Old timer watched me block a panel for 45 minutes and asked one question that flipped my whole approach
About two months back I was working a rear quarter on a silver Accord and this guy named Dale, who has been spraying at our shop in Toledo for close to 30 years, just stood there drinking his coffee watching me. I had my blocks out, going at it, checking with the guide coat, redoing spots, sweating the whole thing, and I thought I was killing it. After maybe 45 minutes he sets his cup down and asks me plain as day, "who taught you to chase the low spots?" I said my old lead guy did, that's how he always did it. Dale just nods and says, "I used to do that too, till I figured out I was making work for myself. You chase a low spot, you stretch the metal around it, now you got two problems instead of one." Turns out he works the high spots down first and lets the low spots come up on their own, way less filler, way less time. I tried it on the next three jobs and my block time dropped by half, I'm not kidding. So my question for you guys, does anyone else work highs first like that or is Dale just from a different planet?