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A retired framer watched me nail off a roof and gave me some serious feedback
Had a older guy walk over from the job next door last Tuesday while I was running a crew on a ranch house out near Stone Mountain. He just stood there for a minute and finally said 'you're wasting a lot of motion with that hammer swing, aim for the sweet spot closer to the head lap'. I brushed it off at first because I've been doing this like 12 years and nobody ever told me different. But after he walked away I tried what he said on a few shingles and I was hitting way more consistent with half the misses. Changed my whole stance that afternoon and the guys on my crew even noticed I was moving faster. I've been thinking about how much extra time I spent overcorrecting my aim, like probably an extra 20 minutes per roof for no reason. Anyone else had an old timer give them a tip that seemed small but actually saved them hours of work?
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hannahj4912d ago
Man that's a good story. Old timers really do have a way of just cutting through all the noise sometimes. It's wild how you can do something for over a decade and still have someone come along and show you a tiny tweak that changes everything. That 20 minutes per roof adds up quick when you think about it, like over a whole summer that's probably a full day or more of just wasted motion. Good on you for actually listening and trying it out instead of just blowing him off, a lot of folks would have let pride get in the way.
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keith16412d ago
You ever have one of those moments where you realize you've been doing something the hard way for years? I had an old machinist buddy show me how to sharpen my knives different at work. Just a slight angle change and now I'm not fighting my blade all shift. Saves me like 10 minutes of frustration every service. Feels dumb when you look back on it but hey that's how it goes.
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river_thompson11d ago
Was the old timer super specific about the type of steel or brand of knife too, or was it just that angle trick that made the difference for him? @hannahj49 made a good point about how pride can shut you out from stuff like that.
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