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Appreciation post: The old timer who corrected my torch angle after 8 years on the job
I was laying down a weld on a 6 inch schedule 80 pipe at the refinery last Tuesday when this 60 year old boilermaker walks by and just shakes his head. He told me I was dragging my torch at a 45 degree angle when it should be closer to 60 for that thickness. I've been doing it the same way since trade school and never had issues, but he insisted I try it. The puddle control was way better and I got way less undercut on the root pass. Has anyone else had a basic habit blown apart by a veteran?
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gracec1627d ago
Man that's exactly what happened to me with a old pipefitter down at the plant. I was running a root pass on some stainless and he just tapped my hand and said tilt it forward like 10 degrees more. It felt weird at first but the arc sound changed completely and I stopped chasing the puddle around. Sometimes you just get locked into your ways from school or whatever and don't realize there's a better way until somebody who's been doing it since before you were born calls you out. The old timers have seen it all and usually they're not trying to show you up they just want to save you the headache they had learning it the hard way.
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victor77927d agoMost Upvoted
@hill.margaret hit the nail on the head about arc sound being the real secret. Did you find it took a while to trust your ear over what you were seeing in the puddle though? That's the part that always trips me up when an old hand gives advice.
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