Lol my first try looked like a sad pancake.

Ever try to quiet a loud fridge by shoving a blanket behind it? My roommate did that in college, said it sounded like a jet engine. Woke up to a warm kitchen and a weird burning smell. The fridge motor was HOT and the blanket corner was all singed. We had to air the place out for hours. Sometimes the obvious fix just makes a bigger problem.

Forget picking up tricks from failures, that's a bad way to learn. You shouldn't be waiting for something to break to get better. A good welder should know the right procedure from the start, not rely on some foreman's personal fix after a blowout. That just shows the original work wasn't done to spec. Relying on these little "tricks" people pass around is how you get inconsistent work and more failures down the line. Stick to the book and do it right the first time.

Yeah, that "desperately need" part is interesting. What kind of problems make you start with the setting first?

My buddy in Spokane wasted a whole Saturday fixing six crooked fence posts.