Showerthought: Heard a young guy at the supply house say 'a weld is a weld'

I was picking up some 2-inch sch 80 at the supply house in Tacoma last week, and this apprentice was talking to his buddy. He said, 'a weld is a weld, man, as long as it holds.' An old hand from the local 290 was behind him and just shook his head. He didn't say a word, but that look said it all. It made me think about my first pressure vessel job, where my foreman made me grind out and redo a cap pass three times until the bead was perfect. He said a good weld on a boiler isn't just about holding pressure today, it's about holding it for thirty years through heat cycles and stress. That kid's comment is a fast track to a call-back, or worse. Anyone else have a story about a time that kind of thinking bit someone?

2 comments

2 Comments

wood.zara1d ago

Yikes, that's a scary mindset. So what happens when that "it holds" weld cracks under thermal stress next winter? That old hand's silent reaction was the whole lesson right there.

grace_hunt841d ago

Exactly, that silent reaction says it all. But what do we do when the person who made that "it holds" call isn't there next winter? They won't be the one dealing with the crack or the fallout. Who actually gets left holding the bag when that short cut fails?