Welding Tips and Tricks

Hello,

I'm Steve, another Buckeye. I'm a 1st year Apprentice Pipefitter out of UA Local 577 in Portsmouth, Ohio.

-Steve

Welcome to the forum Steve.

Oh no! Not another Steve. We have several members here named Steve. Just giving you a little razz.

Welcome to the show. I'm sure some of those other Steve's or Buckeye's will be along shortly.

pipefitter wrote:Hello,

I'm Steve, another Buckeye. I'm a 1st year Apprentice Pipefitter out of UA Local 577 in Portsmouth, Ohio.

-Steve

Steve,
Well I beat Steve S to the welcome . Welcome from another Ohioan!! I am interested in how you like being a pipefitter?
-Jonathan

Superiorwelding wrote: Steve,
Well I beat Steve S to the welcome . Welcome from another Ohioan!! I am interested in how you like being a pipefitter?
-Jonathan

It's a long and expensive story, actually...

I went to college for electro-mechanical engineering, but it was putting me to sleep. Not that I didn't enjoy it -- I was very good at it, but I was being held back by those who didn't grasp the concepts. I ended up transferring into mathematics, with a concentration in physics.

Life changed in 2006 as a result of a near-deadly car crash. A lady ran a light doing 70+ while talking on a cell phone and eating an Arby's Mushroom Melt (I guess those sandwiches are to die for). Did I mention she was uninsured? I took a pretty crazy head injury, but 21 weeks of physical therapy and I could get around pretty well. The problem? I now had trauma induced numerical dyslexia, better known as Acalculia.

Unfortunately, some of the powers that be tried to do everything they could to kick me out of the mathematics program, rather than allow me to work through this. I fought it, and have completed (and submitted) my final research (modeling hurricane enthalpy via the use of rankine vortices). I'm seeking a waiver on the presentation, which is the only thing standing between me and the degree.

In the mean time, I finished my BS in Natural Science (Geology) as I had taken many science courses to fill in elective credits. I got into pipefitting because I'm fascinated with fluid and gas transport systems, and I'd like to eventually be working in pipeline engineering / rig welding. The desire to learn never stopped.

My neighbor is a long time pipefitter. After taking the aptitude test, I had the highest overall score out of more than 75 applicants. That made me feel pretty good. I'm actually going out on my first job this afternoon -- working 7 x 10's for the next 4 weeks at a chemical plant. I specialized in mineralogy and petrology during my geological studies, so metallurgy isn't that big of a jump. I enjoy it. I had worked for a couple of different places before, but the economy lead to cuts, layoffs, closures, or buy outs. Basically a pretty crappy rat-race. I needed change, so here it is.

Welcome, Steve,

I can't match the car accident story. My head-injury after-effects are more subtle and less directly affect what I've been doing. However, I can relate to being bored with a curriculum. I studied industrial electronics and controls in a BS program. If I'd had a knowledgeable guidance counsellor who could have described a contract instrument technician's job to me, I might have been more tempted to fight to complete, but when the funding became as difficult as the study was boring, I let it go, and went back to my "go-to" source of income, welding. It's led me on a circuitous path to a job that challenges me and I (usually) thoroughly enjoy.

I'm very pleased to have some more metallurgy knowledge here, and since I work with cryogenic fluids and gasses (redundant, actually), I may want to pick your brain once in a while...

Steve S

NOT ANOTHER BUCKEYE!!! I'm from the better side of the Ohio River in West Virginia. Welcome

We are taking over!!
-Jonathan

Now THAT is a scary thought

mcoe wrote:Now THAT is a scary thought

-Jonathan

If we don't balance Ohio membership with Aussie membership, the Earth's axis will destabilize...

It's the natural order of things.

Steve S

Too right cobber. We wouldn't want the emus to come round and kick your dunnies down!

coldman wrote:Too right cobber. We wouldn't want the emus to come round and kick your dunnies down!

That is great!!
-Jonathan

Welcome from another fellow buckeye.

What in the hell is a dunnie? And do you think, in a hypothetical mythical creature/urban legend fight, a Yowie or a Sasquatch would win?

I'm not sure, but I think a dunny is an outhouse...

Steve S

Oh so we are still talking about Ohio Sorry

mcoe wrote:Oh so we are still talking about Ohio Sorry

With the Amish population in Ohio, yeah, if "dunnies" are outhouses, then we're on the mark...

Steve S

A couple models of the great Australian Dunny. aka "thunderbox"

GreinTime wrote:What in the hell is a dunnie? And do you think, in a hypothetical mythical creature/urban legend fight, a Yowie or a Sasquatch would win?

Well there is some suggestion that the Sasquatch actually exists. The Yowie is purely ancient mythology. The nearest thing they have to a photo of the Yowie is my neighbor Spiros taking a bath in the crik while on camping holiday...

coldman wrote:
Well there is some suggestion that the Sasquatch actually exists. The Yowie is purely ancient mythology. The nearest thing they have to a photo of the Yowie is my neighbor Spiros taking a bath in the crik while on camping holiday...

Dude I literally am laughing so hard o almost wrecked my car and pooped at the same time lol. I just got out of work at 0100EST. What time is it down under?

Where I am its 3:15pm. Don't burst a blood vessel on me now. I want you to make it home safe. (Don't come a cropper!)

I'll be alright lol. I got up at 0445 this morning so its been a long day to say the least. I didn't write any of my school paper like I planned on, but I got hella far on my résumé haha

coldman,

I have a buddy that could pass for sasquatch or yowie with his shirt off... On one camping/hunting trip, he did the "bath in the creek" thing. He soon spotted me about 20 yards downstream with just a dip net and a beer, and yelled, "What the hell you doing?"

"I'm waiting for the stunned ones to float, so we've got dinner!"

I went to high school with a big boy who made a Sasquatch costume and ran across the main road in a heavily wooded area in front of cars. Our sheriff department got numerous calls about Sasquatch crossing the road.