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I still think that old timer was wrong about grinding out my root pass
On a 24-inch steam drum at the Bellingham refinery last fall, a 30-year veteran told me to leave more land on my root pass or I'd get suckbacks. I went with his advice and ended up with three feet of wagon tracks that took me an extra 4 hours to grind out. Has anyone else found that a tight prep actually gives you better fusion on carbon steel?
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shah.shane1mo agoMost Upvoted
That bit about "leave more land" is the kind of advice old timers swear by, but it really depends on the fit-up you're dealing with. I've noticed a bigger pattern where people think adding more material automatically makes things stronger, but in welding it often just gives you more trouble to grind out. A tight prep with less land usually gets you better fusion because you're forced to burn right into the edges instead of floating on top.
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charles_kim1mo ago
Grind that land down to barely a knife edge and run your root hot. I've seen the same thing happen on steam drum work and a tight prep with minimal land saves you hours of cleanup.
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