3 Effective Ways to Reduce Welding Rework

Rework is extremely costly, especially in welding.  If you consider what happens when a weld is rejected it is essentially triples the amount of work. You weld, you remove the weld, you reweld.  On top of this it may require additional inspection.  So, reducing rework can save considerable amounts of time and money. 

6 Challenges When Increasing Deposition Rates

It is not a secret that increasing our deposition rates, measured in pounds per hour (kg per hour in metric units), can result in increased productivity. Deposition rate is the rate at which we are depositing weld metal.  It is different from the melt-off rate. Melt-off rate is the rate at which we consume our […]

The Most Dangerous Weld Defect

Have you ever wondered if there is one type of welding discontinuity or defect that is the absolute worst one to have?  Have you heard that cracks are by the far the worst?  Or do you think others like lack of fusion, undercut or overlap can be worse?  The reality is that there isn’t a […]

Understanding the Difference between Qualified and Prequalified Welding Procedures

One of the most common questions we get around the topic of welding procedure qualification is regarding the differences between qualified and prequalified welding procedures.  The main question is typically: is one better than the other?  Before we answer this question, let’s first discuss the need for qualified, or prequalified, welding procedures.   If you have […]

The Challenges of Welding in Cold Temperatures

Welding in cold temperatures poses two critical challenges.  First, the brutal conditions welders must endure and second, the performance of steel structures in cold temperatures. Many times we forget about the former by focusing too much on the latter.  If you ever get a chance to talk to welders that have welded in both extreme […]

Who is responsible for determining weld size?

Who determines what size a weld should be?  This is a question we ask many of our customers.  And we never seem to get a straight answer.  In a perfect world, the design engineer should specify all weld sizes and clearly communicate this through welding symbols on the print.  But that is hardly ever the […]

3 Mistakes that lead to distortion in welding

Distortion caused by the heating and cooling cycles of welding is extremely problematic.  It can place structures out of dimensional tolerance creating costly rework.  In some cases parts need to be scrapped.  Understanding the causes of distortion and the properties of the metal being welded are an absolute necessity for those managing welding operations.  There […]

Pick Your Prequalified Welding Procedures Carefully

Welder performance qualification test for limited thickness.

If you work with AWS D1.1 you are probably familiar with the use of prequalified welding procedures.  The use of prequalified WPSs provides many benefits to the fabricator, one of which is costs savings due being exempt from having to perform costly testing to qualify the welding procedure.  However, if you are looking to save […]

3 Key Factors Affecting the Quality and Cost of Welds

Quality and cost go hand in hand, or at least they should.  Poor quality may be cheap during the fabricating process, but very costly when it comes to warranty repairs and potentially losing customers.  Many of the companies we work with have seen substantial cost reductions when we help them address quality concerns.  For the […]