Thought I could knock out a flange weld in an hour, it took the whole shift

Had to replace a corroded flange on a feedwater heater at the plant. The fit-up looked fine, but the gap was way off once I started tacking. My boss, Frank, said 'That's why we measure three times, kid.' Had to cut the whole thing out, re-bevel the pipe, and start over. What should have been a simple job ended up taking eight hours. Anyone have a good trick for checking flange alignment before you commit with the torch?

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3 Comments

noahjenkins7mo ago

Measure three times" used to be my least favorite advice.

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ivanpatel7mo ago

What's your go-to method for a quick check?

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henry5976mo ago

Ha, "measure three times" is the worst! It sounds good but it's so slow. My real quick check is just doing the opposite thing first. Like, if I'm checking if a shelf is level, I'll purposely tilt it way off and then bring it back. That one big wrong move makes the right spot way easier to find. It saves a ton of tiny adjustments. What do you actually do when you're in a hurry?

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