My weld crack lesson from rushing boiler plate prep

I thought I could skip cleaning the edges on a boiler plate weld last month. Of course, it cracked under pressure and I had to grind it all out. What's your go-to method for prepping old, rusty metal?

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3 Comments

tessalopez8mo ago

Oof, that's a tough lesson. Honestly, for rusty metal, I always hit it with a wire wheel first to get down to bare steel.

10

leochen8mo ago

Wire wheels can be messy and often miss deep rust pits! A rust converter gel works way better by eating away the corrosion without all the dust. It also leaves behind a good layer that helps with priming later on. I learned this after getting metal bits all over my clothes once! You should test it out next time.

4

laura_ward8mo ago

Ugh, tell me about it. My last "shortcut" turned a simple weld into a two-day grinding marathon.

4