PSA: That pipe fitter in Baton Rouge taught me a trick I still use

I was on a job at the Exxon refinery in Baton Rouge about 6 months back and there was this older pipe fitter named Gene who showed me something simple. He was laying out a 45 degree saddle on a 6 inch line and instead of doing the math like I always did, he just used a strip of paper to wrap around and mark it. It took him maybe 2 minutes and my way took 15 with a calculator. Has anyone else tried the paper method for tricky patterns like that?

3 comments

3 Comments

eric7232mo ago

Worked for me on a similar job, way faster than busting out a calculator.

kevin_harris782mo ago

yeah i was reading some article the other day about how people who do that kind of mental math actually end up getting more consistent results. they said it trains your brain to estimate better over time. so i mean it makes sense.

blakem371mo ago

kevin said people who do the math get more consistent results, but my math is so bad that if I spent 15 minutes on it I'd probably end up cutting the pipe wrong anyways. That paper trick sounds like a lifesaver for someone like me who can barely add fractions. @eric723 glad to hear it worked for you too, maybe there's hope for us calculator challenged folks yet. I'm the guy who still has to count on his fingers when splitting a dinner tab.