Vince Pitelka on thu 16 sep 04
> The hard thing about learning to weld, regardless of the technique
> employed, is to be critical. You have to be able to recognise those
> thing which cause problems and know how to correct them if the joints
> you make are not to be defective or fail in use.
Ivor -
In mentioning the Industrial Arts arc welding course I took at Humboldt
State University back in 1969, I didn't say anything about the final exam.
For the final, every student provided a 4"x5"x1/2" piece of steel plate and
a supply of welding rod. We would lay a bead along one edge of the 4x5
surface, knock the slag off, wire brush the bead, and lay a parallel bead
overlapping the first one. That continued all the way across the plate.
The piece was then turned 90 degrees and the same process repeated, turned
90 degrees again and repeated, on and on until the total thickness
(including the plate) was one inch. We then wire brushed the whole surface
and took the piece to the instructor, who cut it in half on the bandsaw and
sprayed a special dye on the surface. Slag inclusions and air bubbles
showed up as red specks on a white background, and each one was one letter
grade off. We were invited to repeat the exam as many times as we needed to
in order to get the grade we hoped for. I only had to do one and got a "B"
in the course. I was thorough and careful, and if one does that, there is
no reason for there to be slag or air inclusions. I guess that one
inclusion that dropped my grade to a "B" was just a fluke, eh?
Best wishes -
-Vince
Vince Pitelka
Appalachian Center for Craft, Tennessee Technological University
Smithville TN 37166, 615/597-6801 x111
vpitelka@dtccom.net, wpitelka@tntech.edu
http://iweb.tntech.edu/wpitelka/
http://www.tntech.edu/craftcenter/
Vince Pitelka on fri 17 sep 04
> Arc welding is for boiler makers and ship builders. Heck for strong but
messy due to the splatter. I hope you learned gas welding first. From gas
you can graduate to TIG and then if you're lazy go to MIG welding.
Dear Logan -
Your hubby is certainly entitled to his own opinions, but splatter cleanup
is easy, with a flexible sanding disk on an angle grinder. Most of it
knocks off with the slag hammer. I learned arc welding in undergraduate
school, but then I worked as a mechanic for the City of Arcata for quite a
few years, and my fellow mechanic was a Navy-trained welder, and had been a
millwright in the sawmills. At the City garage we were expected to fix
everything that broke, and to build things rather than buy them. It was
excellent training, and it made me a good welder. Gas welding is for thin
steel sheet and brazing, but never for structural welds. For the strongest
structural weld, you would never find a professional welder using MIG or
TIG. They will ALWAYS be using old fashioned arc. It is the mainstay, and
everything else has it place in specialized welding proceedures.
Best wishes -
- Vince
Vince Pitelka
Appalachian Center for Craft, Tennessee Technological University
Smithville TN 37166, 615/597-6801 x111
vpitelka@dtccom.net, wpitelka@tntech.edu
http://iweb.tntech.edu/wpitelka/
http://www.tntech.edu/craftcenter/
logan johnson on fri 17 sep 04
Vince,
Arc welding is for boiler makers and ship builders. Heck for strong but messy due to the splatter. I hope you learned gas welding first. From gas you can graduate to TIG and then if you're lazy go to MIG welding.
Logan's Hubby
Vince Pitelka wrote:
Ivor -
In mentioning the Industrial Arts arc welding course I took at Humboldt
State University back in 1969, I didn't say anything about the final exam.
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