My brother-in-law, a union pipefitter, said our trade is getting too soft on the math

We were having a beer after a long week on a big steam plant job in Toledo. He said, 'You guys used to do all your own trig for rolling offsets right on the job. Now you just punch numbers into an app on your phone.' It hit different because he wasn't wrong. I learned on a job site ten years ago with a framing square and a chart book, and I still do it that way. But last month, the new apprentice didn't even know how to find a travel without his phone. It made me think, are we losing a core skill by relying on tech, or is it just smart to use the best tool for the job? Where do you all stand on using apps versus doing the math by hand for layout?

2 comments

2 Comments

rubyw702mo ago

That bit about the apprentice not knowing travel without his phone is real. My buddy had a kid on site who couldn't do a simple 45 without the app, had to shut the whole lift down to figure it out. Makes you wonder what happens when the phone dies.

coleman.christopher2mo agoMost Upvoted

@rubyw70 My phone died once and I had to ask a gas station clerk for directions like some kind of pioneer.