Done the filler feed while watching outdoor channel. Works like a charm. I still enjoy it and practice for fun when I can. Helps to get in a booth sometimes too. After so long in a pipe rack welding in a booth gets hard. Everything sounds more aggressive when its quite around you for a change.

Coming from a steamfitter. Buy a blue book! It will help you in alot of ways. Familiarize yourself with converting fractions to decimals and converting them back. A right triangle is your best friend. Learn all you can about right triangles. Know how to figure the volume of a cylinder. You're going ...

For the welders who have been at it for a while. Do you still practice? I weld almost every day. Won't lie I went prolly 7 years without practicing. Started to notice my caps were getting sloppy. So I started to practice when I can. Walking the cup on the steering wheel, paying attention to rod angl...

Agreed not always, but in general. Not every weld is subject to asme section 9 criteria. I think its a good idea to familiarize yourself with different code books. If anything to understand QC lingo.

Forgot to tell you. In general if its sucked back below base metal it will be rejected. There are ways to get around suckback on a field weld xray, but if the root is visible to an inspector suckback is a defect( failure).

Vince

Combination of things cause suckback. I'll list some and you'll have to experiment to fit you. 1. To many amps combined with travel speed being to slow. Makes a wide flat or sucked back root on the bottom of the pipe. 2. Bevel peeled back to far with a wide gap. The bevel gets hot and sags because t...

Esab's atom arc

Good ole green jacket has served me well. Unless my employer requires FR coveralls.

The best I've seen are those class A hazard suits with built in welding hood. Those things repel fire like no other. Hot in the summer tho.

Hood time will make the biggest difference. Been welding for 15 years and still stick a rod here and there. It's an old Indian trick you know haha

I like 75 amps. They do ok up to 85 or so. After that the flux just can't stand the heat. Anytime I take a stainless test a spray bottle of water will be nearby. Should be able to touch the coupon. If you can't just give it a spray. You can put a decent root pass in with them, but you'll have to be ...

Found 1 silver mirror lense on the Internet. Everyone I've spoken with tells me they are not being made anymore. I did try a gold mirror made by Phillips safety. Highly recommend it. Very good quality German glass. Closest Thing I've used to the old Lincoln hi-viz lense. Nice blue/green color and re...

Needing a huntsman quick slide hood with the 4x5 lense too. Heard they discontinued this model. Hate getting attached to my tools.

Anyone know where to get silver filter lenses? My last one is in my hood and I've grown partial to them.

Wow I'm surprised that passed the state inspection. I'm not well educated in boiler codes, but most would reject it from arc strikes alone I would think.

Hood time makes it happen.

Vince

Not sure really. Weldmold makes the rod in the pictures. I'd say a guy could call and ask its advantages over wire fed processes. My guess would be irregular groove shape was a factor. Old man that had the rod I mentioned said 1500 amps was minimum. Subarc seems more welder friendly since its covere...

Here's some pics I found of 3/4" rod being used to weld a mold. Cool stuff

Awesome videos! I've seen large stick electrodes before. Upwards of 1" in diameter and 4' long. Tried to buy them off the fella, but wouldn't sell. Far as I know they were used in ship construction. Had a tracked machine that fed them. Looked around the net for videos, but none found.

Plus one on the silver coated lense. Have a shade 11 silver in my hood right now.

Agree with you completely Otto. Some guys forget the reason we make a good wage. Some just forget what being a good man is about. Good and bad in it all. As long as I can keep my family fed and go home proud I'm satisfied.

Gotta say when it comes to X-ray welds. I prefer Lincoln's 5p+6010 and esabs atom arc low hydrogen rods. Arcaloy makes good stainless rods. Wouldn't weld on my horse trailer with any available aluminum stick rod.

I'll try and answer what I can. To start I'm a 5th generation steamfitter. I know what your thinking. Daddy got you in haha. Luckily the UA requires a certain amount of training and skill tests to become an apprentice. After graduating from Hobart I tested at the Dayton, Ohio pipe fitters local. 3 t...

Haha just showing up ready to work. Sweeping my booth after testing. Thanking the Qc and steward on the way out good, bad, or ugly. I'm a young man myself being 27, but respect goes a long way for me. Tamjeff I got a chuckle out of that. I've confronted quite a few guys in confined spaces that live ...

Always got a kick out of a guy spitting in the floor or stub bucket. I'm a chewer myself, but you won't catch me doing it. Got a job once for simply showing up with a hood and jacket.

Looks good. Alexa covered what will help you cap very well. Leaving that little bit of bevel when filled out is extremely helpful. Just watch the puddle barely consume that ledge with your first stringer. I always run a faster travel speed on the last stringer to get a convex face. I like a 5/32 gap...