I used to think you had to use a hammer drill for every bolt hole on a baseplate job. Then I'm sitting in the union hall waiting for a dispatch and this old boilermaker says he only uses a rotary hammer for concrete over 4000 psi and a standard drill for anything softer. He showed me pictures of a refinery job he did in Gary where he ran 80 bolts with no hammer drill, just a corded DeWalt and good carbide bits. I tried it on a small water tank pad last week and it cut my setup time by almost half. Has anybody else switched drills based on psi?
He said I was wasting money replacing burnt out grinders every 6 months because I never cleaned the vents. Showed me how he blows his out with air every Friday, and his same Dewalt has lasted 4 years. Anyone else been doing this wrong the whole time?
I had to pick between dragging the old buzz box around or renting a mig setup for a cracked 500 gallon tank last month. Ended up going with the mig since I was on a tight deadline and it cut my cleanup time in half. Any of you guys made the switch and regretted it or was it worth the extra setup?
Was working on a steam line at the mill in Gary last Tuesday and an old timer walked over and just watched me for a minute. He asked why I was dragging the puddle instead of pushing it on uphill joints. Told me I been wasting rod and creating weak spots the whole time. Has anyone else had that moment where someone called out a habit you thought was just your style?
Kept blowing porosity on horizontal fillets. Switched to a 3/32 7018 rod and dropped my amp setting 10 lower. Anyone else have a small tweak suddenly make everything click on the job site?
Watched a helper burn through three cutting wheels in ten minutes last Tuesday on a tank repair in Gary, then had the nerve to say the wheels were cheap when he should've grabbed a 7 inch or a torch to start with, has anyone else noticed this trend with the younger guys?
Last week I got thrown into a tube replacement at an old paper mill outside of Portland. I had 3 years of helper experience but never ran the torch myself on a full bundle. I ended up cutting one tube too short by about 4 inches and had to patch it with a sleeve. Has anyone else had a rookie mistake that cost them extra time on a job?
I always thought those little wire files were fine for cleaning tips, but last month on a job near the Exxon plant in Baton Rouge we had a tip that kept sputtering no matter what. Foreman pulled out a set of precision drill bits and ran them through once, and it cut like new. Has anyone else switched from files to bits for stubborn tips?
I was down at the Port of Detroit last Thursday doing a walkthrough on a job bid. Watched this younger guy try to tack a boiler plate without preheating the edges in 30 degree weather. Foreman came over and reamed him out for a solid 5 minutes before showing him how to do it right with a rosebud torch. Has anyone else seen new guys skip basic steps like that on a cold day?
Guy named Hank, been a boilermaker since the 70s, told me that on my first big tank job at the Marathon refinery in Gary. I skipped that step on a 3/8 plate joint and had to grind out 4 feet of weld after it warped. Has anyone else learned a lesson the hard way from ignoring the old hands?
I was working a job down at the Marathon refinery in Gary and this kid fresh out of trade school pointed out my bevel angles were off by about 5 degrees. He was right, I was rushing to get the job done and it caused a crack test failure on the first inspection. Ever since then I spend an extra 10 minutes measuring each joint before I strike an arc. Has anyone else had a younger guy call them out on something that actually made sense?
Boss handed me the wrong part and I spent the whole morning trying to make it work before someone finally checked the warehouse slip. Anyone else waste half a shift on a simple mismatch?
Used to swear by wire brushes for cleaning scale off plate. Then I got flagged on a hydro test failure at Marathon refinery in Gary back in 2019. The brush was leaving microscopic grooves that trapped moisture. Switched to flap discs for all prep work now. Anyone else had a weld fail from something as simple as prep tools?
I was always drilling holes by hand with a template for base plates and it took forever. Dropped $350 on a Hougen mag drill from a pawn shop in Gary last month and it cuts through steel like butter. No more wandering bits or busted knuckles from the bit grabbing. Has anyone else made the switch and felt stupid for waiting so long?
I had a small spot on a 20-year-old boiler that needed patching. Couldn't decide if I should run stick or drag out the TIG setup. Stick was faster and I know it well, but TIG gives cleaner results on thin spots like this one. Went with TIG in the end because the owner wanted it to look decent. Took me about 45 minutes to set up and weld it out, and it turned out solid with no leaks. Has anyone else had luck patching older boilers with one process over the other?
Swapped it out for a proper auto-darkening hood after the lens popped off mid-weld on a tank repair job, and now I can actually see what I'm doing without worrying about sparks hitting my face.
Bought that Harbor Freight special last month because I figured a hood is a hood. Nope. First real job welding a pressure vessel and I couldn't see squat after 2 minutes. Had to keep stopping to wipe it down. Guy next to me let me borrow his Miller for a pass and it was night and day. Anyone else waste money on a budget hood before buckling for a good one?
Had a 6-inch pipe joint fail on me last month at a refinery job in Gary. I thought I could save time by skipping the argon purge on a stainless weld. Turns out the sugaring on the backside was bad enough that it cracked under pressure testing. Now I always take the extra 15 minutes to set up purge no matter what.
Was out on a job in Gary last month, trying to cut through 1-inch plate with a grinder and going through discs like crazy. Turns out I was pushing too hard and overheating the wheels, soon as I let the tool do the work one wheel lasted the whole shift. Anybody else learn this the hard way?
Watched a new guy try to warm up a 1-inch plate with a rosebud torch last Tuesday at the Midwest Energy job... took him 40 minutes and he still got a cold lap. You gotta use a standard heating tip or a propane rosebud for that, not the welding rosebud. Anyone else see rookies mix up torch tips on heavy plate?
We were on a 60k lb steam drum retube at the old power plant outside Portland. Third tube in, my helper dropped a brand new swage lock fitting down into the mud drum. Took us 4 hours with a magnet and a borescope to fish it out. Then the foreman chewed us out for being behind schedule and said we'd have to work Saturday. I told him to go fish it himself next time. The worst part was the fitting was a special order part, cost the company $180. Has anyone else had a dropped tool or part ruin their whole day?
Swapped to a 2% lanthanated on a stainless job last Thursday and the arc was so stable I didn't have to re-sharpen once, so consider me converted has anyone else noticed a big difference switching rod types?
I work on outdoor jobs in the Pacific Northwest, and wet rods have been a problem for me for years. Last week I tried putting a few silica gel packs from shipping boxes into my rod oven with my 7018 electrodes. It actually kept them dry through two days of drizzle on a bridge job in Tacoma. Has anyone else used that trick or do you have a different method for dealing with wet weather?
Was showing a trainee how to prep a 6-inch flange for weld prep and he grabbed the angle grinder before I could stop him. Said his last boss always did it that way. Took me 20 minutes to explain why abrasive wheels leave micro-cracks that show up on x-ray later. We had to scrap a fitting last fall because someone did exactly that on a pressure vessel job. Has anyone else dealt with rookies who learned the wrong way from some old timer?