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My old boss said my paint prep was just 'good enough' and it stung
He pulled me aside after a job on a 2018 F-150 and said, 'Nina, your feathering is fast, but you're leaving a tiny ridge I can feel with my fingernail. The customer won't, but I do.' I started spending an extra five minutes per panel with a finer grit block and a bright light at a low angle to check my work. The difference in how the clear lays down now is night and day. Anyone else have a piece of criticism that actually made you better at a step you thought you had nailed?
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quinna896mo ago
That fingernail test @blair_taylor32 mentioned is the real deal. I see it with my buddy who details cars, he'll point out a haze in the finish I'd never notice. It's like there's this whole hidden layer of "done right" that most people just walk past. We get so used to the standard that passes, we forget there's a higher bar that actually feels different. That boss gave you the key to seeing your own work on that next level, which is kinda rare.
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the_elliot6mo ago
My old foreman told me I was rushing my weld cleanup. He said my grinds looked fine from six feet, but up close they looked like a topographical map. I mean, he wasn't wrong. I started hitting every seam with an 80-grit flap wheel first, then stepping up, and it totally changed how my filler primer sat.
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blair_taylor326mo ago
My uncle's a cabinet maker and he calls that "the fingernail test." It's everywhere. Like @the_elliot's weld story, it's the difference between a job that passes and one that's actually done right.
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