Welding Tips and Tricks

I came here about a year ago with some questions and stuff and this guy set me straight, Ill explain why below.
So Boomer63 is my teacher in school in advanced arc. I have welded mig through out the years just decided to go get all my certs. Like All the G certs ya know
Anyways I went through Arc1 with a teacher I will not mention this person name and passed which the way they had us weld to pass in that class was utter shit if you ask me.
Then in arc 2 I was about 1.5 months in
Here is what happened this person would not show a single student how to weld at all no matter what.
This person would be like no do this or that and had us doing stupid shit and not a single person in this 10 person class was progressing.
Well I personally knew boomer63 from and I decided to give him a visit at school and said hey man enough is enough let me come to your class please I need to pass this cert.
He said ok and I brought another friend from class with me to.
Within 4 days of welding 3.5 hours a day we learned more from him than this entire semester of the other person.
I went to my head instructor of the program and said man check this out its like night and day.
He says what did you do differently, I said I was fuckin taught how to weld and shown the proper way.
So me and the other guy been in class for about 7 days of class with totals about 25+ hours ok.
So Boomer63 had us doing something called "evil plate" This teaches us how to pause on the toes of are welds while doing vert up and pre paring us for 3G cert ok and I will explain what this piece looks like.
So pretty much you need 6 , 1" x 4" pieces of 1/8 or 1/4th what ever you can get your hands on. Then you need a 4"x4"
then take the the first 1" and lay it directly in the middle of the plate. Flat not in t join style, then tack on the ends.
Then take a piece of flat soap stone as like a guide and lay it vertically next to it. Then take the next 1" and place it to the right side of the first piece next to the soap stone and make a 1/8 gap between the soap and the other 1" tack that.
Repeat that to the left side.
Then flip the 4"x4" over and repeat the entire process.
So in the end you are left with 4, 5/8 wide x 4" long gaps and the plate acts as a backer.
Now tack your part in vert position and get ready with a 7018
So the idea of this is to long arc down to the bottom heat is up then manipulate the sides to get good penetration and then snap to the other side with manipulation and what happens is a nice weave root pass. Pretty much the same for are cert just with out the bevel.

So with his help in 7 days you guys I did about 5 sets of these evil plates ok.
Today I was like hey boomer he goes ya, I said hey man mind if I get some scrap beveled plates and clean them up tack it up and see what I can do for this test. he replies sure man go right ahead. Cause he was in the process of teaching me vert up stringers and I just weave alot better. But he had to help another student with his welder cause the ground broke lol. So I understood he was busy, so thats when I tacked it all up.
So we have a routine pretty much on anything we do boomer makes us weld half way of ever pass unless stated otherwise then show him.
So I started my root showed him he said finish the root. So I finished the root he looked at it and said this is almost good as field work. Do your fill pass, I said ok ill be back in a minute.
So I did my fill half way took it to him same thing again he goes finish it. I finished that fill took it to him, he looked me dead in the face as well as some of my buddies in class and was like ya your ready to test tomorrow cause the real practice.
So I ended up finishing the entire thing, I would love to show a pic but my weave cover pass looks like shit up at the top simply cause I tried to burn through a bump and it messed up and I do not wanna get baked on here by the pros and insulted lol.
But ya I can not tell you how grateful I am , and happy and proud of myself I am from all of this.
So thanks man and if anyone wants to see a mock up evil plate let me know and I will take a pic of one in school tomorrow and show you guys.
Once my 3G test is completed with weave I wanna do it with stringers also, then he said since I am going to the fitters union he is gonna show me how to open root.

Sorry this is so long everyone and sorry if this is in the wrong spot.
I figured posting it here would be best cause he will see it and be grateful and it does involve school.
Keep on burning guys!

That's awesome, and congratulations!

Kudos, too, to Boomer. He puts effort in here to steer students in the right direction, because he actually gives a damn.

Steve S

Otto Nobedder wrote:That's awesome, and congratulations!

Kudos, too, to Boomer. He puts effort in here to steer students in the right direction, because he actually gives a damn.

Steve S

Thanks man and yes he really does give a damn. He gives more than any teacher I have ever seen so far on any schooling I have done including machining.
It is really nice because he gets to know us and helps learn and move in the right direction based on are skill level.

Wow. Thank you to everyone! I have been away from the Board for awhile; been busy with many other projects! Thank to my friends out here for your support! Big thank you and shout out to my student - did I mention that, being from the south side of Chicago, that flattery, bribes and other forms of corruption work just fine with me! If I haven't given you and 'A' for today, I will have to do so!!! (LOL!!! JUST JOKING!)

Really, really; what I do here is not 'my' program. I am whore, and freely admit it! I steal ideas, inspiration, concepts, techniques and anything else that makes good sense from programs that I see are effective. I am always open to new ideas and change. I try to dove tail as many learning techniques into one exercise as possible. I do genuinely care about the students and their success. I have had people come into the program, and after I talk to them, they end up going in another direction because that other path better suits what they want out of a career then what the school is offering. I ain't about taking their money and shoving them out the door; I want them to learn a life-changing career.

Anyway, enough about me. I don't have the best program in the country, and there is always room for improvement. Sometimes I screw up completely. Next year, I will be taking over the program, and then we will some real positive changes. I am not the most knowledgeable guy out there. I got into this because I was too busted up to go back to the field. I miss the outdoor work, I miss building things and working with other journeymen. I miss traveling. I don't miss having to poop in a little plastic house!

Thanks to all!
Gary

PS Blake; work on your sentence structure and use the spell check

Boomer63 wrote:Wow. Thank you to everyone! I have been away from the Board for awhile; been busy with many other projects! Thank to my friends out here for your support! Big thank you and shout out to my student - did I mention that, being from the south side of Chicago, that flattery, bribes and other forms of corruption work just fine with me! If I haven't given you and 'A' for today, I will have to do so!!! (LOL!!! JUST JOKING!)

Really, really; what I do here is not 'my' program. I am whore, and freely admit it! I steal ideas, inspiration, concepts, techniques and anything else that makes good sense from programs that I see are effective. I am always open to new ideas and change. I try to dove tail as many learning techniques into one exercise as possible. I do genuinely care about the students and their success. I have had people come into the program, and after I talk to them, they end up going in another direction because that other path better suits what they want out of a career then what the school is offering. I ain't about taking their money and shoving them out the door; I want them to learn a life-changing career.

Anyway, enough about me. I don't have the best program in the country, and there is always room for improvement. Sometimes I screw up completely. Next year, I will be taking over the program, and then we will some real positive changes. I am not the most knowledgeable guy out there. I got into this because I was too busted up to go back to the field. I miss the outdoor work, I miss building things and working with other journeymen. I miss traveling. I don't miss having to poop in a little plastic house!

Thanks to all!
Gary

PS Blake; work on your sentence structure and use the spell check

You are welcome man have a good one, see you tomorrow at school