Who else does this?

[zapster]

Ok boys and girls..

Who else is like me...ya know..you look at every weld you see no matter where you are and examine it closly..

I look at everything..circus rides..gates..railings..anything and everything..

and 9 times outta 10 i dont like what i see...

are you as "anal" as i am?

...zap!

[kevey]

I am by no means an experienced welder, but I do look at that stuff also. What really amazes me are joints that could have been ground down a little, but in the interest of time (and $$) are left really chunky and painted over. I have some wrought iron patio chairs from Home Depot that are covered with welds that are way too big and ugly IMHO.

[prop-doctor]

yeppers, all the time,, seems like theres a lot of hurry get it out the door..
guess its all about quantity over quality. but i guess thats mass production

[Aric]

I do some farm repair stick and O/A. (just starting TIG) and I look all the time.

Just last weekend I was looking at some picnic tables in a city park and all I could think was "They paid someone to do that?"
They weren't ugly welds they were actually cracked.

[gnewby]

I also look over others welds etc. A couple of weeks ago while we were at the local park I was looking over the playground equipment for ideas for projects in the back yard for the grandkids.

Some of the stuff I was seeing I was pretty impressed with. Some of it I was wondering how it held together. Mostly though it was all well built and has and will last for years to come.

[Sandy]

I spend quite a bit of time checking out the heavier contructed stuff. Trailers, equipment, steel buildings, things like that. Anything that might be critical in nature. Not so much to see how pretty a bead is, I figure no better than I weld I have no business critiqueing someone elses work.

What I focus on is how they did it, where they welded, how much, how and where they started and stopped, joint design, re-inforcments, all sorts of things that can be used for mental reference as to what normal is. I often look for failures, little cracks and repairs. Not from a "gotcha" aspect but from a what can I get out of this aspect. I look at an ugly bead to see if there is anything inherently wrong such as big globs that will act as a stress riser, spots too thin, etc.,... If the only thing wrong with it is that it's ugly, great.

When it comes to cosmetics I figure they matter a lot for different reasons in different circles. Fences, railings and things like that. A bootyfull job is a beautiful job and rightfully so, but that's when you pull back and spend your efforts looking at the overall design and what can be gained from that.

In short, I am a user and not a critic. I use the work of others for refference.

[Roy Hodges]

I once worked on a corking machine, here in Napa valley , and it was so awful, the ONLY part of it that was "ok" was the name plate. it was made in mexico . the welds all looked like chicken poop. 2 years later, they called me to cut it up with an acetylene torch.

[chopper5]

thank god i thought i was the only one that looked at every weld i see

[Roy Hodges]

Like SANDY, i also used to look at heavy construction equipment . like backhoes, excavators , etc. i always saw a crater at the ends of long seams . (like on a boom of a backhoe) . The factories knew what they were doing. they knew that after it went OUT of warranty , it would break and need repair . A friend of mine worked for a dealer of (the) major tractor manufacturer and quit after 2 weeks. the foreman kept pressuring him to SLUG the welds . he refused & quit . -slug means drop pieces of steel , or nuts and bolts , into a large gap that needs to be welded up . Then , just weld over the stuff, to save time -and make more profit . the foreman knew nobody could see or know what was done . I am glad that co. is out of business, was bought out .

[Pentawelder]

You can add the ol' Pentawelder to the roster of weld inspectors! I'm in the swimming pool service business and check out all the steel fences and handrails I see ... there are so many that the application of an angle grinder would clean up the spatter and blobby welds and the paint is rusting off where the flux isn't cleaned up.

[MicroZone]

ME ! ( raises hand )

[littlefuzz]

I look at everything too. All the cheap made furniture at the home improvement places and the cheap trailers at TSC. I don't understand how someone can go buy a junk trailer at TSC when they could have someone "me", who takes pride in their work, build them one. You can look and see where that other money is going QUALITY.

[backuproller]

i guess i need to put a nod in too. every time i walk past a piece of metal, i look to see how it is put together. i check everything from heavy equipment to my pontoon boat.
i like Aric, Sandy and Gnewby, walk past some welds and think to myself "dangit, somebody's gonna die from that weld". i have to repair alot of ali boat trailers. seems like they just tack 'em together and away they go. i spent 6 hours repairing my dads trailer. brand new only in the water twice.

[Roy Hodges]

'bout 30 year ago, i was in moore ,okla. at a trailer dealer ,
and i looked at a horse trailer , built by some trailer FACTORY , the gooseneck , the welds were so BAD, that i thought "i'd be afraid to pull it across the STREET !"

[codeman]

Me Too!! I see some of these welds that i wouldn't let go on my personal stuff much less try to sell.

[TEK]

Same here, all the time! Must be some kind of illness or syndrome associated with welding. What do you think,Dr. Smithboy? Maybe a lack of proper beverages during moments of inspection? Man, I'm confused already!!

[Sandy]

Maybe a lack of proper beverages during moments of inspection?

The correct terminology is "mental lubrication", or "greasing the brain".

[Washman]

Yeah Zapster,

Anyone interested in bettering them self and trying to gauge their own level of expertise would find this normal to do.

I was riding a Chair lift in Tennesse I believe it was at Lookout Mountain about thirty years ago.

There were the most God awful welding and patches on the tops of the towers supporting the cable that holds the chairs.

Lets just say I became instantly aware of my mortality.

Washman

[smithboy]

I go a step further, Zap. I have to explain to my wife and kids why this one is a good weld and that one is a bad one...or even worse, this was obviously done with a mig welder or a tig welder...see this little thingie or that little other thingie??? My kids look around to see if anyone is watching and try to pretend they don't know me. All the while, I am just certian they are interested....until, that is, I find myself talking to absolutely nobody...

Folks walking by think I am some sad homeless weldor. I am surprised that they don't toss me pocket change.

WILL WELD FOR SCRAP

[gnm109]

I find myself looking at welds when I'm out and about as well. Many of them look fairly poor....sort of like the welder wanted desperately to go home. The worst ones are on railings and fences in public areas......

The best welds I've seen lately are on the Japanese and Chinese-made mountain bikes, for example the ones you can see for sale at Wel-Mart. They almost look robotic they are so good.

The ones on my two Harley-Davisdon motorcycles are very good. My 1982 Harley was done with stick welding by hand and it's just very, very good. The 2004 Harley that I have is also good but it was done by robotic MIG so it ought to look good.

The welds on Honda, Yamaha, Kasasaki, Suzuki and other bikes like the American Victory are also very good. Honda had lots of trouble with the 1800 touring bike frames in the past few years but they stemmed from robotic MIG welds on 7XXX grade aluminum frame sections. They have overcome this problem now and the welds look great.

You're right though, there is a lot of bad welding out there.

[Bruce]

I also check 'em out, everyday at work. We are in the final stages of a BIG kitchen renovation($$$$). Weldors, 4/5 on the job everyday, 6 days a week, we are a little behind schedule. Everything I've see these guys do is top notch!

[TiFreak]

Hell Yes!! but theme parks scare the **** out of me, worst **** ive ever seen thats why i like wooden coasters and whenever you goto bathroom in public check out the railing welds and I also try to decipher what process was used to create a certain weld, and has anybody on here ever seen the welds on the OCC theme bikes(especially the MILLER ELECTRIC), boy i wouldnt pay them five cent to do any welds for me, remember it is not critisizm(spell) its just practice for when you become a QC or CWI

[Bruce]

Me Too! I haven't been to an amusement park in a long time.

[chopper5]

smithboy my wife and kid's are now weld inspectors thanks to me and my pointing out what is wrong with a weld or how it was done

[Joe H]

Originally Posted by Washman

Yeah Zapster,

Anyone interested in bettering them self and trying to gauge their own level of expertise would find this normal to do.

I was riding a Chair lift in Tennesse I believe it was at Lookout Mountain about thirty years ago.

There were the most God awful welding and patches on the tops of the towers supporting the cable that holds the chairs.

Lets just say I became instantly aware of my mortality.

Washman

Hey, this is where I live! I'm about 2 miles from Lookout MTN, on the Georgia side. I'm maybe 8 miles from Chattanooga, TN.


I do this too, not to critique anyone's welds, but just trying to learn what I can. (be it "what to do" or "what not to do")