Welding Tips and Tricks

I've done quite a bit of stick welding platforms but Im practicing a 3g 1/2 plate test with 1/4" gap an 1/4" backing plate....Now how the hell do i get it off to check my root pass??? The backing plate is new to me. Do u just cut it with the grinder an try to use a chisel an beat the hell out of it an hope it comes off?

No,

Typically, you'll arc-gouge most of it off, then grind the rest.

Your test facility should have an arc-air torch and carbon rods available. You don't need to do this yourself for a test, unless it's a chicken-shit outfit, but for practice work you should be familiar.

Steve S

well Im tryin to get certified so i can stop working for chicken shit oufits!!!Well maybe not chicken...they been pretty str8 forward about makin sure u know they don't give a damn if they're putting u life on the line. The last place i worked for refused to gimme a respirator even after i spent 3 weeks in a coma from welding galvanized. Then made it sound like they'd have to fire me if i couldn't come back an work 90hrs a week while i was in physical therapy LEARNING HOW TO WALK AGAIN! I work really hard an it'd b a dream come true if i could just work my butt of for someone who appreciates it.

This is not to disagree with Steve, just to show it could be done. I have "heard" that if you grind out your tacks on the back holding the backing plate off and cut off the ends of the run off that you can/could use a chisel and hammer to get it off. I personally have never done it.
Otherwise Steve is correct. Or they can machine it off.
Has anyone tried the hammer and chisel method? Curious to see if it in fact works.
-Jonathan

i will probably try it tmrw lol

I've always flushed mine off with a flushing tip with a torch. Be careful not to dig into the plates with that arc gouger. Those babies are nice but are literally like hot knives on butter

Wait just a damn minute!

Three weeks in a COMA? From breathing galvanized?

Unless you have some remarkable, special sensitivity, I call BULLSHIT.

Zinc does not cause metal poisening.

The first day will make you feel sick. The third day, you won't notice. You also won't have a cold or flu for at least a year.

Steve S

Otto i never said i had a flu for a year? I also got some kind of recurring tremor to that they said won't go away but it's not all the time...im not sure if it was zinc. I think it was hexavalent chromium...i think I wasn't conscious of when they told my family...but on the main site jody even wrote about it go under welding galvanized on the welding tips an tricks site...read what jody says about it. Trust me Idk u or have anything to prove or gain by lying to anyone here. It was a real experience that im glad i survived. Even tho im over 300,000 dollars in debt to the hospital. I couldn't make something like that up anyways...nor would i think it would be funny that my family got a phone call that I might not survive the night an have to drive 600 miles just to see me possibly one last time.

How r u out 300k from a workplace injury is what I wanna know.

my family didn't feel like it was a smart thing. thinking they would just fire me. I mean this don't prove nothin i guess if everyone thinks im lying. An also the place i worked for refused to let me get my insurance even tho id been eligible for 6 months. I guess one of those learning experiences.

I shouldve gotten a lawyer...but i just wanted my job....i shouldve been more concerned about the whole picture...it's ok that everyone wants to question it i guess. Cuz I know now looking back i shouldve handled the whole thing differently. An that's something i now have to live with.

Also I wasn't rushed to the hospital from work...it was later at night. A gf came over an i was not myself i was hallucinating an was saying some pretty crazy stuff so she called an ambulance.

Well at least your ok now.

Just another thought, did you use brake parts cleaner on a part by any chance, I know that stuff, galvanized, and some other coatings can mess you up. I am glad you're ok, just don't do it again.

Adam,

There's something going on here your workplace hasn't revealed because you haven't pursued it.

"Zinc poisoning" is a myth. At worst, it'll make you feel shitty for 24-48 hours, then you acclimate to it. (Yes, I've done it. Welded hot-dipped with no grind, with .045 flux-core and no respirator, for weeks on end.)

Hex-chrome also does not cause acute sickness. It causes cucmulative effects over a long time, and the only common source for a welder is stainless steel, with "stick" being the biggest culprit.

I cannot imagine "job-scared" as a reason to not pursue the employer for a cause and a remedy.

You need to take a fresh look at this, with a proper "workplace injury" attourney at your side.

Steve S

By the way,

How's that "backing plate" thingie coming? That was the original question...

Steve S

Adam,
Depending on where you are at, I have a VERY good attorney that specializes in employee rights.
-Jonathan

Working marine construction all my life. I worked on several all galvanized ferry docks. Galvanized pile, cap plates, and H-beams. I've been galvanized poisoned at least a dozen times. For me it starts out like someone stuck a ice pick in my knee, few minutes later like some one stuck an ice pick in my nuts. Then it gets worse , high fever, hardly any sleep . Next morning like nothing ever happened. Other than not getting a good night sleep.

Yeah just so u guys know i know what ur talkin about with the 24-48 hr thing I've had that to...i get the pains in my back an i get horrific chills and tremors I've had that probably 5/6 times. I mean Idk exactly what was determined cuz it was told to my parents while i was in a coma. My parents were just glad i wasn't dead. They thought it was some kind of pneumonia at first cuz they said my lungs were full of fluid and that my kidneys completely shut down poisoning my blood...hence the hallucinations. but after awhile they thought my lungs were weeping some fluid. Idk i really should get an attorney. Oh btw i haven't got to try the backing plate yet...my starter went out on my truck so after i replaced it my headlight went out and figured while im fixing that id change the oil....but u know im done with that i might go into the garage an try it...the neighbors are partyin like animals anyway im sure they won't mind

ok yeah that backing plate won't budge!! With a hammer an chisel. Someone mentioned a special tip for an aceteline torch? What was it a 90° tip number 2???!! I wish i wasn't doing this out of my garage for practice...or wish i had equipment or resources to machine it off...it's on there pretty good...you'd think i welded it to the plates or somethin.....Lol!

Try turning your grinder on edge, grind halfway through the backer strip in the middle.
Then when you hit the sides with the chisel, the metal will bend up, and break off, where you ground the groove.

This method works better after you have cut the piece into the strips to be bent.

hey thanks buddy!! That sounds like that's a much smarter way to go about it....Id really like to bend test it too but i don't have a press brake or anything.. do u have any ideas about that??

Get a harbor freight press.


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Adam's Got Skills wrote:hey thanks buddy!! That sounds like that's a much smarter way to go about it....Id really like to bend test it too but i don't have a press brake or anything.. do u have any ideas about that??

You can also bend the test piece around a die - one of these bench top models can be made pretty easily. I have this model with the floor stand and use it all the time - http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/ ... oCPuXw_wcB

For $120 it's tough to beat

Well I got the backing plate off!!! An looked pretty good to me. Is that bender pretty tough? I think it'd b a nice addition to my arsenal of tools. Does it work on thicker steel?