Gerald,
first off, thanks a lot for your - as usual - fine reply!
As always it's great to talking and discussing with you...
Hmmm, can it be that I am having a problem to distinguish "... 'getting it done', and 'giten er done'..."?^2
May be, yes, may be! I guess this is most likely a foreign member's fate.
Nonetheless, my intention was an entirely different one and please let me try to describe what I mean.
I have my greatest respect for all those ones in the field who are able to get their job done day by day, according to the codes, standards, PQR's, WPS's,..., and last but by no means the least under the pressure to work faster day by day, eventually fearing that the "global market competition" might reach him as well by the job he is doing right now might be accomplished by somebody else and somewhere else in this world.
And of course, I have the greatest confidence in all those fellows who are giving their best at this. Sourdough is even one of them.
So I would say, we are close in judging what has to be performed for that a "git er done weld" is likewise a "good weld". Sourdough has expressed this fine by having said: "... most importantly to my own specs..." and hereby he has fairly distinguished himself from all those who were summed by you as you said: "... there are those out there trying to "git er done" who skip several steps of the procedure...".
He has proved hereby the most crucial point in welding. He himself must very first of all believe in, and be convinced of the quality he's performing day by day and this quality he has to achieve "fast" to remain competetively or to say it in other words, "git er done" or "getting the job done". This is - from my humble standpoint - the Alpha and the Omega at all. Welding - in particular manually welding - is finally a question of confidence! As long as this basis is established everything else is nothing more than "dotting the i's and crossing the t's" (to quote js55).
That was the reason for me to say: "Each time the joints were x-rayed and the results were determined as being "o.k." this fact truly made my day." What else should I have believed in at that time if not in the "o.k.-results" been presented to me by the NDT-fellow (can remember him very well since he had a huge tooth gap) who did the X-Ray examination. On what, I ask you, may a welder working according to the codes may trust in, if not even in these facts being an indicator for the quality of his work - in this case the X-Ray results?
But my actual intention was - besides the wish to talk to you all - to express my "confusion" about some very present statements and investigations coming from the NDE or NDT field.
And this confusion has not dissappeared yet, although you have worked out a brilliant response.
You know, I am simply asking myself "What are the present NDE/NDT insights really worth, when nowadays some of the most excellent and outstanding researchers are asking the question: «What actually is metal ductility?» in the course of discussing the question whether it is reasonable to "overmatching" welding joints?"
I am asking myself, who - if not even the Almighty - does really know to interprete correctly what a very peculiar result of an NDT-examination really means? Everything is based upon experiences and these again are based upon "probabilities" collected over generations and generations of technologists, researchers, experts, welders. The extracts again are the codes which are very often nothing more than a compromise between different groups of interest. I honestly know that, since I am involved in some technical working groups, and there is truly no offense intended in this statement.
So what resides is the hope that nothing will happen under operation (with nuclear power plants, aircrafts, pipelines, pressure vessels,...) by having the hope to have given the best when preparing the "right" measures within the "right" code by having considered long enough and hereby hopefully decided the "right" means to say finally: "Yes, this is 'quality'."
I truly know that this is becoming a more "philosophical" subject and most likely the most of you will not follow me on this path and may say "Huuh, look at this crazy German, has he also seen Obama in Berlin?" :-) but however, we are working in the field of welding and - at least for me - there is so much unclarified by now that it's getting me scared...
Or has anyone of you already seen an "electron"?
However, I guess, we are speaking the same language Gerald, even though I have to admit to apparently having problems with the translation of some very peculiar terms as e.g. "git er done" or get it done". :-)
Best regards,
Stephan
P.S. Excellent thread!
Edit: Had forgotten an "s"...