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Up Topic Welding Industry / General Welding Discussion / Quick question on soapstone
- - By seagull369 (*) Date 10-02-2009 02:37
I was wondering if it's ok to weld directly over marks made with soapstone or if that will negatively affect the strength of a joint. I notice some packages of the stuff say they won't contaminate welds, but am not sure how far that goes. Thanks.   
Parent - By RonG (****) Date 10-02-2009 04:42
Yes and No! Yes it's ok to weld over and No it will not adversly effect your work. Think in terms temperatures. Can't imagine any thing in Soapstone that could hold up to the Arc.
Parent - By jwright650 (*****) Date 10-02-2009 12:24
Some of my older welders draw a line along the joint with soapstone to help them stay on target....I don't think it has ever effected any of our welds
Parent - - By seagull369 (*) Date 10-02-2009 14:34
That's exactly why I do it, jwright650. The extra smoke created by SMAW & FCAW sometimes makes it hard to see exactly where that bead needs to go. Being able to highlight it with the stone makes a big difference.

Thank you both for your help.
Parent - - By 803056 (*****) Date 10-02-2009 15:59
Soapstone, baby powder or talc which is the same material ground into a powder, is included in some flux coverings (E6010) as one component of the slag formers.

Since it is a mineral, it is not a hydrocarbon. As such, it isn't a hydrogen source when it decomposes in the welding arc. I would assume (a dangerous thing to do) it isn't hygroscopic to the degree where the absorbed moisture could be a significant source of diffusible hydrogen considering the quantity (of soapstone) deposited on the surface of the metal when a line is scribed is rather limited.  

Best regards - Al
Parent - - By MMyers (**) Date 10-02-2009 17:47
OSU did a study for BWXT a couple of years ago about welding over common marking materials, soap stone was one of them.  I don't recall off hand the results, but it might be worth trying to run that research down. 
Parent - By Tommyjoking (****) Date 10-04-2009 01:46
well if good shots are any indication......your soapstone will not effect your weld results in smaw and gmaw processess as far as I can tell.
Up Topic Welding Industry / General Welding Discussion / Quick question on soapstone

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