stupidest welding question you have heard

seaplane · Jul 18, 2011

I am new to the forum, But I live and breathe welding. I work as an instructor and test shop supervisor. I encourage students to ask any question they can think of. Sometimes it get frustrating trying to learn just to strike an arc for some folks and I try to extend tolerance and dignity towards my students. Lord knows I had to deal with some hard core geezers 30 years ago when I was trying to learn! I still like to have fun though! Nothing like watching someone run off to get a cup of powdered argon!:laughing: It teaches them in the process !

deereman75 · Jul 18, 2011

I have nothing against asking questions, I ask stupid ones all the time. This thread is about the really stupid ones, that make no sense "if I hook up gas to my mig welder, can I use it as a cutting torch''.

r8nger · Jul 18, 2011

If that welder ran tanner gas( Wich is a liquid) through his air arc torch, it would have looked like a world war two flame thrower, it hs a very low flashpoint,

deereman75 · Jul 18, 2011

r8nger said:
If that welder ran tanner gas( Wich is a liquid) through his air arc torch, it would have looked like a world war two flame thrower, it hs a very low flashpoint,

I looked at the MSDS for it, and its flashpoint is 54 deg f or 12 deg c.

Danno1 · Jul 19, 2011

.

Not meant to be rude or anything but, do you guys know the difference between flashpoint and ignition temperature?

.

r8nger · Jul 19, 2011

Yes I know the difference , but what difference does that make ? You could run diesel fuel through it with the same result! The arc is over 1000 deg. And no , I don't know the exact temperature. Why does everyone have to over analyze everything ? It's just a funny little story.are you trying to prove to us how smart you are? I'm not impressed.

Tobias Dunlap · Jul 20, 2011

Speaking of AA torch. When I was up in Iowa about 5 years ago building a new grain mill during the winter. One day they had me air arc out a couple of chutes that had been put in wrong and my air line froze up. I got down to go get a cutting torch and my helper thought he would be extra helpful and thaw my airline out. What he did was unload a whole bottle of HEET into it for me and not tell me about it. When I got back he said he got it thawed and I thanked him for it. I put my hood down and opened up the air. Just before I arc'd up I smelled it, but I didn't think he'd put that much in there. Lets just say there was a big pretty blue fireball that just about scared the poor helper to pieces.

Lets see. Most of my dumb questions have been from xtra green helpers, engineers and know it all inspectors that have never struck an arc in thier lives.

I had a helper ask me how long does it take the weld to dry.
Same helper beat the **** out of my MIG gun by trying to strike an arc with it.
He didn't realize there was a trigger that needed pulling. Every welder was a green hand at one time or another. We all go through a learning curve throughout our career no matter what you do.

Ive had several engineers who decided to play with my AC TIG unit ask what the pretty little purple feather was at the end of the torch when they pushed the foot pedal while they held the torch in mid air. I told them it was the High Frequency pilot and they always touch it. They always get zapped and they sometimes piss themselves. Got to love those oh so intelligent engineers.

But my favorite dumb question of all time was. Why do you welders wear those dark hoods? You can't see anything through them and that little blue light isn't all that bright. I told him all about UV rays and wavelenths of light and flash burn and all that. He wasn't having any part of it. He hung around with my crew the rest of the day, not heeding any of our warning. That night he went to the Emergency room with badly burned eyes and second degree burns to his face and neck. I guess he answered his own question.
The best part about this one was it finally shut him up. He would brag himself blue telling us just how good of an inspector he was. Turns out he took an online course just before he hired on.

Stupid is as stupid does.

slowzuki · Jul 21, 2011

Have you ever used one of those things? Telling someone it can weld 1/4" is bad for business. On max output the duty cycle is short, very short. For a slight difference in price, the person could get a proper lincoln tombstone or chinese equivalent and happily build their bumper.

deereman75 said:
He still could have said it would work for 1/4 inch with 2 or 3 passes, which is what it would be made of. I am sure you could do 1/4 inch in 2 or 3 passes with 70 amps.

deereman75 · Jul 21, 2011

slowzuki said:
Have you ever used one of those things? Telling someone it can weld 1/4" is bad for business. On max output the duty cycle is short, very short. For a slight difference in price, the person could get a proper lincoln tombstone or chinese equivalent and happily build their bumper.

I know, I would always recomend a tomb stone over anything chinese, the point is if it was all he could aford, he could stick some pipe to his bumper to keet a sapling from pokeing a hole in his rad. It would not be ideal, but it could work. I will say I have never used one of those, but I have had my lincoln set at 75 amps and it would have worked for that. (although it is 100% duty cycle vs a 10% duty cycle)

5030 · Jul 21, 2011

deereman75 said:
I am starting this thread to see what the stuipdest welding question is. The stupidest one I have heard is "If I hook gas up to my mig welder, can I use it as a cutting torch".

Whatever it is, it's probably been asked on this forum.:laughing: