Had a senior guy tell me my grinding technique was wrecking my welds, and he was right

I been doing boilermaker work for about 8 years now, mostly on pressure vessels and storage tanks. A couple months back we were on a job in Baton Rouge, and this old timer with 30 years in stops to watch me prep a bevel on a 1-inch plate. He said I was grinding too fast and pushing too hard, making the surface too smooth for good fusion. I thought he was just nitpicking, but he showed me how my last few welds had tiny cold lap spots I missed. So I slowed down, backed off the pressure, and started using a coarser flap disc. My tie-ins are way cleaner now, and I haven't had a single rejection from the inspector since. Has anyone else gotten a tip from a vet that made you rethink a basic move you thought you had down?

2 comments

2 Comments

christopher9432d ago

Man, I had a buddy who ground everything down to like a mirror finish and his beads kept cracking.

wells.olivia1d ago

My buddy Steve did the exact same thing with some 316L he was working on. He spent hours with sandpaper going up to 2000 grit and then hit it with the polish wheel. Every single bead cracked right at the puddle line where the shiny metal met the heat. I told him it looked like the metal was too slick for the filler to wet out proper, like trying to paint on glass. He finally just hit it with a 120 grit flap disc and the cracks stopped completely.