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This ones for Lilly lol.
I used to work for a few companies here as a welder, i was very good at my trade, and was given ALOT of overtime. Eventually i wound up at a shop that produced storage tanks and ran a submerged arc machine (a welder that runs itself, no helmet needed, the arc is submerged underneath sand type flux, all you do is constantly adjust settings and the position of the wire).
Well i was VERY good with this machine, in fact i was responsible, eventually for writting up my way of doing things, it was fast. Imagine a tube of steel (5X5' sections welded together on the inside, i did the outside seams) sitting on rollers that rotated it (laying down) and me on top of it (they were 15-35' diameter) while it rolled guiding a machine hanging from a beam. Sorry its the best description i could handle. Anyways, i would weld in excess of 200' in a day....so eventually i started working for 16+ hours a day because in that time i could get out 2-3 tanks to the next stage.
So i just finish welding a tank, its the 15th hour of my shift, i took a lunch on top of the tank with me so i wouldnt have to stop, unless we were using the two 20 ton cranes to move the tank out and a new one in, im tired, ive hauled wello ver 20 35lb buckets of flux up the side of the tank, 20' in the air and in walks the customer, mr engineer.
Now part of my process was to repair the seams (done standing on the floor with a stick welder) after they were done. He comes in at this point.
Me: Lead hand of the floor (all responsibility over 20 welders)
EG: Engineer
EG: Hey those seams look good, but we asked them to be sub arced, why are you hand welding them? These wont meet specs. Didnt you get the blue prints?
Me: Actually, these have been sub arced, im just repairing them, dont worry, this is a process that has been approved and through all the testing processes, sub arcing is never quite perfect and minor repairs can be done by a 7018 rod without affecting the total seam quality.
EG: Ok, well when you do our tank i dont expect there to be any repairs
Me: Sir...this is your tank, you asked us to rush it through, ive been here since this morning personally overseeing this job to completion.
EG: Well this is bullshit, i think that you should grind this shit off and re do these seams, we cant accept a tank that has been repaired.
Me: Actually, once im done you ownt even be able to tell, trust me, if i were to grind this all and re do it, there would still be repairs, i could be here for the rest of the night, wasting your money, not to mention i would be here half of tomorrow by the time i got it to where it is today, even the inside sub arc is never perfect, its more of an art form than a science, but trust me that everythign will be up to spec by the time you pick it up at the end of the week.
EG: Well, this is unacceptable, i want to see the inside now.
Me: Sir there is no entrance to the tank yet, you will have to talk to the lead hand in fit out once im done and your tank has been stood, that way he can lay out the proper entrance and let you inspect the interior.
EG: Just cut a hole here in the roof, i wont be long *hands on hips*
Me: Sir, your roof fittings dont exceed 8" *shows blue print* if i cut a manway in the roof now, we will have to cut a piece and weld it back in, not only will that affect the visual appearance of the tank, but it will cause huge issues for the fitup crew, since we couldnt grind down the weld enough to blend it in and still keep the integrity of the shell.
EG: Well, im up here from *city 4 hours away* i demand to see it now.
Me: Sir...piss off, ive been here for logn enough working on this, ive taken some of the best people i have off of other jobs to get this done, youre wasting my time. If you would like to come back in the morning and speak to the foreman then fine, but by then most of your fittings will be installed and we will have people on the inside of the tank so you can ake a look, until then i dont want to see you on my floor. *flip helmet down and continue welding*
Sorry if this made no sense, but its to my best recollection, the benefit of working as a welder is being able to mouth off customers, and they still need you since we were the only tank shop in the city
I used to work for a few companies here as a welder, i was very good at my trade, and was given ALOT of overtime. Eventually i wound up at a shop that produced storage tanks and ran a submerged arc machine (a welder that runs itself, no helmet needed, the arc is submerged underneath sand type flux, all you do is constantly adjust settings and the position of the wire).
Well i was VERY good with this machine, in fact i was responsible, eventually for writting up my way of doing things, it was fast. Imagine a tube of steel (5X5' sections welded together on the inside, i did the outside seams) sitting on rollers that rotated it (laying down) and me on top of it (they were 15-35' diameter) while it rolled guiding a machine hanging from a beam. Sorry its the best description i could handle. Anyways, i would weld in excess of 200' in a day....so eventually i started working for 16+ hours a day because in that time i could get out 2-3 tanks to the next stage.
So i just finish welding a tank, its the 15th hour of my shift, i took a lunch on top of the tank with me so i wouldnt have to stop, unless we were using the two 20 ton cranes to move the tank out and a new one in, im tired, ive hauled wello ver 20 35lb buckets of flux up the side of the tank, 20' in the air and in walks the customer, mr engineer.
Now part of my process was to repair the seams (done standing on the floor with a stick welder) after they were done. He comes in at this point.
Me: Lead hand of the floor (all responsibility over 20 welders)
EG: Engineer
EG: Hey those seams look good, but we asked them to be sub arced, why are you hand welding them? These wont meet specs. Didnt you get the blue prints?
Me: Actually, these have been sub arced, im just repairing them, dont worry, this is a process that has been approved and through all the testing processes, sub arcing is never quite perfect and minor repairs can be done by a 7018 rod without affecting the total seam quality.
EG: Ok, well when you do our tank i dont expect there to be any repairs
Me: Sir...this is your tank, you asked us to rush it through, ive been here since this morning personally overseeing this job to completion.
EG: Well this is bullshit, i think that you should grind this shit off and re do these seams, we cant accept a tank that has been repaired.
Me: Actually, once im done you ownt even be able to tell, trust me, if i were to grind this all and re do it, there would still be repairs, i could be here for the rest of the night, wasting your money, not to mention i would be here half of tomorrow by the time i got it to where it is today, even the inside sub arc is never perfect, its more of an art form than a science, but trust me that everythign will be up to spec by the time you pick it up at the end of the week.
EG: Well, this is unacceptable, i want to see the inside now.
Me: Sir there is no entrance to the tank yet, you will have to talk to the lead hand in fit out once im done and your tank has been stood, that way he can lay out the proper entrance and let you inspect the interior.
EG: Just cut a hole here in the roof, i wont be long *hands on hips*
Me: Sir, your roof fittings dont exceed 8" *shows blue print* if i cut a manway in the roof now, we will have to cut a piece and weld it back in, not only will that affect the visual appearance of the tank, but it will cause huge issues for the fitup crew, since we couldnt grind down the weld enough to blend it in and still keep the integrity of the shell.
EG: Well, im up here from *city 4 hours away* i demand to see it now.
Me: Sir...piss off, ive been here for logn enough working on this, ive taken some of the best people i have off of other jobs to get this done, youre wasting my time. If you would like to come back in the morning and speak to the foreman then fine, but by then most of your fittings will be installed and we will have people on the inside of the tank so you can ake a look, until then i dont want to see you on my floor. *flip helmet down and continue welding*
Sorry if this made no sense, but its to my best recollection, the benefit of working as a welder is being able to mouth off customers, and they still need you since we were the only tank shop in the city
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