500 feet of welding this day!
I absolutely hate welding when there is a slight breeze, I hate the way the pool forms bubbles and solidifies into porosity that then needs to be either gouged out with a special and very loud tool or it must be ground down by my 5 inch angle grinder (which works out my arm muscles a little too much)
I hate it when my saw horses are to tall, then my welds get sloppy and then I have a visit from my foreman and am forced to converse with him and tell him why I did such a crappy weld.
Dewraps- things that keep loggers safe, will be assembled to a 30 foot base
Most of all I hate the crane.
This isn't some kind of small "I could live without it" hate.
This is a full on "I would kill you if you were alive" hate.
It is such an unsettling feeling knowing that one slip of a button could have me crushed into two pieces of Kirsten. That one wrong press of the button could have a co-worker squished to a wall.
Using the crane doesn't happen once or twice a week, but multiple times a day, perhaps up to 20 times a day?
I'm a structural welder, meaning a weld huge structures that will be used by other industries. ie mills, plants, farming.
Many times a day I lift up to 4 tons of steel (that has been fabricated by someone else) and then hang all over the structure welding it.
I have only had one slip of a button that allowed my structure to fall off my saw horse. An of course the one guy who always catches me screw up, caught sight of the structure falling.
Me sporting my welding burn on my neck, nose and eye
Now, with any job there always seems to be the one person who always catches everything stupid that you do. I have one in my workplace. He's a country boy, into trucks, farming, and blowing shit up. He seems to see everything that I do wrong. Today I crashed two cranes together. No one would have noticed if he didn't yell out and then make sarcastic remarks about it the rest of the day. Anyways, this guy catches everything.
But really, other then tall saw horses, breezy days and the dreaded crane, I do love my job.
I feel new muscles in my arms, my day goes by very quickly, and I like everyone I work with- including country boy.
And welding can be fun for the whole family. Drew is wearing my cutting goggles
I get that. The conditions really set up the smoothness of the welding experience. A slight breeze can ruin your project easily. It can easily disturb the flame and alter its effect on the metal. How long did you have to endure the welding burns, by the way? Always keep safe!
ReplyDelete