plant had a report what type of specs was it measuring ?
I agree, every one of the welders in the shops all thought āItās just a squareā and checked out mentally.
Drew, being almost without experience, looked closely at the drawing and followed it as exactly as he could.
With those two opposed mentalities and the excellent tools Drew had available, this outcome was almost a given.
Your comment is exactly why many of the people who make and maintain things hate engineers. I have a doctoral degree, but I know enough about the process of fabrication to know that Jasonās drawings are going to be far easier to understand for, at the very least, two of the three shops he went to. All three reviewed his drawings, had an opportunity to ask questions, and accepted the drawings for production. It may be reasonable to expect that a journeyman machinist could understand your drawings, because machinists work in decimals and frequently to tolerances in ten thousandths of inches, but not a welder and not a garage machinist. These parts are to be welded, not machined. Hiring a machinist to do this pure fabrication project that requires exactly zero machining would not be a reasonable expectation (and in many cases would frustrate the machinist enough to make them significantly increase their price in an effort to drive away such work). Drawings for welding are inherently different than drawings for machining. Welders do not work in decimals, full stop. If you do not understand the capabilities of the people who are tasked with trying to bring what you have drawn into a physical form that in itself speaks volumes.
GD&T callouts are completely unnecessary to convey the standards he needed. Most fabricators canāt understand them anyway.
If they slapped it together with an ounce of decent craftsmanship, they likely wouldāve met or exceeded all the tolerances.
In the last few years, Iāve been finding that machined parts I source in China are BETTER than the ones in the US. Unfortunate but true. Better meaning, surface finish and dimensions are superior.
Almost all supplier quality issues are from my US suppliers now! Itās like greed and lack of quality trades training is destroying the manufacturing here.
Aerospace manufacturing is the last refuge here, only because many of the parts MUST be made in the US. The Chinese are faster, more ambitious/hungry, and less arrogant.
The only thing I think Drew could have done better is to use some stop blocks when cutting the sides, that would have saved him a trip to the grinder.
But obviously it didnāt matter in the end.
Your right I did! I also had a verbal conversation on material also. He was told Steel.
Only goes to show, if you want something done right, do it yourself or have Drew
do it. I think having that fixture table makes a huge difference, its serves as an
aliment tool and functional gage all at the same time. Also, the table helps suck up a lot of heat to minimize welding distortion. You should go back to each shop and ask for a refund and see how they react.
It appears you might work for a Defense Contractor which would furnish unnecessary amounts of engineering and quality control processes for
such a simple weldment. Also, money would be no object.
Wow, so disappointing.
Iād give each shop the option of how to remidy this build, fix/do-over/refund. Regardless, this opportunity allows them to learn and hopefully deliver better for future customers while choosing whether to fix the issue or surrender on this build. Not pursuing them would be a disservice to them and their future customers.
Hey there ,always loved your vidsš
The biggest difference in this whole video was who needs to prove themselves.
As a 10 year welder myself i see alot of newbies acting like they know it all, a oldskool welder called Wim told me 1 golden rule.
Even I make mistakes and thats how you learn.
Measurements has nothing to do with skills ,just patience.
If they take for instance a couple hours or a month, who should deliver the best work?
Both are equal, but her comes the flipside now take a look at what the have to prove to themselvesš
I for once want all criteria to match as specified, then a bit of play is good.
And that takes as long as it takes, Iāll try and be on time but if you want something good weāll both need to be patient.
Fabrication takes time and that in terms means 
,but a good fabricator doesnt make stuf look good for others but just so I can say that is a job weld done 
I already called them out yet suprised about the shop A, they have a business and alot of jobs so 1 client more or less doesnt hurt the business.
If money becomes so important maybe just maybe you should stop and think for a minute or 60š¤£
We are fabricators of stuff not make-believe like themš
Money Ā² is the root of all evil, and my roots need to be good 
Word,
lots a love from The Netherlands 
I have been fabricating and welding for 30+ years and I believe that the tolerance could have been achieved without a modern welding table they just needed to check the parts, something they clearly did not do. however I do believe that the tolerance is quite tight for most fab shops especially here in the UK where the majority of fab work is structural steel and architectural metal where the tolerance would be a lot greater. just for the record I do now own a modern welding table and I believe that they are the way forward for the industry.
Yes the tolerance is tight. This was the specs that set for myself in part 1 of the video series. Everyone said that that was easy without a fixture table. But generally 1/8 is a good tolerance to shoot for when welding. But as you can see in the video 1/8 looks bad to.
Youāre replying to the wrong dude.
Obviously these 3 shops donāt care about meeting spec or holding a tolerance.