Hello,
I am a welding inspector AWS CWI(license expired) working in Europe for Total Corporation. One of our project is in Italy where I was asked to witness welders qualification. The test was a 3G on a 50mm plate. The welder was using a grinder between passes and I objected since in my humble opinion what is the validity of a test if you can use a grinder!
The owner of the shop asked me to show him where it is stated that a grinder cannot be used during qualification. Since i could not find anything in the D1.1 they did all their tests happily grinding away. I know the D1.5 does not allow grinding during testing. You comments are appreciated.
Sincerely,
Burnhard.

I don't recall anything in D1.1 that doesn't allow the use of a grinder.  As far as I know, it's allowed for cleaning between passes for both welder qualification and production, as well as the use of a chipper and a wire brush.  You make a good point to mention that D1.5 doesn't allow grinding during testing.  I think that D1.5 actually limits the cleaning between weld passes to hand chipping and hand wire brush during a welder performance qualification test, though I've often wondered why D1.5 puts limits on this.  Maybe it's assumed that if a welder can properly use a chipper or a wire brush to clean welds during qualification, that welder can certainly use a grinder to achieve the same results during production.  Surely there have been occasions where a D1.5 welder resorted to cleaning between passes with a grinder during production, but if that welder isn't allowed to use it during the qualification test, why is he/she allowed to use it in production? Maybe it boils down to some production joints not being accessible with a grinder, but the same could be said about D1.1 joints as well.

I really don't understand where a welder attempting to pass a Section IX performance test would have need or a grinder. The visual acceptance criteria of Section IX are flimsier than the belly dancer's veil. No visual criteria or limitations for porosity, overlap, undercut, reinforcement (face nor root), etc. It is perfectly acceptable, per Section IX, to weld the ID of the pipe coupon solid such that a mosquito couldn’t fly through it end to end.

I can understand why a mechanical contractor would like to see if the welder can do something other than weld in circles. After all, there is many a welder that doesn’t fit pipe, lift, move, or touch the pipe other than to lay in a couple of pretty, shiny welds revealed only after a helper has chipped, wire brushed, and ground the bead smooth.

The Bridge Code prohibits the use of any power tools for good reason. It is a welder performance test, not a grinder’s test. A bridge welder is expected to have the necessary skills to deposit a sound weld without the aid of grinding each bead.

The Structural Welding Code is not as demanding, but it is in the employer’s best interest to sort through the perspective welders and chose those that don’t have to waste production time removing 50% of each weld deposit to get to the “sound stuff.”

I suppose if the focus of welder performance testing is to pass as many welders as possible, grinding each bead to remove any potential defect is one way to achieve the stated goal. “See, we have a 99% pass rate at our company.” It would explain why I saw a “Tester” representative for one mechanical contractor grinding open defects from the convex face of the guided bend tests and gleefully announce, “Another qualified welder!” By the way, it took three days of testing and practice to get their “Best Welder” to pass a single pass Fillet Break Test.

I am stupid. I admit I have trouble grasping the concept that putting a marginal welder on the production floor is conducive to turning a profit. How does it help the productivity of a production floor if the welder spends 45 minutes depositing weld metal and 200 minutes grinding weld metal to find sound metal that is good enough to keep?

My experience has been that it is more profitable to weed out the marginal welders and keep the welders with the skills that don’t need to use a grinder. Let the marginal welders go to work for marginal contractors.

I suppose if the available labor pool is very limited or if the contractor is too cheap to pay a fair wage, the available talent is limited to a few 10 week wonders churned out by a local training mill or a few welders no one else wants. In that case, there is no alternative other than lowering the skill threshold so the available talent can be utilized.

By the way, there was a study completed by the Air Force a number of years ago that showed that 70% of the welds that failed in service had been repaired during production.

We've argued this point on more than one occasion.

Any welding code sets the minimum requirements. It is incumbent upon the contractor to take any additional steps necessary to ensure the integrity of the parts, materials, or assemblies delivered. If the contractor is satisfied meeting the minimum requirements of the applicable code/standard is sufficient, that is all they are required to do. Other contractor can, and often do, go beyond the minimum required by the fabrication standard to ensure the quality of their produces exceed the minimum requirements. They do so to ensure the product delivered will perform as expected in a safe reliable manner.

When the code is silent, it is the contractors/employers call. In this case, whether to permit the use of a grinder during a welder qualification test is the contractor's call.

If the institution is charged with qualifying as many welders as possible and the code minimum is all that is required. Grind away. However, if the welder is expected to produce welded components that meet a higher standard, then the contractor has every right to prohibit the use of a grinder if that ensures a better quality weld.

I typically apply the visual acceptance criteria of the construction code when assessing a welder qualification test coupon. The visual criteria of Section IX is sparse (to put it politely). A welder that meets the visual criteria of Section IX may very easily miss the mark if he is welding to the requirements of B31.3 High Pressure Fluid Service. The visual criteria of the construction code is considerably more stringent that Section IX. It makes little sense (in my opinion) to tell the contractor the welder is qualified (per Section IX) if in fact he cannot meet the requirements imposed for production. It is bad business for the testing agency, the welder, and the employer. Everyone loses when the welder cannot produce acceptable production welds. It is better to provide a fair and proper assessment of the welders abilities to meet the needs of production.

At the same time, the welder should be aware of the "rules" of the test. If there are restriction on the use of a grinder, the condition and extent of grinding permitted must be clearly defined. Any decision regarding the use of a grinder should not arbitrary.

If the nature of the work is such that high quality, high skill is not required, i.e., bench work where the welding position is limited to the flat position, when the work piece is manipulated with a positioner, where grinding is commonly used without restriction, then there is no reason to limit the amount of grinding on the test. Such is not typically the case when the welding is performed in the field, welding is performed in all positions, where the acceptance criteria is stringent, and a higher level of skill is expected, grinding can and often is restricted.

Again, it is the contractor's call when the code is silent on a matter.

If the quality of work is not stringent; the practice of grinding every welded bead, the practice of X-raying the coupon to cherry pick the location of the bend specimens, and grinding the convex surface of the guided bend specimen to remove open defects may be acceptable practice for that particular contractor. However, the contractors I work with would not satisfied with that level of quality or those practices. They hold their welders to a higher standard to ensure the integrity of their products.  

Best regards - Al

I took the NYC unrestricted welding exam in 86 at the sanitation dept in queens. They searched us on the way in for grinders and welding wire. 3 hour limit on two 1" plates, overhead and vertical. If I had stopped to grind I would never finished in 3 hours. Grinding 60, 80 stories high does pose its problems.