The reason why. "Cause we've allways done it like that", doesn't quite cut it.

[pulser]

I really enjoy the diversity of welding related questions and responses in this forum. Everybody has different levels of experience and knowledge, and I think that even the most experienced can learn something new if they are open minded. Experience is priceless knowledge and this is a great forum to distribute this.

Hopefully in this forum, there should be little dispute over what some one says they have seen or done. However it is more helpful to all of us if the experience being described can be further substantiated by some reference to further information on the subject, or some explanation of the science or metallurgy involved.

As an example, Joe Welderup asks if stainless can be welded to carbon steel, and you respond that an old timer told you to Heliarc it with 309, and you've done it on several occasions with good results. If you know some of the metallurgy behind this, please explain why 309 is recommended. If you don't know the reason why, maybe Google it and we'll all learn something.

I trust you, but where's the data? I can't help it if I'm from Missouri.

[drivesector]

Mabe I am out of bounds by saying, everyone tries to help as much as they can. I have only been here for a few months and if I have a question I ask it (sometimes stupid questions sometimes not) . If sombody askes a question and I know the answer or have an opinion about what they should or may want to do I answer it. A lot of my experiance comes from doing not reading. I may not know why you can weld Stainless to Mild steel but you can. and most of the time that is the question. Not why. But I would also like to say if you think the people in here have the time to google something before answering a question, then mabe the people asking it should do the same. I answer many questions by simpley going to yahoo search and typing in the question. Example "can I weld mild to stainless" there is about 151K hits on Yahoo.
Just my 2 Cents

[pulser]

drive,
thanks for the response.
Learn by doing was my schools motto.
We learned why you do things certain ways by doing and by reading.
I would like to hear why you do it the way you do.

[halbritt]

I'm a big fan of gaining both experience and understanding in a given realm of knowledge. Neither is very useful without the other.

[Mitch Kelly]

Think of it this way:
Q: Can you weld mild to stainless?
A (short): Yes. You (insert technique)
A (long): Yes, with (insert technique), but there are consequences to the strength of the weld and effects on both parts of the parent material arising from..... etc, etc, etc.
How much of the long answer you need depends on a number of factors, including, but not limited to, how interested you are (some people just aren't), how much you will understand the answer, and how critical the "but" is to the application in question.

Can you weld mild to stainless is a good example. If you're building a weather vane for your garden, it won't be critical, and good enough will be good enough in terms of the weld quality. If you're building cars, bikes, large bits of machinery etc, then that someone's life may depend on that "but" is crucial. How much you understand it is one of the things that make experts experts.

My 2p worth...

M

[wello]

I really enjoy the diversity of welding related questions and responses in this forum. Everybody has different levels of experience and knowledge, and I think that even the most experienced can learn something new if they are open minded. Experience is priceless knowledge and this is a great forum to distribute this.

Hopefully in this forum, there should be little dispute over what some one says they have seen or done. However it is more helpful to all of us if the experience being described can be further substantiated by some reference to further information on the subject, or some explanation of the science or metallurgy involved.

As an example, Joe Welderup asks if stainless can be welded to carbon steel, and you respond that an old timer told you to Heliarc it with 309, and you've done it on several occasions with good results. If you know some of the metallurgy behind this, please explain why 309 is recommended. If you don't know the reason why, maybe Google it and we'll all learn something.

I trust you, but where's the data? I can't help it if I'm from Missouri.
hey pulser I have found this forum the best tool
I've been welding 28yrs since joining welding web I have tried and learn't stuff I would never off bother with because they didn't deal with my area of the trade but since joining and seeing different things I have thought stuff it I'll have a crack at that I enjoy learning from here and seeing what we all do so on here we can teach old dogs new tricks :p

[zapster]

hey pulser I have found this forum the best tool
I've been welding 28yrs since joining welding web I have tried and learn't stuff I would never off bother with because they didn't deal with my area of the trade but since joining and seeing different things I have thought stuff it I'll have a crack at that I enjoy learning from here and seeing what we all do so on here we can teach old dogs new tricks :p



woof

:laugh:

...zap!

[littlefuzz]

When the guys at work ask "why" I usually just tell them because I said so. Most of the time when I try to explain something to them, they look at me like I just shot their dog. I don't think it helps to try to explain things to some people, I think eveyone here seems to have a pretty good understanding of why "this is the way we do it". I enjoy reading the "why" parts, if someone has the knowledge to go into detail, I can't explain "why" on a molecular level. I'll still give my 2cents if someone asks though, and will explain to the best of my knowledge "why".

[7mJDM]

I am not shure any one will like my opinion but here it is for the interested if you want to know something go to the old timers but if your not carefull with the disrespect and cockyness maybe they will keep quite and not tell us any thing and if it worked for years that is good enough some times, so lets be carrefull what we say and mabye we can keep listing to years of expierence. I havent been on this site long but my grandfather is 80 and I learned early to listen to him and if I needed more scientific explination go to the science books but for horse sense got to the old man