What am I stamping?
What am I stamping?
(OP)
My daughter had a project over the weekend that got me thinking about something. The project for the class was to have each student put together a toolbox of what a person would have for a number of professions. She, just out of luck, got to do one for an Engineer. One of the things I did was take a drawing I had of a spindle shaft and printed it full size and stamped it.
That got to think about what am I stamping. Taken out of context the drawing is meaningless so how can a person be held liable for a design simply based on the stamped drawing. I realize that for Civil work there is an enormous amount of information on the drawings that convey function but for Mechanicals I often simply make a few part drawings.
A very simplistic hypothetical would be if someone hired me to make a measuring device to measure parts that range in size from 1in to 10in. I design a ruler that is 12in long and send a stamped drawing, along with my invoice, to the customer. A few weeks later I call to find out about when I will get paid and am told they are not paying because the design was flawed. They tried to measure a part that was 15in and the ruler didn’t work.
I’m looking to get some feedback, and start a discussion, on how everything gets tied back together so things like a ruler can’t be taken out of the context of the actual job for the customer.
That got to think about what am I stamping. Taken out of context the drawing is meaningless so how can a person be held liable for a design simply based on the stamped drawing. I realize that for Civil work there is an enormous amount of information on the drawings that convey function but for Mechanicals I often simply make a few part drawings.
A very simplistic hypothetical would be if someone hired me to make a measuring device to measure parts that range in size from 1in to 10in. I design a ruler that is 12in long and send a stamped drawing, along with my invoice, to the customer. A few weeks later I call to find out about when I will get paid and am told they are not paying because the design was flawed. They tried to measure a part that was 15in and the ruler didn’t work.
I’m looking to get some feedback, and start a discussion, on how everything gets tied back together so things like a ruler can’t be taken out of the context of the actual job for the customer.





RE: What am I stamping?
Your stamp is a declaration of the suitability of the piece when used in accordance with the specs provided to you (and the ones you specify when handing that design back). If the unit is used outside of those specifications, you cannot be held responsible. If you spec'd the spindle shaft to handle 500rpm and it failed at 350rpm, you could have a lawsuit on your hands. If it failed at 800 because another safety device on the machine failed and it overspun, you could hardly be considered at fault.
Dan - Owner

http://www.Hi-TecDesigns.com
RE: What am I stamping?
The major deciding factor in all this is the contract with deliverables that is received by the person doing the work. This would include everything that the device is supposed to do. Whatever is outside the scope of what you and the customer agreed upon is not your fault/responsibility.
Without that contract, everything is hearsay...
V
RE: What am I stamping?
Without the specifications and requirements that were derived to generate such a drawing, no one else can realistically make any claims about the design, one way or another. Your example ruler, on the other hand, presumably was designed per customer requirements, per contract. Their claim of non-compliance is trivial to disprove, based on their specification, hence, there is no non-compliance.
TTFN
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RE: What am I stamping?