And now for the rest of the story....
First off this was one of those off the wall deals, where like when I did work for Caterpillar, that even though it was mining machinery, the acceptance criteria was based on D1.1. The run off tabs etc was all set up and this was what we had to deal with. Sadly my friend was sent packing today due to his poor performance. He has only ever been certified to 1G with E7024. It was alluded to, that we Inspectors did not have to pass the welding tests (or at least all of them), and were explicitly told QC's are NOT to be welding.
At least now I know why I hung up my hood and went to Inspectorizing. That 1" unlimited SMAW and FCAW is a lot of WORK!!! AND, E309L-15 is a watery slag trapping POS... if you are not used to welding! Worn out a box of grinding wheels this week and my poor little soft Office Puke hands are cramped and blistered. waaa, waaaaa.
Amazingly, my 3G FCAW 91-T1 on 1" ASTM 514 was one of (if not) the best looking plate tests I ever made.
The good news is, I have passed 5 of the 8 (16 straps) test plates (bend the rest tomorrow) and move on to NDE school next week in Houston.
Good for you, and, good luck on the rest of them.
That is one good point to why I still have the welding shop even though I like inspecting a lot more than getting dirty. I get to keep my hands in it all the time.
Have a Great Day, Brent
Yea, you just never know.
I did pass all 8 welds and my 3G unlimited was Awesome! Never was an issue of totally not wanting to weld, it's just that my X decided she wanted the shop more than me.
Heard of the Deluxe Divorced Barbie set??? Comes with every know Barbie accessory And All of Ken's stuff!!!!!!!!
Thanx Pickupman. Big cloud lifted today.
Holey Sh#t dude thats alot of weldin to do for a shop job, I take my hat off to yas man congrats!!
By Superflux 
Date 02-19-2011 13:46
Edited 02-19-2011 13:50
I'd never gone through all that for a shop job (unless really hungry). This is a field QC gig going into various locations.
As it turns out, we discovered that we are guinnea pigs for their new Welder Quals. You definitely need to be on top of your E309L - 15 (weld 1 bead..grind out 2....) game to knock out all those coupons in the allotted time frame.
It does however reinforce what I've always thought about welders whining when they fail a test, that it's been too long since their last weld... We all think that we are still good welders, but when the job you really want and have been negotiating for 3 months is on the line...failure is not an option and the old test booth pressure is ON!!!!!
Gave me a sense of accomplishment, also knowing I've still "got it" after so long out from "underneath the hood".
Thanks to all who gave me support and congrats throughout this harrowing ordeal.
Gonna relax and go tour the Smithsonian again this weekend. AWESOME PLACE!!! If you are ever in the D.C. area, I highly recommend it over the crack and corner ladies.....lol
