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Visiting the old power plant museum in Pittsburgh, I was struck by how much hand-fitting and layout work has been replaced by CNC.
It makes you wonder if the next generation will even know how to scribe a line for a complex elbow joint, or if that skill is just going to vanish.
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irisp671mo ago
Yeah, the scribing thing is a perfect example. I watched an old guy do a full layout for a custom duct transition on kraft paper once, and it was like watching magic. Now you'd just 3D scan the space and send a file to the plasma table.
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price.logan1mo ago
That kraft paper layout @irisp67 mentioned is a lost art. It feels like we've traded deep skill for pure speed. My grandpa could fix anything with just a few basic tools and some know-how, but now everything needs a special computer part. The new way is faster and maybe better on paper, but something about watching a person solve a complex problem with their hands and a pencil just felt different. It was like seeing the thought process happen right in front of you, not hidden inside a machine.
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