A QC inspector's comment fixed my weld prep routine after 11 years

Last month on a tank job in Baton Rouge, a QC guy pulled me aside and said my bevel angles were consistent but my root opening was off by a solid 1/16 inch every pass. I always figured close enough was fine since I've been doing this since 2013. He showed me how that gap was causing extra shrinkage on the cap pass, especially with the thicker plate we run. I started spending an extra 10 minutes per joint measuring with a gap gauge instead of eyeballing it. First two welds after that came out cleaner and the X-rays had zero rejections. Anyone else had a QC callout that actually improved their routine?

1 comments

Log in to join the discussion

Log In

1 Comment

the_dylan1mo ago

Damn right, same thing happened to me on a pressure vessel job a few years back. QC guy busted my balls about not squaring up my backing bar and I thought he was just being picky. Fixed it and my root passes stopped having those little cold laps I'd been chasing for months. Now I make my fitter check every damn gap with the gauge before I even strike an arc.

7