Checked the math on my last boiler build and it messed with my head

I was crunching numbers for a 250 psi steam drum I welded up last month and realized I overestimated the wall thickness by 3/16ths of an inch. Found the stat in an old ASME code book my foreman lent me from 2019, and it said the safety factor was way higher than I thought. Turns out I could have saved about $200 in material on that one job if I’d looked it up first. Kinda funny how a random fact like that can make you feel both dumb and relieved at the same time. Anyone else ever catch themselves adding extra steel where it’s not needed based on habit?

2 comments

2 Comments

stella_scott962d ago

Wonder if any inspectors caught that extra weight and laughed.

the_wesley2d ago

People just assume nobody else notices the little cheats everyone tries to pull, but we all spot them. It's the same as seeing someone claim 5 items in the express lane when they've clearly got 8.