My first mold design: three weeks, two pencils and one legendary smudge-fest later. Source | ChatGPT

As a first-year apprentice designer, I was given the task of creating what others would consider a fairly simple mold design for a model car windshield and other clear parts used in the hobby kit industry.

Well, my high school was “College Prep” and had ZERO drafting or other trade-related courses, so I was a total clod in the drafting room.

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Back then (nearly 50 years ago), we were 100% on the board. I was nervous and wanted to make a good show for my supervisor and co-workers. If you know what happens when you have sweaty palms and soft graphite pencils on roll stock vellum paper, then you know how my first design looked.

I finished what should have been a seven-day drawing in a record 3 weeks. The vellum was so smudged with sweat and tears (well, mostly sweat and graphite) that my supervisor named it ‘The Pig Pen’.

My immediate supervisor, Larry Lyse and my co-worker Teresa “Rocky” Neumayr both had a good chuckle as they reviewed my work. It was light-hearted as they knew that I was a newbie designer with ZERO experience. I was fortunate that they both took me under their wings and brought me along to become quite proficient in mold design with both pencil and CAD.

Shortly after completing the design, we cut the center section out (this was the molding area) and taped it into a new drawing of the MUD unit so that the toolmakers could actually read the prints.

I had the honor of being the surgical assistant to my supervisor. We looked for good, clean edges and then took our X-acto knives and carefully cut along the lines. Then, with a new clean drawing of the Unit Die, we did an overlay and cut the mess into the page. We put some magic transparent tape on the back, and it's as good as new. Well, except where I had almost burned through the vellum with my electric eraser.

I wish that I had kept a copy for future “Wall Art” in my design studio. It would have been framed with the caption ‘My Pig Pen’ and hung in my office.  I think having those memories helps to keep people humble about their achievements and careers. At that time, I dreamed of becoming the vice president of tool engineering somewhere. That didn’t happen, but my career has been rewarding in so many ways.

Looking back, this ‘Pig Pen’ lesson taught me not to sweat the small stuff. Of course, when you are a neophyte designer, it seems like an insurmountable task to meet a deadline, grasp the technical information and have a legible drawing, but in the end, it really is all about the small stuff. The key to being successful in life and as a designer is learning, applying and moving forward.

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