[TheForge] Welding Rod- 6013?

[Dan Tull]

Mike, I agree with you.


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Mike Porter" <michael.a.porter at comcast.net>
To: "'Sponsored by ABANA'" <theforge at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Saturday, June 10, 2006 8:16 PM
Subject: RE: [TheForge] Welding Rod- 6013?


>I didn't want to get involved in this discussion, but can see that a
> dissenting voice is now desperately needed. In about 35 years spent as a
> multi-certified weldor (this was originally the correct spelling when
> referring to the operator instead of the equipment) I've heard a lot of
> prejudice passing for wisdom. When it comes to welding rods, tunnel vision
> seems to narrow down close to a pin-point. Certified welders (not to
> overheat Spellchecker) are the prime carriers of this particular disease,
> but shouldn't be blamed for it.
>
> You see, no matter how good a welder may be, if he/she doesn't certify for
> some particular project, or if any of his/her work doesn't meet quality
> standards--for any reason whatsoever--he/she turns instantly from
> grudgingly-put-up-with-necessary-evil to unemployed BUM. This naturally
> promotes paranoia, leading to antisocial demeanor, thus ending in social
> segregation, which promotes...well, you all get the idea. So narrow
> mindedness is constantly reinforced, and chance taking is--often
> severely--discouraged.
>
> Thus, we may have devolved to the point where only retired welders can
> overcome combative attitudes well enough to admit that, the rules apply 
> when
> they work, but are often quite successfully broken. I have used 7018 so 
> old
> and exposed to the elements that it would completely crumble off the rod 
> if
> I didn't make a perfect start. It welded just fine, and was infinitely
> better than the alternate (no rod at all). I have also used 6013 5/32" and
> 3/16" with the amperage turned way up, in order to mimic the performance 
> of
> 7024, while welding deck cleats through standing water, paint, and tar, on 
> a
> barge deck; if this had not worked as well as it looked to, I would have
> been fired by that company some time during the following two years that 
> the
> barge hauled cargo back and forth through Alaskan storms.
>
> I paid for welding school in the first place by running 5/32" 7018, in all
> positions, using an AC 'cracker box'. Was I really that good? No, but it 
> was
> 1971 in Seattle (remember "last person out of the city; turn of the
> lights"?), and the boat owner told me it was his way or the highway.
> Desperation is a wonderful helpmate when trying the supposedly 
> "impossible."
>
> The moral of this story is, all those rules are very precious to 
> engineers,
> but welders who work in exotic places find out very quickly that "whatever
> works is what goes"! In other words, take all the rules as the mere
> guidelines they were intended to be; welding is a craft--not a religion. 
> Any
> AWS members in good standing might as well know that I'm retired and
> couldn't care less about your disapproval.
> Mikey
>