Old timer at the diner told me my drafting table setup was backwards

Was grabbing breakfast near the job site last Tuesday and this retired drafter saw my laptop case. He asked what I was using and I showed him my portable setup. He laughed and said I had my reference material on the wrong side of my dominant hand. Told me I'd been wasting motion for years. Tried flipping it around that afternoon and my speed went up by a solid 20 percent. Anyone else had some old school guy drop a simple tip that actually works better than what you were taught?

2 comments

2 Comments

robin_roberts841mo ago

Wait, like a twenty percent increase just from flipping sides? That's crazy. I guess those old timers really did learn stuff different back in the day.

bettywood1mo ago

Hear them out every time... those old guys spent decades at the drafting board and they know all the little tricks. Twenty percent is a huge jump just from moving your stuff to the other side, makes you wonder what else they got right. I had an old machinist tell me to switch my calipers to the opposite hand and it felt weird for a week but now I can't go back. There's something about the way they learned that just sticks better than the modern shortcuts we pick up.