welding speech
 

I have been bushwhacked into giving two welding speeches in the space of the next two weeks. One guy is my brother, the serious machinist, who is MIG-ging for the fourth time, and the other is a good friend who has decided to MIG for the third time.

I thought the theme of my speeches should be "how to make this weld last" - so it occurred to me to tap the Pelican brain trust on this subject.

There are many happily MIG-ged Pelicans out there - and I would love to have your secrets, tips and advice.

I look forward to your comments - no matter how silly these may be.

By way of incentive I promise to post a copy of my speech to each person that replies - and you will then have a nice canned welding speech for future occasions.

Many thanks in advance...

Gogar

You have offered to give a speech on a subject you aren't familiar with? Have I got that right?

How would you know the responses given here are valid? What if your audience asks you a question about .... welding?

Is the audience made up of a bunch of tourists or are they in the industry? It depends on the level of BS you can muster to make yourself appear knowledgeable.

Sorry to seem so critical. Maybe your initial comments didn't convey your true needs.

Best wishes,
Sherwood

Or maybe this is a tongue-n-cheek post that I fell for.

Just a few quotes from Richard Finch's books, then open the floor for discussions of "Should I buy a Rolex"or "Wild monkey sex".;)

Waiting for Moses to reply so I can agree with him :)

Really focus on butt welds - that'll get 'em going.

the audience will lap it up. :cool:

Go to youtube. Look up the Boston Theater live show by Rowan Atkinson. There is a part in there that exactly covers what you need. Completely hilarious. You get great tips both for a best man and the father in law!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G4t03uBWYCw

Surface prep is the secret. I like to go over the surface with a wire wheel.

Welding is all about flow and control, getting a feel for wire speed against heat against thickness. It comes down to lots of experimenting and not trying to force the weld by just laying down a ton of wire. It's a lot like great sex. When you can "read" what your partner enjoys, you can go in that direction to accentuate... When you can read what the metal is doing, you can dial in speed and heat for beautiful strong welds. burn through and then dial back. that has worked well for me in experimenting.

never weld angry.

You HAVE to get the heat right ...and use a steady hand!

Both really need to be moving on to TIG. I say pass on the speaches and get 'em gift cards to their local Airgas.

As a welding engineer allow me politely disagree with all the above. The key to good welding? a) practice and b) destructive testing.

Until you cut and etch samples and understand penetration (don't go there) you do not know if you can weld or not.

Until you find a helper with X-ray vision you need to go beyond 'looks pretty darn good'.

I consider a 'night out with the boys' at the pole joint as making up for the lack of X-ray vision.

never, never, never...

...talk about previous weldings at an occasion like this. No talk about Arc welding, electroslag welding, fluxed core welding. plasma welding, tungsten-arc welding or even TIG welding. Today is about MIG welding. It would be rude and classless to mention any previous fusions.

I welded mig and tig in a production setting (thousands and thousands of welds a day) for years. I think people over think welding and get intimidated. I also think people don't keep up on equipment maintenance which leads to inconsistent results and further frustration chasing settings.

Mig welding is VERY easy to learn, tig takes a bit more thought and control. If you really want to learn how to lay a good bead buy a production welder a case of beer and just watch him through a helmet for a few hours. The settings and what not can come mostly from the book with satisfactory results. Learning how to move the gun and what angles of attack do what comes with watching and doing.

Listen to Moses...

I've never welded before, but when I do, I want that first weld of mine to last.

I did do a lot of soldering in college, though.

Sorry I can't help with the speech.

Thanks for the advice, you guys! Especially Moses, and Kurt. You guys always know what's best.

I guess I'm just a little apprehensive, you know; I think I read somewhere that over 50% of MIG welds in the US eventually fail.

For Sherwood:
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/off-topic-discussions/414269-wedding-speech.html

Internet sites have plenty of resources for sale from Russia and Tailand for practicing on. Or just say "Sometimes two materials just can't be joined, unless the receiving material will take bra,zing techniques".

I dunno. Mabye mention (in better words than mine) that everyone has made welding mistakes in the past, and some need time to fully mature their skills in creating a good bond. That the most important ass,pects of the butt weld are to remove as much loose surface material as possible, really getting into the cleft, use heat for deep penetration of the rod, and wait for it to cool off before checking to see if it's stronger (or something like that).

Brother and good friend, eh? My condolences. Some skills are hard to demonstrate over a desk in an office.

Just like sex, the best welds are butt....oh *****, wait..

I've heard that too, I've also heard that the rest end in the death of one of the welders. You can never be too careful.