New jobs no time

Date 10-26-2012 02:34

Here is some pics of a job I finished tonite with one pic of my son working on earning his stripes for kicks. This was a fun one but they had no manbasket....climbing a 160 foot ladder is hard on this ole fella. The job was joining a bunch of SS pipe, some 10" and then two runs of 24" whilst they are hanging from a crane....all tig. The wind was gusting 30-40 all week so it got "interesting". I am kinda proud to say the company men said I was the fastest welder they ever saw....I averaged 45mins a joint on the 24"...remember all tig. They had an excellent crew and I had a good time despite some setbacks...we exceeded the capacity of the crane by time I had welded a few sections and had to call in a big boy. It was a ridiculously tight schedule but we rolled in allotted time...overall a lot of fun and it felt good to run the torch on some thick big stuff for a change. BTW all old school scratch start and no remote!!!

LONG WAY DOWN

Lots of other job pics to post but this one was kinda cool...

By Superflux (****)

Date 10-26-2012 06:07 Edited 10-26-2012 06:16

Tommyjoking,

Maybe you could make it up that 160' ladder faster if you didn't have to stop in the middle to smoke a cigarette???

Tiggin' a 24" in 45 minutes???? Holey moley Dude! How in thuh???? What did ya do? Use 1/2" tungstens and dump an 8 ball of marching powder in the fuel tank of a SAM 650?????

Great fotos. Love them fall colors.

By ssbn727 (*****)

Date 10-26-2012 09:15 Edited 10-26-2012 20:39

C'mon Superflux!

Are going blind on me or what??? :eek:

Take a look @ the 4th & 6th pic down from the top of the thread... :roll:

Now what type of joint do you see bro??? :eek:

Fillet welds can be deposited a whole lot faster than in groove joints where CJP is a requirement... :lol:

Tommy just got a heavy duty GTAW torch, put in some thick azz Wulfram in it, got some either 1/8" dia. or 5/32 dia. filler rods, cranked the gas up a bit (put in a diffuser to spread the gas around for better coverage) as well as the current and he was off to the races!!! :yell:

Yeah man! Tommy went to town on those joints Lol! :lol:

Now I did notice in the 4th pic from the top that showed an indication or even an arc strike very close to the beginning of that joint... Am I correct??? :roll:

Btw, I like the way you planned the weld sequencing on the job before hand by welding one end of each connection so that all you had to do was to weld the fillet in the 2f position... Good looking @ the bigger picture there Tommy. :wink:

Respectfully,
Henry

By jwright650 (*****)

Date 10-26-2012 10:47

>Now I did notice in the 4th pic from the top that showed an indication or even an arc strike very close to the beginning of that joint... Am I correct???

Yup looks like he lit up just a smigit outside of the joint.

BTW, Fall colors are starting to show up around here too...nice looking job for you guys, glad to see people finding work these days.

By welderbrent (*****)

Date 10-26-2012 13:39

"Yup looks like he lit up just a smigit outside of the joint"

Now John, you know 'smigit' (s) are only found on widgets. That doesn't look like a widget to me. :lol:

Great job Tommy.

Have a Great Day, Brent

By Tommyjoking (****)

Date 10-26-2012 15:35 Edited 10-26-2012 15:39

Yes I had some arc strikes..outside the joint too...pipe was moving a lot and the wind made me break arc in a hurry several times. :red:

A little frustration. BTW I did a few joints on the ground in 5f and no I did not do them near as quick. Henry pretty much nailed it, lots of current, big rods, gas etc. That torch head was getting as soft as licorice in the summer time. :twisted:

Thanks for the compliments tho.

They threw the maxstar up there for me to knock out some structural stuff (smaw) while they were rigging the next joint...just in case yall thought I was tigging off of that :lol:

By Superflux (****)

Date 10-26-2012 17:18

Henry,
Yes Sir I did see the fillet welds and they were well positioned for maximum deposition speed. Still, under field conditions (wind!) with what was most likely an air cooled rig that overheats easily, and ceramic cups that shatter after a few hot and cold cycles, 45 minutes for a 24" (6' 3-3/8" total linear length) pipe is far beyond the capabilities for the common welder.
Since this does not appear to be an API 1104 job, the arc strike was not a concern. Tungsten inclusions are far easier dealt with outside the joint, and usually not an issue on a project like this.
I'd loved to have just hung out, handed him rod and brushed his stops and starts for him. Looked like a fun and hopefully profitable gig.
Good job Tommy!

By Tommyjoking (****)

Date 10-26-2012 20:07

Thanks John. Would have been honored to have ya there, even if telling me what I was doing wrong :grin:

Yes it was fun and yes it was very profitable.

By DaveBoyer (*****)

Date 10-27-2012 02:55

Better You than Me up in the air like that. No way in hell could I even climb the ladder that far, I would need to stop a minute or 2 every dozen feet. I am not much doing scratch start even in a shop, let alone in those conditions.

By ssbn727 (*****)

Date 10-26-2012 20:36 Edited 10-27-2012 05:10

Hey Superflux,

So you're saying that both me and Tommy are uncommon welders??? :yell:

It doesn't matter if it's a API 1104 job or not... Arc strikes on the material away from the joint is something that always should concern anyone especially from an engineering standpoint and you know that also, and arc strikes are not the same thing as Wulfram inclusions my friend. :roll:

Now I'm sure the work was taxing to say the least for Tommy but after all, we're talking about Tommy who always knows how to hustle when he absolutely has to on any job since he's the one making the money or not from each job he's on... In other words, he is the company and he knows that if he don't hustle, then his profit margin not his paycheck will shrink enough to where he can no longer operate at the level he's currently on or expand his operations or handle even bigger jobs.. Not to mention what damage it'll do to his reputation. :eek:

Go get'em Tommy!!! :lol:

Respectfully,
Henry

By qcrobert (***)

Date 10-26-2012 20:53

Well everyone else already covered the welding part and color of the leaves so....

Good looking boy ya got there Tommy, must've gotten it from his mother... :grin:

QCRobert