[Wobulate]

On an Ethanol plant, I was doing a lot of structural with 7018, and building conveyor transitions with 308 MIG. We naturally had to cover all the wire trays with fire blanket to protect them, and were careful and thorough about it.

A young "first field job" electrical engineer assaulted me about this practice, wanting to know why the hell we weren't using that "spark-less rod" the pipe guys were using.

I wanted to explain it, but he stormed off before I could quit laughing.

Steve S

Maybe you should have sent him back to the pipe guys to obtain the number of that rod, you could have had a real ping-pong match going on. Now the important question, how did you get any more work done (without laughing) that day after that happened.

I know of another "praying on the innocent" event. My Brother was serving in the USN in 1966-1967 off the coast of Vietnam on an Aircraft Carrier. All of the new recruits at one time or another had to goto the parts cage and ask for a spool of pipe threads. No, my Brother new better than that.

Thanks Steve, I needed that tonight.
Bruce

[Trapperdude464]

I was welding for my wife's grandpa on his old dodge dump bed and I took a grinder and went to clean off a spot for the ground and where I was going to be welding.

As I started he said you don't have to do that he said with a 1\8 7018 that you didn't need to clean the weld spot off and that all you had to do was sit there and push the rod into the metal until the arc started I told him that it will hold better and weld easier if you clean it first. The welding spot had old paint on it that was chipping off!

I told him to show me what he meant I watched him try to start an arc for about 5-10 minutes and then said boy that's a pretty arc your making. He got up gave me the hood and said you weld it whatever way you want and then left I was done in about hour and he said next time we should clean it off huh? He had also told me before hand that he had welded all kinds of stuff without cleaning it off. I simply asked how long did it hold?

[AKweldshop]

lol, I get idiots telling me all the time, "you really think you need to clean the rust and paint off that metal? I welded over all that for years".
"You mean to tell me you can't weld that gap?"

Lol lol lol.

The problem with some people, is that they exist.

[kiwi2wheels]

" The problem with some people, is that they exist. "

Never were truer words spoken !

[Otto Nobedder]

" The problem with some people, is that they exist. "

Never were truer words spoken !

Wasting oxygen we could use actually thinking about how to do the job!

Steve S

[Trapperdude464]

My brother in law also watched me stick welding one time. I felt like someone was watching me and I flipped my hood up and there he was he said wow that's bright I said that is what this helmet is for

[Otto Nobedder]

One of my favorite experiences was working the ADM Cogen in Clinton, IA.
I did terrible on the bullshit rusty metal weld test they handed me, so they paired me with a crazy-ass 65 year old psychotic drunkard, expecting us to fail. Needless to say, we got along famously.
While everyone else would scamper off from the toolbox meeting to try to accomplish something, we'd stand in our work area, coffee in one hand, cigarette in the other, until the cigarettes were done.
We would catch crap for the time we were wasting.
Two weeks later, the boss shut every other crew down, made them come to our section, and made them watch us work for almost two hours.
That ten minutes of planning our day made us more productive than the other four crews combined!

Damn, I'm rambling.
I suppose the point is, take ten minutes to plan your work, and your work will go far smoother than if you just jump on it and go.

Steve S

[Captainbeaky]

+1... Planning is everything...

I once had a manager complaining that I didn't "panic enough..."

I am firm believer in doing things right the first time - especially when dealing with safety critical aerospace design work - our lads in the forces will rely on my kit - so it'll damn well work.

So when I am landed with a project that is desperately behind , I take a little more time to work with my team to make darn sure that we are doing the right thing - the first time , so the product will work properly straight out of the gate.. I suppose I give the appearance of not caring, and perhaps going slow - In reality I'm keeping an enforced dead calm and making darn sure we don't drop a bollock... It's a strategy that has worked very well for me whenever I am given "mission impossible"

So when the boss asked me to "panic more"... I uncharacteristically flipped out a bit...
My response ( in front of the whole crew, and not very quietly) was:-
" I can run around the office, shouting 'don't panic Mr Mainwaring', if you like, but I don't think it will actually deliver the project any quicker - what do you think?"

If you haven't already, then look up "Dad's army" on YouTube, and you will understand....

I left that place and went to work in Rolls Royce Aero Engine Controls shortly after that....
Never had the same problem since, funnily enough, and I keep getting given "mission impossible" to solve, and absolutely love it...

[LtBadd]

One of my favorite experiences was working the ADM Cogen in Clinton, IA.
I did terrible on the bullshit rusty metal weld test they handed me, so they paired me with a crazy-ass 65 year old psychotic drunkard, expecting us to fail. Needless to say, we got along famously.
While everyone else would scamper off from the toolbox meeting to try to accomplish something, we'd stand in our work area, coffee in one hand, cigarette in the other, until the cigarettes were done.
We would catch crap for the time we were wasting.
Two weeks later, the boss shut every other crew down, made them come to our section, and made them watch us work for almost two hours.
That ten minutes of planning our day made us more productive than the other four crews combined!

Damn, I'm rambling.
I suppose the point is, take ten minutes to plan your work, and your work will go far smoother than if you just jump on it and go.

Steve S

Good one Steve, I've learned that if your confused or frustrated then you're probably not organized. Which can be said in another way, you don't have a plan

[Bill Beauregard]

I'm fair at best. I acetylene / O2 weld quite well, I'm a good solderer, stick, i built lots of stuff until I discovered forums, then started applying some of what I learned, I've improved a great deal. MIG, I consider cheating. All I need remember is wet it in well. TIG, I'm getting better all the time, one day, if I live long enough, I'll be good.

Maybe ten people have told me they are a certified welder. When I ask in what variety, they typically answer; "welding". I think these are the same people who call every yellow machine a bulldozer, and can't tell an excavator from a payloader.

[Otto Nobedder]

...funnily enough, and I keep getting given "mission impossible" to solve, and absolutely love it...

That's my job in a nutshell.
I absolutely love it, as well.

It's a great feeling to impress people who already expect the impossible.

Steve S

[Otto Nobedder]

...Maybe ten people have told me they are a certified welder. When I ask in what variety, they typically answer; "welding". I think these are the same people who call every yellow machine a bulldozer, and can't tell an excavator from a payloader.

Yep.

I don't bother discussing what I'm certified and/or qualified to do. Most people don't know there's a difference.

I just tell them I'm a welder, and, "No, I don't want to fix your mower deck."

Steve S

[Boomer63]

My brother in law also watched me stick welding one time. I felt like someone was watching me and I flipped my hood up and there he was he said wow that's bright I said that is what this helmet is for

Back in the early 1980's I was working for a company where I was mainly doing ornamental iron installations, field repairs, misc. metals, etc. One day the company sent me out with a noob; I knew this guy, he was no dummy and had been working as a mechanic for a few years. Anyway, after a couple of hours with him holding up one end of a piece and me welding the other end, this noob says to me: "I am starting to see you you do that; how it joins together".

I just stared at the guy. I couldn't beleive it. "You weren't watching me weld, were you?"
"Well, yeah," he says, "I want to learn".

I mean, I just shook my head. He had been doing this for over an hour, so I knew he was screwed. I asked him if he had any liquor in the house, and advised him to get good and drunk when he got home. I told him I didn't expect to see him the next day. I explained that it would hurt, but it would also go away and leave no permanent damage. And I stressed, stressed, stressed "DON'T LOOK AT THE WELD"!!! I also explained that eyelids weren't good enough for stopping the arc.

So, around midnight, I get a phone call, and this guy is crying that he is blind, he hurts, etc. I told him that if it was unbearable, to go to the ER and that they would give him some drops that would immediately take the pain away. Now ... I hesitate to mention this ... but it was a LONG time ago ... I also told him that if possible, to snag the bottle of drops and give it over to me. >Just in case<!!! Ahem ... not that I would ever advise anyone to take such an action.

Anyway, the kid worked in the field for a couple of years, then went back to being a mechanic, where he is today. This is actually not the only time I have had this happen. So ... I make it a point to tell every noob, no matter who they are, to NOT look at the pretty blue light!

[Boomer63]

Otto Wrote:
"I did terrible on the bullshit rusty metal weld test they handed me, so they paired me with a crazy-ass 65 year old psychotic drunkard, expecting us to fail. Needless to say, we got along famously."

Boy! It is great to hear a story about real old school welders! I love that line and have to steal it: "crazy-ass 65 year old psychotic drunkard"!! I mean, it relatively close to home! Many I could modify it to read: "crazy-ass 55 year old psychotic, slightly brain damaged old welder"!

[Kentweld]

Haha, great share Boomer63, i can imagine him, just staring at the pretty blue light, all hypnotized!

[Boomer63]

Haha, great share Boomer63, i can imagine him, just staring at the pretty blue light, all hypnotized!

Kent! Back in that same era, about 1980, I was working in housing projects on the south side of Chicago, off of Federal Ave. Most times people would leave us alone, but sometimes the kids were amazingly annoying. A couple of times I heard my foreman tell the kids to: "Keep watching the pretty blue light and look for the dancing blue monkeys". I would just try to adjust so the kids couldn't see.

[RocketSurgeon]

Manager: It only takes 5 minutes to do this weld. Why are you taking an entire shift?

Me: Becau---
My co-worker: Because we have other steps to do BEFORE we CAN weld. Fit up, prep, cleaning, pre-weld inspection, preproduction test weld and the tack. All before the actual weld, which by itself takes 5 minutes.

My co-worker interrupted (saved) me from being sent to HR for beating said manager with a verbal 2x4.