You almost had me with that post. I started reading and began to wonder if I should read the entire post. I'm glad I did. Thanks for the compliment.
There was a similar question posted in another forum. One of the posts in the thread was from an individual that seemed to confuse the difference between requirements for production welds and the requirements applicable to qualifying a welder. The poster asked why would someone disregard the WPS and substitute a different base metal for the one that was listed. Wasn't it the purpose of qualifying the WPS to verify it would produce acceptable welds? It didn't make sense to the poster to use the proven WPS for a different base metal. Maybe it was a case where the poster didn't read the entire thread or maybe there was real confusion on his part. I can see the former being true, I've done that myself.
This forum has many contributors that are true experts in the field of welding. There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t learn something new from people willing to give their time and opinions on a wide range of subjects relating to welding and inspection. It is easy to recognize who they are, harder yet to list each one individually.
Just to update everyone on the exploits of Stephan, our good friend from Germany. As most of you know, he recently completed his Masters program in welding engineering. What I appreciate about Stephan is that like many of us he was a welder that earned his paycheck burning electrodes for an international company. Stephan has an insatiable curiosity to learn more about the science of welding. He studied about welding on his own and decided he would like to earn a degree in welding engineering. He applied for admission to a Masters program in England without first earning a Bachelor Degree or completing any college courses relating to welding. They balked; they told him he didn’t have the prerequisites to be accepted into the program. He was unrelenting and told them he studied about welding and science on his own. They told him his application would be considered if he could pass an examination on subjects relating to the science of welding technology. He passed the examination, completed his studies, and graduated at the top of his class. Now he is contemplating pursuing a PhD in Welding.
Welding is one of the few endeavors that provide each of us with challenges, a sense of satisfaction and a job well done, and opportunity to advance to any level we want to pursue. We are the limiting factor in our pursuit of knowledge and opportunity. The technology is there, the resources are there, it is entirely our decision to maintain the status quo or to take advantage of the opportunities that present themselves. We are the limiting determinant to what we can achieve.
Best regards - Al