Welding Tips and Tricks

Hello, I have been on this forum for about a month reading a watching videos and have to say that I like it very much. There is a lot of knowledge and advice on here without all of the drama you find on other sites. I have been welding for a long time for my family's business (we rebuild rock crushers and quarry equipment) a lot of might and stick welding. While I'm not certified in anything I would like to be that is why I came here to get all info I can. With all that long winded stuff out of the way I would just like to say hello and keep up the all the good info on here.

jrogers80,
Welcome and thanks for the introduction! I would be interested in some pics of your work, maybe in the projects section or general. We can help you become "certified". It is not very hard.
-Jonathan

@jonahan,
Spoken like a guy who just passed a couple cert tests.

@jrogers,
Welcome to the forum and don't be afraid to add your knowledge to the mix where you can. We pick up bits of knowledge from almost everybody who asks and or answers a question. Everybody here has something to learn and it's nice to do it in a freindly environment such as this forum.

Len

Braehill wrote:@jonahan,
Spoken like a guy who just passed a couple cert tests.
Len

we will see how the rest go though.
-Jonathan
Edit; I didn't say it was easy to pass a test, just the process is not as hard as one would think.

Welcome to the forum jrogers80.

Hello to TN!
Welcome to the forum! It sounds to me like you have the welding aspects of your company well in hand. Certification is great, but will it make any difference to your company? I assume you are doing equipment repair and some custom fabrication, correct? What I am trying to say is that your best bet is to work on the skills that you need for what you are doing.

Now, if you haven't had any 'formal training' or even someone really knowledgeable you learned from, then you might have questions like wondering if your welds are going to hold, or if you have provided enough structural reinforcement. As a welder, there are two 'statements' I HATE to hear; one is "I think it will hold" and the other is "It don't look good, but it will hold". LOL! The thing is, as you look at your welds, you want to be able to determine if they are correct. But if they are wrong, you want to be able to determine what the defects are and why they are appearing.

If you are wondering about your welds, maybe think about a course at a local community college in the specific process you are using. If you can't find something like that, find yourself a GOOD local welder, and offer to pay him (cash) for a day or two to sort of hang around and offer input.

I have followed this forum for a long time. I do know that if you post a problem out here, folks are very willing to help out, and offer really, really good input on how to resolve issues. There are many very, very knowledgeable cats lurking around out here!

Thanks for the input. No it really wouldn't make much of a difference in our company if I were certified but we are at the moment building a welding truck and a lot of the companies want a "certified" welder. You know how it works in life a piece of paper will get you further these days than actual knowledge. I.e. a college degree will put someone over the person who trained them at a specific job just because they have that degree. It happens all too often. Long story short, no it won't make a difference in our company that much but for other things it will help.

Thanks for the input. No it really wouldn't make much of a difference in our company if I were certified but we are at the moment building a welding truck and a lot of the companies want a "certified" welder. You know how it works in life a piece of paper will get you further these days than actual knowledge. I.e. a college degree will put someone over the person who trained them at a specific job just because they have that degree. It happens all too often. Long story short, no it won't make a difference in our company that much but for other things it will help.