4G plate test

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Going to try D1.1 on tue so i  thought that i should try a practice since the last test i did was in the mid 80's (6G schedule 100 (ish)).Ignore the 3G marking on the plate, i had it tacked up before i read itSo would it pass th visual?G Attached Images
Reply:Well I just passed a 4G test with Fluor a few months back and I'll add what I know.  You didn't mention if it was Open but or backing strip but I know on Backing strip they want to see your welds starting well below the plate and continuing past the end of the plate on the strip. As it looks on your test plate there your starting high and ending short. This cheats you on practicing your tie ins  from rod to rod, something I myself have struggled with on over head endlesly. The Root pass is of course a big deal, some say no weave allowed but I was coached to have just the tiniest side to side motion to make sure your really burning into the plates. Your root bend will tell on you if you didn't. Don't let the gap be too wide when you set up your plates, I imagine you'll be given tolerances on this with acceptance either way, but tight is better from my experience, put the root in as hot as your comfortable with avoidance of undercut at all cost, Looked out on The Root is no good, the tighter the gap obviously the thicker the material closest to your puddle. Too wide and too hot and undercut becomes harder to avoid. In response to your original Q it looks pretty good to me.Miller ThunderBolt AC/DCMillermatic 130XPDewalt 4 1/2Dewalt RecipCE Chop Saw3rd Period Boilermaker ApprenticeLocal 454, Chattanooga TN
Reply:Sorry, 1/4" gap with backing plate.I put my root in with one pass. a weave to tie doth plates and the backer.Should i have done it with 2 stringers side by side?one weave root still isnt a big weave!And yes i was aware of the run on and off strips, but never put them on for the practice.as i was using my own rods i used each rod till it was done so there were a lot of pickups/ tie insGG
Reply:If its a test using a backing plate, start your welds ON the backer. Inspector do not want to see the weld started on the coupon. Reason is, this test calls for a 4" to 6" weld depending on the coupon. If you start and finish on the test plate, you do not have the full length weld. Not sure about who will be testing you, but in almost every case Ive be involved in, no grinding was allowed. So take a good chipping hammer and if you can, a piece of heavy bandsaw blade. Youll thank me if your clean is manual only.Never weave your root pass. Run a slower pace at a 45* angle away from where youre dragging the weld. Set the test machine a little colder than youre use to. It will help with removing the slag and as long as you slow the puddle, you wont lose weld quality.
Reply:It looks ok, we know it lacks run off tabs, so when you add tabs just keep the build up extended well beyong the plate. Nice.City of L.A. Structural; Manual & Semi-Automatic;"Surely there is a mine for silver, and a place where gold is refined. Iron is taken from the earth, and copper is smelted from ore."Job 28:1,2Lincoln, Miller, Victor & ISV BibleDanny
Reply:I practiced like you are and did all I could to make my practice test as close to the test I was going to take. It was my first real plate test so I was trying to get the jitters worked out at home and make it more automatic to go in and do it how I knew I could do it. My backing plate at home stuck out 3 inches on the bottom so's by the time I got to the plates I was smooth  as could be. It gave me time to make sure rod angle, speed, arc length and puddle were all as they should be  before it mattered. I am a beginner so I gave myself that extra material to observe all factors in play at once and change any of them before I got to the plate and began to actually make the weld.           I am pretty sure The Root Pass is a one stringer deal. I actually heard the Welding QA tell another tester he wanted to see a little weave on root, something about one plate could be magnetized or whatnot and draw the weld over. I had never heard that before but I guess anything could happen and every QA is different in what they look for.            I carried my own scribe in  for cleaning out slag and it worked great. I bought a few 99 cent awls and keep them in my gear buckett,  on the job they got borrowed alot once someone else saw me using one.          I don't know about cold and easy slag removal. I took my test with 7018 and cold rendered some hard slag to remove. I went hot and it flaked right off most of the time but different strokes for different folks I guess.             I looked at your picture again and will add that The Cap stringers don't really lap over the top of plates on the sides, sorta like you could have had one more stringer on each side of The Cap. If you grind it down you wouldn't want the outside toe of the weld to be right where the angle of the cut on the plate ends as that you would grind and have low spot that would crack when it was bent.  I know you'll have an allowable cap height (3/32 I think)  but I wasn't told of stringer limit on the cap, so it can't hurt to ensure a solid tie in on both sides of the cap by having a stringer that lays on the top of the plate and ties the whole mess in a little better.  Anyways hope this helps and let us know how you do!Miller ThunderBolt AC/DCMillermatic 130XPDewalt 4 1/2Dewalt RecipCE Chop Saw3rd Period Boilermaker ApprenticeLocal 454, Chattanooga TN
Reply:Passed yesterday.pics to follow.Oh. and hammer i put the root in one pass. plates were 1/4" appart so i just couldnt see any other way of putting it it.I used to weave a 1/8" open root with 3/32" rod all the time, years ago. that was how we were shownlaterGG
Reply:B&G:the WI said before i started that i couldnt go more than a bead's width outside the "vee" on both sides.Think im showing 1/2 a bead on each side so i could do no more.On the test plates the backer was 1" longer at each end so the cap was virtualy the whole lenght of the plate."I actually heard the Welding QA tell another tester he wanted to see a little weave on root, something about one plate could be magnetized or whatnot and draw the weld over." If there is a backer then the plates would be both magnatised, or not magnatised at all.
Reply:Good to hear you passed!  I couldn't really see in the pic how much the bead layed over the plate on the edges but it looks like you know the deal anyways.     As far as the magnatized deal, yeah thats pretty true. I heard him say that to another apprentice and it struck me as odd. Maybe it was just one of those "Something to think about deals". I had so many welders telling me this and that before I went in and took mine that I didn't ask him about the weave I just did it.Miller ThunderBolt AC/DCMillermatic 130XPDewalt 4 1/2Dewalt RecipCE Chop Saw3rd Period Boilermaker ApprenticeLocal 454, Chattanooga TN
Reply:Thats some great info.  Congrats for passing.I like hearing what some CWIs like and dont like.Cant wait to see the pics. weld it like you own it
Reply:A good CWI only limits the welder in the ways that the procedure requires.  Myself, if I'm writing a WPS, I want to leave the welder as much leniency as possible.  For example, if the procedure was qualified at 100 amps, I don't want to only allow future welders to weld at 100 amps. I'd rather give them a range something like 80-140 amps for a 3/32" 7018.Likewise, if I can allow them (based on the spec or code) to weave or run stringers, I'll allow them to do whichever they want.Proud to be a UNION worker.  Better pay, better benefits, better work environment.  UA Unions = working for the working class!!
Reply:here are the phone pics of the 3G plate ( a bit fuzzy) the 4G plate was cut up and bent by the time i thought of it.Yhanks to the WI at triangle engineering in MA the made me feel right at home.G Attached Images
Reply:this should have been in the last post also but i couldnt see it(if it's not 2 fuzzy there was slight undercut on the rhs of the rh bead here and there, but within the limits.)G Attached Images