Welding Tips and Tricks

Still need to work on my muscle memory for the goofy (left) side of the pipe but I'm very happy with the result and bend test.

I still have a lot to learn, period.

Now on to MIG pipe next week.

I apologize for my potatocam pictures.

Congrats! Good luck on the MIG test next week.

R.J.

Glad you made it. If this were a boiler tube test for me I would have looked you out on fit up, root (but the root would have been TIG on ASME sect. 9), fill and cap. Passing a test is just the beginning of the learning curve. I'm not tryin to discourage anyone - just to tell it like it is. Nice looking bend coupons however. Run a bunch more and keep trying to slick them up. Learning that left side is tough.

Just an grumpy old fart used to telling it like it is.

plain ol Bill wrote:Glad you made it. If this were a boiler tube test for me I would have looked you out on fit up, root (but the root would have been TIG on ASME sect. 9), fill and cap. Passing a test is just the beginning of the learning curve. I'm not tryin to discourage anyone - just to tell it like it is. Nice looking bend coupons however. Run a bunch more and keep trying to slick them up. Learning that left side is tough.

Just an grumpy old fart used to telling it like it is.

I appreciate the BLUF (Bottom Line Up Front) approach. I realized when I started this journey that the cert. test is merely just the beginning of my quest for knowledge and skill - I was good enough on that test that day. The real learning begins once I am employed so I can hone my skill in the work environment and gain from those seasoned trade veterans (grumpy old farts) I will be working with. I try to stay humble with all of this but it is nice to see my hard work in the school/shop pay off.

For the goofy side of the pipe, I chose to cut my rods in half and it helped a lot but I still like to practice with full rods.

Using a full length rod on a 2" coupon is tough really. It is hard to get a steady rest with that long rod. I put my rod in the end of the stinger sticking straight up then bend it into a U shape about 4" out. This gives you a shorter rod, you can rest your hand on the coupon to steady up then. I never restart a rod on a test. Rod is cheap compared to a risk of getting porosity on a start and busting the test.
Welding a 2" test I put in a root w/ 1/8" wire, hotpass with 3/32 wire, first fill pass and all the way out w/ 3/32 7018 (my preference by far is Esab Atom Arc rod). On that first fill pass tie the sides and keep the pass flat. Next fill pass is on the bottom of the groove. Do not fill to the point that you cannot put another fill pass on the top. Proceed this way until you are just under flush (how any passes this will take depends on what the wall thickness of the coupons are). If you filled to just below flush then when you start the cap move out so not to "gorilla weld" it. Cap using three passes (or more for heavy walls) and let the coupon cool off for a few minutes before that last pass. I like my heat so that when I am using the U shape bent rods they are bright red and about to melt off when you break the arc. Keep those cap passes slick and overlaying each other by half a pass. Take off any chi-chi's (spatter), shine it up good and there you go. First few test's take quite awhile. Later in your career you can finish one in about 45 minutes from the time you are handed a couple of coupons.

I'm with Bill on this one. Good recipe. But I think he's on a 6010 root. I'm curious about what cert it is he's taking

Thank you for the advice.

plain ol Bill wrote:Using a full length rod on a 2" coupon is tough really. It is hard to get a steady rest with that long rod. I put my rod in the end of the stinger sticking straight up then bend it into a U shape about 4" out. This gives you a shorter rod, you can rest your hand on the coupon to steady up then. I never restart a rod on a test. Rod is cheap compared to a risk of getting porosity on a start and busting the test.
Welding a 2" test I put in a root w/ 1/8" wire, hotpass with 3/32 wire, first fill pass and all the way out w/ 3/32 7018 (my preference by far is Esab Atom Arc rod). On that first fill pass tie the sides and keep the pass flat. Next fill pass is on the bottom of the groove. Do not fill to the point that you cannot put another fill pass on the top. Proceed this way until you are just under flush (how any passes this will take depends on what the wall thickness of the coupons are). If you filled to just below flush then when you start the cap move out so not to "gorilla weld" it. Cap using three passes (or more for heavy walls) and let the coupon cool off for a few minutes before that last pass. I like my heat so that when I am using the U shape bent rods they are bright red and about to melt off when you break the arc. Keep those cap passes slick and overlaying each other by half a pass. Take off any chi-chi's (spatter), shine it up good and there you go. First few test's take quite awhile. Later in your career you can finish one in about 45 minutes from the time you are handed a couple of coupons.

Poland308 wrote:I'm with Bill on this one. Good recipe. But I think he's on a 6010 root. I'm curious about what cert it is he's taking

6010 Root

7018 all other passes.

SMAW Pipe 6G Certification