Rant: Old timer made me eat my words about welding rods

Last week at the union hall in Detroit, a guy named Mike who's been doing this since the 70s watched me grab some 7018 rods out of the oven. He said I was wasting my time with the fancy low-hydrogen stuff for a simple repair job on a water tank. He tossed me a handful of 6010 rods instead and told me to try them. I fought him on it for a minute, but he was right. The 6010 ran smoother and the penetration was better for that rusty metal. Has anyone else had an old-timer show you a simpler way that turned out better than the textbook method?

2 comments

2 Comments

perez.willow1mo ago

Wasting my time with fancy low-hydrogen stuff" - yeah, I got told basically the same thing by an old pipefitter named Sal when I was trying to weld up a rusty gate. He handed me a 6010 and just said "quit fighting the metal." I felt like an idiot for arguing, but the weld looked way better and I didn't have to grind half of it off. Guess the old guys just know when to ditch the textbook for the real world.

miles9461mo ago

Sal was right, you gotta work with what's actually in front of you.