That older guy I work with told me I weld too fast and he was right

I've been doing this for about 6 years now and always thought I was hot stuff because I could lay a bead in half the time of the next guy. Last week this old timer named Dave who's been a boilermaker since the 80s pulled me aside on a job site outside Pittsburgh. He just looked at my work and said 'you're leaving cold spots and it's gonna crack in 3 years.' I got defensive at first but he showed me his weld side by side with mine and you could see the difference right away. His was smooth and even top to bottom, mine had these tiny little skips where I rushed. He said he learned to slow down after a tank failed his first year on the job and almost killed a guy. That hit different because I never really thought about the safety side of it, I was just trying to look fast. I been forcing myself to take half the speed ever since and my x-ray results on the last job came back cleaner than ever. Any of you guys ever get humbled by an old hand like that?

2 comments

2 Comments

ivan8223d ago

Burned a hole through a workbench my second week because I was going so fast trying to impress the lead guy. He just handed me a grinder and said 'now you get to learn how to fix it too.'

taylor.mary22d ago

That lead guy sounds like a good teacher honestly. When I started I had a habit of using too much pressure on old wood decks and would blow right through the soft spots. My boss made me spend a whole afternoon patching and sanding every mistake I made that week. It stuck with me way better than any lecture could have. Sometimes you have to break it to really learn how to fix it right.