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Up Topic Welding Industry / General Welding Discussion / New found respect for all you pipe welders
- - By elliott (**) Date 02-01-2008 19:34
How it going guys. It was slow at work today so I figured I would give pipe welding a try we had some 3" sch 80 a round so I cut some pieces beveled them and went at. The root pass i did downhill, I found that to be the easiest part of welding the pipe was the root pass(becuase of reading all the post about it)I just buried the rod in the groove and got full peneration.You really have to beable to bend your body in postion to get all the way around the.Well then I tried a fill and cap pass with 7018 upwards.I just dont see how you guys can be moving your body, hand, kepping control of the arc length all at the same time. I had thought that an overhead plate test was hard but thats nothing compared to pipe. Hopefully one day I will run into some of you pipe welders out there. It would really be something to see how you guys do it. Thats enough rambling for today.
   Hope fully will see the pats win another superbowl this weekend,also everybody have good weekend to
     elliott
Parent - - By Cole Welding (**) Date 02-01-2008 20:39
think about doing that for 12 hours a day everyday
Parent - - By Superflux (****) Date 02-01-2008 21:08
Now .... wrap yourself like a Python around some nasty crude oil covered rack of pipes 12" apart, 40' in the air, where the only visual access is right where the photon torpedoes can go right down into the arm pit and eardrum... and the QC says "we are going to shoot this one" !!!! Now... LET THE GAMES BEGIN.
Parent - - By swsweld (****) Date 02-01-2008 23:36
Also try to slide, shimmy, wiggle your way to get between the superheat or econimizer panels. Wedged between them, tig welding with one hand, feeding wire with the other or buddy welder feeding it. Flyash, dirt, grime, dust from head to toe. 110 F in the penthouse, humidity about the same as temp. Getting zapped everytime you touch rod, wire or tungsten. 100% RT. Good times...
Parent - - By Sourdough (****) Date 02-02-2008 00:38
ahhh, but who of us don't get off on our jobs............?
Parent - By Flash Date 02-02-2008 06:53
the more you are challenged the more you learn
when starting on pipe, start on 6inch and above and work your way down to smaller sizes
R
Flash
www.technoweld.com.au
Parent - - By raftergwelding (*****) Date 02-02-2008 07:10
how about getting saddled up and flown 60 feet in the air with lead and tools hanging by ropes pockets full of rods sitting on a 2x4 changing out cross members in the derrick cause the driller was strung out and not paying attention and ran the block into the derrick and you need something look down and nort a sole around damn i love my job
Parent - - By downhandonly (***) Date 02-02-2008 08:21
lol a strung out driller...nawwwww
Parent - - By raftergwelding (*****) Date 02-02-2008 08:23
yeah who'd of thunk it
Parent - By swsweld (****) Date 02-02-2008 22:55
Cell phone towers. Slow ride up to the top in a manbasket suspended from a cable, hooked to rigging that you don't know who hooked up or what condition the cable is in. Hope that the cable winch on the boom truck has auto brake mechanisn that works. Welding lead, power cord and torch hooked to basket. Hope the lead doesn't snag on anything on the way up. (No chance of that happening)Tipping the basket. Don't know if the boomtruck/winch operator or the fitter in the basket with you are crackheads. Must cut holes in tower and weld reinforcement collars in three places. Swing basket left to right to get to the other holes. Hang out of basket to cut and weld. Tower fitter thinks it's funny to mess w/you 250' in the air. Wind blowing like crazy. Not afraid of heights just not too sure about the crew I'm working for. Had a fatality when one of their booms fell a few years ago. The quick ride back down. Priceless!!
Parent - - By welderdan (*) Date 02-02-2008 23:07
Man I dont miss those days on the drilling rigs
Parent - - By raftergwelding (*****) Date 02-03-2008 20:25
i'm getting kind of tried of rigs myself but it pays the bills and it's always something different i will admit getting stuck working in the yard sucks
Parent - - By Kix (****) Date 02-04-2008 21:17
How about crawling inside a 14" hydrogen flare line laying on it's side to back weld a couple roots that someone in the fab shop couldn't put in right.  Luckily it was winter so all the crap I had to cover up with to keep me from getting burned up didn't make me to hot.  It sure does suck being skinny sometimes.;-)
Parent - - By PipeIt (**) Date 02-05-2008 20:38
Or forgetting to turn you hat and taking a hot one in the ear and spitting it out without burning you toungue! l.o.l : )

Welder/Contortionist
Parent - - By welderdude (**) Date 02-06-2008 01:17
I like the "hot spark in my underwear" dance!
Parent - - By rig welder6 (**) Date 02-06-2008 04:26
nothing better then the sizzle of a hot one in your ear, or burning through all your layers of cloths and sinking in you arm, leg, head, foot. its all the same. comes with the territory. got to love it!
Parent - - By RioCampo (***) Date 02-06-2008 05:05
My wife loves my t-shirts after a hot one goes through my collar on my "nice" starched shirt and leaves a swiss cheese trail all the way to my underwear.
Parent - - By raftergwelding (*****) Date 02-06-2008 08:36
yeah those are the fun ones cant ever seem to get the undershirt untucked fast enough lol the best 1 is that piece of slag taht falls in your knee pads how fast can ya unbuckle it lol
Parent - - By Tommyjoking (****) Date 02-06-2008 10:50
swsweld TIM      jeez 

lets see  8 ft dia pill  gouging out the subarcs from the inside for lo-hy weld out inside.....air horn in one end with almost no pressure (60psi), 24 inch manway and its 103 Fahrenheit outside the shop...full leathers for obvious reasons. day in and day out all summer long. 

Vehicle barrier install in July.....18 inch sch 80 pipe 26 foot long with five legs welded on in shop (same size pipe) ....ok we get to arrive on site and use a 70lb breaking bar to drive holes in concrete drive for the legs  (spose to be 4 inches thick.....its 8 to 10).....where is the crane dude??  no crane we got 2x4's and 4x4's.....ok after killing myself on the concrete now we biddle this heavy sum bit** into the holes.....I loved the guy thats why I did it ...I sure as heck did not bid it!!!  There were two of us me and him!!

Burns?  lay the mig gun down whilst you beat that manway into submisson.....meanwhile the trigger is pulled and that wire is getting good and hot ....pick it up and stick 3 inches of it into your thigh thru your bluejeans......I screamed like a little girl with a banana spider on her face.

yep good times LOL!!!!!!
Tommy

 
Parent - - By Gregory Walker (*) Date 02-07-2008 23:18
Laying in a ditch 10 ft deep 15 ft wide 6in of water laying your head init trying to stuff your head under the pipe making a weld the boss saying "were gonna shoot that one" when youre just welding by feel.  thats the fun and the challenge of this art, profession whichever u prefer to call it.
Parent - By RioCampo (***) Date 02-08-2008 00:29
Have funny story about welding on odd stuff.
A friend of mine worked in a rail car repair yard for a while one summer. They were repairing cars one day on a line. Each welder would work on a car. He sat down to eat lunch on the track. Everytime he would sit down on the track he would get shocked. This goes on four or five times and he can't figure out what is the deal. He finally looks down and notices the welder working on the car next to him is sitting on a block on the track. He finally figured out that everytime he sat down the guy next to him was sticking his lead to the track and shocking the heck out of him.
Parent - By Sourdough (****) Date 02-08-2008 09:15
neato, sounds like my first 2 years of "independence".......
Parent - - By JescoPressure (**) Date 02-08-2008 01:26
i hear ya brother. Two months in the cellar is enough for me
Parent - By Hoeky (*) Date 02-08-2008 02:08
48" pipe insert on a 80' d tANK  with a spectacle valve hanging on it and about 11 inches to get body head and stinger in to weld it.  1 7/8 " wall thichness. welding asthough you were the bad kid in class with his head in the corner.    try to change a rod and flip you lid down. Q.C says "if you can weld it you are my hero, oh yeah and its 100 % x ray."   I never said I wanted to be a hero! dammit.
Up Topic Welding Industry / General Welding Discussion / New found respect for all you pipe welders

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