PSA: That old timer told me to switch to a 3/8 chain for my machine. Here's what happened.

So I was talking to this guy Gary at the shop, he's been drafting since before I was born lol. He kept saying I was wasting time with a 5/16 chain on my bigger prints because it skips too much on tight corners. I figured he was just set in his ways so I ignored him for like 6 months. Finally last week I had this one job with a lot of curve work and I was getting frustrated with the chain jumping. Borrowed a 3/8 chain off his table just to try it out. Night and day difference honestly, the lines were way cleaner and I finished like 20% faster on that part. Now I'm wondering if he was right about a few other things too. Has anyone else had a older drafter give you advice that seemed wrong but actually worked out well? Or did they steer you wrong on something?

3 comments

3 Comments

craig.parker12d ago

Yeah old timers usually know their stuff.

ben_fisher12d ago

Does that still hold up with modern printing methods?

scott.alex12d ago

Man that is such a classic thing. Gary sounds like a wise old dude and I bet he's seen a million machines come and go. I once had a veteran tell me to run my ink a little thinner than what the manual said and I argued with him for weeks before trying it. Totally saved me a ton of headaches with clogging on fine lines. Stick with him, those guys usually have the battle scars to prove their methods work.