Funny CWI

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Today I had to do a full-pen on some A36 plates. The vertical plate (pictured from the side) is 3/4" and the base is 1". It was setup as a knife point with a 1/8" gap.   So we had two inspectors on hand to view the welding practices and U.T. the weldments when they were done. I laid down the root pass and asked my bosses and the inspectors to check it out, so they came over and one of the CWI guys started pointing at my weld. He mentioned that I had some sharp corners (the edge of my weld/parent material) and that it was not wetting in well enough. He then asked me if I would feel comfortable with a higher voltage.  I got a little pissed at first, then I realized what he was getting at. I then told him that he was looking at the back side of the weld. They walked away.  It's good times when the CWI's and bosses cant tell which side is which. I'll get some photos when the lighting is better. And I was running 1/16" dual shield, 28.5v-320ipm for the root and 31.5-400 out.Common sense in an uncommon degree is what the world calls wisdom.
Reply:Nice.  Good to hear from you again sir!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:That's why they make the big bucks. Sad thing is this happens a lot. I think they call those guys dip schitts in Germany.Arcon Workhorse 300MSPowcon 400SMTPowcon SM400 x 2Powcon SM3001968 SA200 Redface1978 SA250 DieselMiller Super 32P FeederPre 1927 American 14" High Duty LatheK&T Milwaukee 2H Horizontal MillBryan
Reply:Not each CWI is welding master! So forgive him!
Reply:Ok. Forgiven............................dam that was easy.Arcon Workhorse 300MSPowcon 400SMTPowcon SM400 x 2Powcon SM3001968 SA200 Redface1978 SA250 DieselMiller Super 32P FeederPre 1927 American 14" High Duty LatheK&T Milwaukee 2H Horizontal MillBryan
Reply:Those who can, weld. Those who can't, inspect. It seems kind of stupid that someone can be a CWI without actually knowing HOW to weld themselves. In my opinion a CWI should be able to almost always be able to lay down a flawless weld. But a lot of them can't even successfully strike an arc without screwing it up. But they can condemn an accomplished welders, weld.
Reply:Welding some transitions stiffeners on a cell tower perhaps?Looks like what I've been doing all Winter. Question though, your setting numbers look real close to what I run .052" at for those joints. We use Lincoln Ultracore in a Low Alloy wire (can't remember the number right now) and I looked at going to 1/16" wire but its just too much for a lot of these jobs IMO. But, your voltage and WFS numbers are right on the money for what Lincoln recommends their .052" wire be run at. Just sayin...We generally see one of two different CWIs on our work in the mid-west on these sites. Both are contracted by our GC and I've never had any issues with them. On the joint you have illustrated in your post, we have to run that root pass and then gouge the back side and run another pass. I guess the thinking on that is that although it is dual-shield, the back of the open root is not really shielded by the gas all that well and a back gouge will get down to fresh metal. I'm glad the CWIs are out there checking work. At least on this tower stuff. I see some really bad welding out there on these jobs performed by so-called "certified" welders. Not all CWIs come from a welding background. I'm working with a guy now that has over 30 years in metal and structural inspection. He admits that if he had to weld for a living he'd starve. They are not the enemy (most of the time). Of course, my opinion comes from never having failed a visual or UT inspection. If I was a hack and had to grind out my welds all day I'd have an attitude as well.So, did you pass?AWS D1.1 Certified SMAW 3G Unlimited, Open Root                             FCAW-G 3G Unlimited, w/BackerCellular Tower Reinforcement Welding on the frozen tundra of the greater Mid-West
Reply:Yea Brain, hurry up with the pics.Can you say which job you're on?And regarding inspectors, don't be too hard on 'em; they really don't make that much Lincoln SA 200Esab Caddy 160Thermal Arc 201TSMiller Dialarc HFI don't like making plans for the day because then the word "premeditated" gets thrown around the courtroom....
Reply:@ Brainfarth - classic.  "The office is a dangerous place from which to view the world" exemplified.  Truth is, we've all done silly/embarrassing things in the field.  No one is perfect.  The professional men/women admit their mistakes and shortcomings, and then acknowledge to the "examinee" (welder, worker, human) that the "examiner" is in fact incorrect.  Ethics.Last edited by ManoKai; 03-28-2014 at 08:06 PM.Reason: syntax"Discovery is to see what everybody else has seen, and to think what nobody else has thought" - Albert Szent-Gyorgyi
Reply:I'm not knocking on them for calling me out on what they thought was a bad weld.. I just had a good laugh over the deal. As for the welder settings, those are the numbers that work best for me.. I generally run small fast welds so my odds of running over the slag are minimized. I've seen all too many times of people laying down monster welds to find they tracked over their own slag.And here's a few photos of some way-over engineered piling hoops for a dock on the coast:The first photo is of the front and the second is of the back.And I prefer to run a slight uphill weld. The flat bar on the bottom is only a strong-back and will be removed.Also, I welded 10 of the small ones and 1 large corner piece.. All passed U.T. with flying colors.Common sense in an uncommon degree is what the world calls wisdom.
Reply:On a side note, I found that if you tape a magnet to the side of your flashlight, it makes life much easier.Common sense in an uncommon degree is what the world calls wisdom.
Reply:Since I no longer have to weld (I'm a CWI) I no longer do. It's been months since I burned a rod. Welding ruined my Lazik and I now wear glasses, so I try to use my knowledge of welding instead of actually welding to make a living. With that said, congrats on welding so well he couldnt tell he was looking at the back side, lol general rule of thumb for me would be to ask you what you welded before ANYTHING.