I've been setting my torch wrong for years and only found out because of a weird weld bead.

I was working on a 3 inch thick pressure vessel plate last week, doing a root pass with my old Victor torch. The bead kept coming out fat and cold looking, no matter how I moved. My foreman, a guy named Ray who's been in the shop for 40 years, walked by and just said 'Your cone is too long, kid.' I had the tip too far from the work piece the whole time, making a soft flame. Shortened it up to a sharp blue needle point and it cut through like butter. Has anyone else had a basic setup thing they were doing wrong for a long time?

3 comments

3 Comments

lily_sullivan825d ago

It's like that with so many things... you can miss the simple fix right in front of you for ages.

sarah_johnson465d ago

Ugh, what was your simple fix?

barbara4294d ago

I think part of the reason we miss the simple fix is because we get too attached to the complicated ideas we already tried. Like, you spend hours on a fancy solution and you want it to work so bad that you overlook the obvious thing. It's almost like your brain decides the simple fix is too easy to be right. And sometimes it takes someone who hasn't been staring at the problem for days to point it out. My dad used to tell me to walk away and come back later because you'll see it fresh. That advice has saved me more times than I can count.