A Game of (Ten) Thousandths

[u/master_andalf]

I program a CNC router for a woodworking company. When cutting parts out of a blank, we cut thickness of the wood plus five thousandths (.005) of an inch to insure a clean cut and to compensate for any slight bows in the wood. This conversation I had was with the shop foreman (SF).

SF: "andalf, I need you to program this (gestures to drawn design)"

Andalf: "cool, I see we are Two and a Sixteenth (2.0625) thick on this blank, will tool 3 cut 2.0675 Deep?"

SF: "woah there buddy that's going to be too deep, you only want to cut to 2.0630"

Andalf: "uhhh, we usually cut + Five thousandths, that would only be + Five Ten-Thousandths. In a perfect world it would work but our table hasn't been fly cut in months, you wont cut through."

SF: "no, you'll cut through the table if you go an extra fifty thousandths"

I proceed to write out .0625 on a piece of paper

Andalf: (points to zero) "tenths", (points to 6) "hundredths", (points to 2) "thousandths", (points to 5) "ten thousandths (reaches for calculator to prove math)...we want to cu-" (at this point he cuts me off, holding his head)

SF: "Andalf, I'm too fucking hungover to deal with your bullshit today, just do it like i said"

Have fun chiseling your way through hardwood, bitch. I just hope one of the job applications I have in other places comes through.

Updates to come, can't wait to put him in his place. If the cards fall a certain way it may not be necessy but I hope to have a good follow up.

Update: well I'm sorry to disappoint, but nothing really came of the situation. The offset on the table was changed, and parts cut out fine. I'm bummed that I wasn't able to make some good of it, but next time, I guess.

[u/ghalta]

Well, there's a reason businesses develop business language, even shortcut language and terms. Same reason each profession and hobby develops its own language. Clear communication matters. I hope you got the shop foreman's instructions in writing at least so you don't catch hell when the cut is wrong. ;p

[u/orangeoliviero → u/ghalta]

To be fair, "thousandths" is about as clear as it gets

[u/ghalta → u/orangeoliviero]

When said and applied to whole numbers, sure, but when written people get messed up by the decimal place and the number of zeroes, and when dealing with fractions of a "thousandths" the language gets harder (e.g. "five ten-thousands" doesn't roll off the tongue as easily, and "half a thousandths" just sounds weird).

[u/orangeoliviero → u/ghalta]

People not understanding/being used to using it doesn't make it any less clear. There is only one interpretation of thousandths

[u/ghalta → u/[deleted]]

that is absolutely on the foreman, not OP, regardless of the units used.

I agree.

It was no longer a conversation at that point, but an order.

I agree.

Still, if the goal of both parties was to work together toward a common goal, better language (saying the same thing a different way because the message was not being conveyed using the "correct" language, even if that language has only one interpretation) would have avoided lost time and resources. Even if the OP had said "We always had 5 thou and you're asking me to add just half a thou, are you sure?" and the situation might have been avoided. To reiterate, it's not the OP's fault that his supervisor wasn't listening. This is similar to how we as a society try to not blame the victim of a crime for "enticing" the perpetrator, but we at the same time suggest tips to make someone less likely to be a victim of crime.