That old timer at the Pittsburgh union hall told me 'A clean weld is a strong weld, kid' and I've never forgotten it.

He said it while I was rushing a root pass on a 6-inch carbon steel pipe, and I've slowed down for every bead since. Anyone else have a piece of advice that just clicked like that?

3 comments

3 Comments

margaret_perry29d ago

That old timer was right about the clean part, but @cole_mitchell57 has a point too. A weld can look perfect and still be cold or have hidden slag. The real trick is knowing your puddle. On stainless, if you see that sugar forming on the back, your gas coverage is off no matter how nice the front looks. Clean is just the first step, not the whole job.

cole_mitchell5729d agoMost Upvoted

Clean doesn't always mean strong though.

barbara4293d ago

Oh man, that reminds me of a buddy of mine. He was so proud of a weld that looked like stacked dimes, real pretty. But it failed an x-ray because he got in a hurry and didn't clean his joint right between passes. Had a bunch of slag hiding in there. It's like what @margaret_perry said, clean is just the start. That shiny top layer can fool you. He learned the hard way that you gotta respect the whole process, not just the final look.