Shoutout to the guy who showed me why my gouge welds were failing on tube sheets

I was down at the Local 374 hall last Tuesday and this old-timer named Pete watched me set a root pass on a 2-inch tube sheet. He pointed out I was dragging my puddle instead of pushing it into the gap, which made no sense to me at first but he drew it out on a napkin. After three tries following his method, my x-ray passed 100% and I saved about 6 hours of grinding per shift. Has anyone else had a random tip from a stranger change how they approach a tricky weld like that?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_kelly1mo ago

Pete the napkin engineer saved me a similar headache once, except mine was about pushing a 6010 rod too hard on a vertical up and he just shook his head and walked away. Came back with a coors light and drew a little stick figure in the condensation to show me the right angle.

wrenwilson1mo ago

@the_kelly that's a hell of a teacher right there, using beer math over blueprints. I'd probably just end up drinking the visual aid before learning anything.