Been using the wrong size bevel for my tube prep for like two years

Was working on a big header replacement job at the power plant in Salem. My welds kept failing the x-ray on the root pass. Could not figure it out. My foreman, Dave, watched me for about ten minutes. He pointed at my torch and said, 'That 37.5 degree bevel is for the wrong wall thickness, kid. You're burning through.' He was right. I was using the bevel setup from my old job on thinner pipe. Switched to a 30 degree and the next three welds passed clean. Felt like a total rookie. Anyone else ever get stuck on a bad habit that long before someone caught it?

2 comments

2 Comments

spencer_bell18d ago

Ever have one of those things you do just because it's how you were first taught? I was cleaning my tungsten by dipping it in the quench bucket for years, thought it made it cool faster. A guy I was working with finally asked me why I was putting all that crap from the water back onto my electrode. He showed me just letting it air cool on the rack. My welds got way cleaner after that. It's crazy what you don't question when it seems to work okay.

riverknight17d ago

Putting all that crap from the water back onto it" is the perfect way to put it. Yeah, you get stuck in a routine and just don't see it. Good on that guy for speaking up.