Grinding your welds

[Hillbillysmith]

What you do is do a root pass (that's the first pass in the groove) with 6010 and then weld stringer beads with 7018 the rest of the way to the top and then do a weave bead with 7018 for a cap pass to fill in and seal the weld off. Not to temper it on MILD steel. Just to try and clear up any confusion.

[Rutterbush]

If the well heads are being welded to code, API 1104, then there is a welder who is not in compliance. At least, not the code I'm reading. The whole point of welding is to make two, or sometimes more, separate pieces of metal into one.

However, there is a consideration to everything, such as, WHY?
1-Is the weld metal of the cap/cover too low and there is a need to fill it up?
The weld should be a maximum of 1/8" above the base metal.
2-Is the completed weld leaving the edges of the bevel exposed and not part of the weld? An inspector would interpret this as lack of fusion or under fill.
The weld should be 1/64" over, or past, the top edge of the bevel on each side.
There's an old saying that the cover pass should be a "Dime high and nickel wide".

As for tempering a weld? There is Pre/Post Weld Heat Treatment.

[aametalmaster]

Originally Posted by Hillbillysmith

There are also some welding procedures that specify that if you grind or even wire brush your weld, you automatically fail. No excuses, no exceptions.
All-in-all, Rutterbush is most certainly correct. It all depends on what it is being used for.

Thats how it was when i took my 6G 7018 test. No grinding just a little pick. And the inspector stood by you the whole time and watched...Bob

[rawblacksmith]

the more you know, the more you know you don't know!
now i have to start all over learning welding...concentrating on metallurgical knowledge demonstrated here...you guys make me worry about every weld i've done before!
i started out as a d.o.t. certified train car repair welder, then worked a short time in a police car muffler plant (i made them wrong on purpose!!), steam power r&d, and finally , my last welding job before going indie....highly decorative welding of structural pieces..staircase railings, spiral staircases, bridges, etc....

with that work EVERY weld is ground to remove all traces of welding...
goal is to make every piece look like it was sculpted; especially in pieces that were of organic motif. (see my wine cellar pieces)

i always worried about the scientific facts regarding such welds...always used whatever the man provided and remained ignorant about such things as we are discussing here.

now that i am starting over, along with new shop with new tig/stick machine and the new skills to be acquired, the liability is mine.
i want the other edge of the liability sword; that of the good reputation for great artistic work.
you guys make me want to go ahead and start in first day welding classes, but i always find it a crap shoot for who's would teach...i always got lucky and paid to learn instead
of paying.
well now i'm paying anyway....electricity is higher here in hawaii than anywhere else, and argon was $130 to fill bottle!! (they have to send bottles over to oahu to fill)
that gives me impetus to gain master proficiency on stick! i'd only ever been proficient in mig and o/a welding before. never saw a tig machine until i bought one last month.

well all this makes forging all the more important to me...so much cheaper to do here than welding with electricity.

[KYBOY]

When I passed my first stress test it was a ground smooth weld. If your careful and the penetration is good grinding a weld shouldent hurt it. the most important part of a weld in the "inside"....