What welding projects are you working on? Are you proud of something you built?
How about posting some pics so other welders can get some ideas?
exnailpounder
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I do repairs on mower decks and I can say dog poop when it gets heated up would be a close rival to cow manure. I finally bought a Hotsy steam cleaner for stuff like that and now life is good. I like the oddball stuff cause I get to think of a good way to repair it permanently. I see alot of failed repairs that I redo and it always seems the repairman was in a hurry or just didn't care. God love farmers but some of them do the funkiest repairs I have ever seen and they usually hold!
Ifyoucantellmewhatthissaysiwillbuyyouabeer.
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That's what I've noticed. The highly crappy repairs/welds that I've seen, are doing their job. Very high quality welds seem to fail because of poor engineering or some technical issues.
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I repair a lot of repairs. Ford F150 frame below. I don't know if it broke close to the HAZ or the guy just missed the crack completely. Had to cut and replace 30" on both frame rails.
Had another frame repair a month before (toy hauler) that the first repairer blew out more metal than the bead he managed to splatter on what was left. When I jacked it up to repair it, the shackle bracket "fell" completely off the frame.
Another thing I've learned, maybe the worst of repairs, when you're the 3rd one in line to weld up failed aluminum joints and breaks that have so much contamination you couldn't ever possibly get them clean enough to make pretty looking welds.
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exnailpounder
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:shock: Its truly a wonder how some of these things hold together. The sad fact is it puts other people at risk. I always get a laugh when some one brings me a "repair" that I could have made better with popsicle sticks and Saran Wrap :roll: I have a new price schedule for repairing repairs and it starts at $50 minimum and goes up from there and it scares people off but its my way of saying I don't want to fix it. I guess there have always been hack and tack "weldors" around but I sure see alot of crap work these days. Nobody wants to pay for quality anymore.
Ifyoucantellmewhatthissaysiwillbuyyouabeer.
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Saw it on a tee-shirt:

"If you think hiring a professional is expensive, try hiring an amateur."

Truth!

Steve S
exnailpounder
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Otto Nobedder wrote:Saw it on a tee-shirt:

"If you think hiring a professional is expensive, try hiring an amateur."

Truth!

Steve S
Yeah Steve it's the sad truth. I just don't know how anyone in good conscious could bird poop some weld on something and call it good. :roll:
Ifyoucantellmewhatthissaysiwillbuyyouabeer.
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There's definitely a dearth of folks with good conscience and a decent work ethic these days. We're remodeling the planetarium at work and it's pure hell trying to find contractors with pride in their work. It sucks having to ride herd on guys that have a 25 cent mind when you're working a million dollar project.

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exnailpounder
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Having been in construction all my adult life I figured out what the problem is....Most in the trades, not all but most, end up there because the money is good. Most don't plan a career in the trades , someone gets them a job and they like the money so they stay and their "hide and seek for a grand a week" attitude stays with them. For some it is instinctive to want to be a craftsman but for most their work is "good enough".
Ifyoucantellmewhatthissaysiwillbuyyouabeer.
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Haven't been on here in awhile and saw this old post. Figured I'd post a completed photo.
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exnailpounder
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Looks awesome! I want to do something similar to my softail.
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jroark
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I turned down a rail job the other day because the guy didn't have the money to build new but wanted me to patch up the old ones that were from the 50's and a tree had fallen on them. Rusted and painted with a paintbrush. I just had other stuff to do than to do that and get penny pincher to where I wouldn't make anything. My conscious wouldn't be right installing fixed crap that looked like crap before I fixed it.
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jroark wrote:I turned down a rail job the other day because the guy didn't have the money to build new but wanted me to patch up the old ones that were from the 50's and a tree had fallen on them. Rusted and painted with a paintbrush. I just had other stuff to do than to do that and get penny pincher to where I wouldn't make anything. My conscious wouldn't be right installing fixed crap that looked like crap before I fixed it.
Sounds like a good call, no need for that headache or the liability
Richard
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