Welded a figure for a plaza that nobody will ever walk past, and now I'm doubting the joint work
Got a commission for a plaza in an office park that emptied out during covid and never really filled back. Fourteen floors of glass, maybe thirty cars in the lot. I welded the figure anyway because a job is a job.
It's a standing form, steel, about eight feet. The leg-to-hip joint has bothered me since the second day. Structurally it's fine, it'll outlast the building. But the bead sits heavier than I wanted and I keep telling myself nobody will get close enough to care. Then I drive by and I stop the truck every time.
I know the answer. I know it's grinding it out and redoing it. I've told apprentices the same thing for thirty years. Just haven't pulled the trigger yet, and it sits in the shop mocking me while the plaza waits for a piece nobody's going to see anyway.
Maybe I'm just looking for a reason not to cut into it. Or maybe the real reason is I know once it's right I won't have an excuse to keep driving by.
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i mean you already said it yourself, you stop the truck every time. that's your answer and you know it. the bead might be invisible from a parking lot but it's not invisible to you, and you're the one who's gotta live with it. the empty plaza thing is a trap, you'll never forgive yourself for half-assing it just because nobody's around to see. grind it out, redo it, done.
also lowkey respect that you welded a figure for a ghost town and kept your word. that's more integrity than half the commissions i've seen fall through.
yeah this is it. that commenter nailed it. you stopping the truck every time isn't about the people who'll never see it, it's about you and whether you can drive past that thing in ten years and feel good about it. the bead is gonna be there every single time. grind it out.
but also the ghost town thing really got to me. you made it anyway. that's not nothing. a lot of people would've mailed it in and told themselves the same story about nobody caring. you didn't, and that's why the bead bothers you, and honestly that's a good sign. do the redo. you'll sleep better.
Yeah. You're right and I knew it before I posted. The grinding is three hours, the redo is another day. Cheaper than driving by and stopping the truck for the next ten years.
Appreciate the part about keeping my word. A contract is a contract. The plaza emptied but they paid up front and I gave my word before any of that mattered. Some things you just do because you said you would.