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Had a foreman in Gary tell me my preheat was overkill on a 2-inch plate

He said he's been welding since the 70s and never bothered with it for anything under 4 inches... but I kept my temp stick out anyway. Any of you ever run into old school guys who think the new safety steps are just wasting time?
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3 Comments
olivia670
olivia67016d ago
Well, I have to say I've been there more times than I care to count. I used to work in a fab shop alongside a welder who had been doing it since the 60s, and he would laugh at me for checking my preheat with temp sticks on anything less than 3 inches. I learned my lesson the hard way once when I skipped it on a piece of 2-inch plate because he was giving me a hard time, and sure enough, I got some hairline cracks that showed up after the weekend. After that, I just nodded politely at his comments and did it my way anyway. You just can't argue with the fact that preheat helps keep hydrogen out of the weld, especially with thicker stuff and colder conditions like they get in Gary. These old timers might have gotten away with it for years, but I'd rather take an extra 15 minutes than scrap a job.
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danielm80
danielm8016d agoMost Upvoted
Maybe he just got lucky. Cracks don't always show right away.
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simon_carr
simon_carr16d ago
Nailed it with keeping that temp stick out anyway.
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