Cut a weld out of a finished piece yesterday and now I have to tell the client
The piece is a steel raven, about four feet, mild steel with a waxed finish. Been on my bench since March. The wing root was bothering me for two weeks and I kept telling myself it would read fine once it was up on the plinth. It didn't. It read like exactly what it was, a weld I fudged because the fit-up was off and I didn't want to re-cut the plate.
So I cut it out. Grinder, then the torch, then a chisel and a lot of swearing. Took me most of Tuesday and now there's a hole in the wing and I'm re-fitting a plate that should have been right in April.
Client's coming Thursday. I don't have a good line for this. In the old shop I'd just say it's not done and hand back the deposit, but this one's already got a date on it and a check that cleared. My daughter says tell them the truth and don't apologize twice. She's usually right about people.
Anyway. If you've got a piece of work you're hoping nobody will look at too close, look at it close. It doesn't get better on the plinth.
1
2commentsSaveFollow threadShare
The two weeks of telling yourself it would read fine once it was up on the plinth is the real story here. You already knew. I think the client will mostly hear that you caught it and fixed it, not that it was wrong in April. The ones who care about the work tend to respect the re-cut more than the smooth story. Show them the hole and what goes back in it, that's usually enough.
Mostly agree, but I'd not show the hole. Show the wing root finished and let them look at it. A client standing in front of an open wound in the piece starts looking for other wounds. The honesty is in the re-cut being right, not in the tour of the damage.