TIL I was running my bevels all wrong until a foreman called me out

I was at a job site in Gary last month and a foreman watched me bevel a shell plate and just shook his head. He said 'You're fighting the torch, let the heat do the work.' I was so used to jamming the gouge through that I never realized I was making more clean up for myself. Now I back off the pressure and let the arc breathe and it's way smoother. Anyone else had a simple tip from an older hand that totally changed your fit up?

2 comments

2 Comments

shane_martinez446d ago

Dang that's a good one. How hard were you pushing before and how much did you have to back off to get it right? I always feel like I'm fighting my 6x when I'm trying to bevel tight corners but maybe I'm just forcing it too.

bettyh846d ago

You're asking about the 6x on tight corners and "if you're just forcing it too" but come on... it's a torch, not a wrestling match. I've seen guys treat their bevels like they're carving a Thanksgiving turkey with a chainsaw. Yeah, you gotta let the heat do some work but it's not like there's one perfect pressure setting for every single plate thickness and position. Sometimes you just have to push a little harder in a corner to get the slag to clear out properly, no matter what some old head tells you. It's not rocket science, just find what works for that specific joint.