My first foreman told me to always use a backing strip on the root pass, even on small jobs.

This was back in '98 on a job in Gary, Indiana, welding up some 6-inch steam lines. I thought it was a waste of time for what seemed like a simple joint. I skipped it once on a rush job, and sure enough, we had to cut out and redo a whole section because of lack of fusion. He was right, and I've never cut that corner since. Anyone else have an old piece of advice that stuck with you, even if you learned it the hard way?

3 comments

3 Comments

theasmith16d ago

My old boss in a Philly shipyard had a rule about never trusting a pre-heat reading from just one spot. I thought he was being overly careful until I warped a huge section of plate on a repair job. The temp was way off on the other side. Cost me a whole weekend of unpaid overtime to fix it, so yeah, I learned that one real good.

patw8516d ago

That's a solid rule from your old boss, @theasmith. I read a welding guide that said you should always check at least three spots to get a real average. It's crazy how much the temp can change across a single piece of metal.

holly4204d ago

One spot's fine if you know your gear, @patw85.