Overheard a welder say he never preheats and it stuck with me

I was grabbing coffee at the gas station off 94 last week and overheard this older boilermaker talking to a younger guy. He said he never bothers with preheat before welding unless it's below 20 degrees. Said he's been doing it 30 years and never had a crack. I wanted to jump in but I held my tongue. In my experience skipping preheat on heavy plate or high carbon steel is asking for trouble down the road. I had a 2-inch thick flange crack on me back in '19 because I got lazy and didn't run the rosebud on it first. Sure it might hold for a while but that crack shows up during hydro or when the inspector puts the dye on. Has anyone else run into guys who swear preheat is overrated and how do you talk to them without starting a fight?

2 comments

2 Comments

baker.ben9d ago

Bet your ass that flange is gonna crack someday. Some guys just get lucky and think it's skill.

abbyc338d ago

But what if the design actually accounts for that flex, though?