Extreme welding !

[tigler]

Just watched Extreme Engineering on Quest. Was about a project in Iceland to build the biggest Dam for a Hydro Electric powered plant in the world.
They were constructing a Tunnel Boring Machine , like the one used to cut the channel tunnel , on site and the cutting head needed to be assembled by welding segments together. For this they deployed a team of "Extreme" welders from South Africa !!! Never heard the term Extreme Welder before !!
There was something like 100 mtrs of VERY heavy section welds , must have been 3 or 4" thick section !! Then when they were done after about 3 or 4 days I think, this guy inspected every millimetre of weld with dye penetrant for flaws , there were non !!
Any on here regard themselves as extreme welders then ??!!

 

[the snooper]

i watched that although id seen it before

i know some extremely bad welders if that counts

 

[Chickenjohn]

Is that like extreme ironing? http://www.extremeironing.com/

 

[Mad Mick]

Hi Tig, I watched this also,the word 'hyperbole' sprang to mind,regards,Mick.

 

[wyn]

A welder in a firm i used to work for, worked for a bit in the Antarctic ....That's got to be tricky welding conditions.

 

[brightspark]

A welder in a firm i used to work for, worked for a bit in the Antarctic ....That's got to be tricky welding conditions.

did he get cold welds

 

[wyn]

Heres a pic..it isn't him though.

 

[the snooper]

should have turned off that snow machine before trying to fix it

 

[tigler]

Obviously gasless welding then !!
I think the most extreme welding environment has to be underwater !!

 

[Robotstar5]

I think the most extreme welding environment has to be underwater !!

How about welding in space, is it possible? have watch out for spatter on your spacesuit though!

Saw one of the welders at Longbridge stick welding some pipes while knee deep in hydraulic oil in a sump

 

[tigler]

How about welding in space, is it possible?

Has it ever been done ? Certainly wouldn't need shielding gas !

 

[biodoctor]

I did some welding outside the other day,it was extremely cold ,does that count ?.

 

[greyshirtguy]

How about welding in space, is it possible? have watch out for spatter on your spacesuit though!

Saw one of the welders at Longbridge stick welding some pipes while knee deep in hydraulic oil in a sump

Now that peaked my interest, a quick Google revealed a few welding experiments have taken place (but apparently electric ARC is not possible without gas to ionise - so alternative methods were used)

http://www.newscientist.com/article...reports-on-theperils-of-welding-in-space.html

http://www.vor.ru/Space_now/Cosmonauts/Cosmonauts_2.html

http://ruspace.blogspot.com/2009/07/space-welding-anniversary.html

 

[matt1978]

IMO Extreme welding doesn't just have to be in bad weather countries or 100ft below the surface.

Most site welding on Powerstations and site welding in general sometimes has an extreme side to it and I mean just the really ****ty awkward positions and places the system designers seem to place the last tie in butt and you end up tig welding a 100% X-Ray Butt weld with your opposite hand using mirrors sellotaped to a wall so you can see the backside of the pipe all while hanging off some scaffolding!

Welds like that take place all the time on construction sites all around the country, thats extreme welding in my opinion!

I did my fair share of cacky welds like that when I used to be a site welder, but that was a few yrs back now, thats why I think 'proper' welding and welders don't get the recognition as a trade it deserves.

 

[tigler]

I agree. Probably one of the most critical and highly skilled jobs anywhere but just considered another trade by industry. Seems that any manual work is considered less worthy than wearing a suit and poking a computer all day !!

 

[toddy]

i have to agree with matt.

since i am a construction site welder(or was) and some of the crap you have to do is stupid. i am lucky i havnt done shutdowns yet. but i have been out side when it has been ******* down all day and the things i had to weld were under 3-6" of water, and i had to use 6mm rods.
every time you put a new rod in you get a shock.

other than that i was put is a awkward test. this was a 24" dia 1" thick pipe sitting in the horizental position(so welding over head, up, flat) and this was welded to 2 contaners that were 2ft apart and then had a table placed ofver it so only having about 6" access at the top.
and we had to weld this up with the QA were throughing allsorts at us, and smashing the pipe with big hammersand pooring water over it and us.
we didnt have to do this. but we through it was a good idea, to get the experience

 

[Douglas]

tacking two 350mm 3.25 welding rods together (yes, end on end, so that's a 700mm long welding rod not including the tongs or your arm length) and nailing 'the' 100% weld with one hand whilst the other hand (and arm) hold your weight.
Who needs cold weather?

 

[toddy]

i like the monkey welding.
i havn had to do double electrode yet.
but i have been sitting on a scafold pole, yes only one about 20ft abrove ground welding, as well as hanging from a steelwork welding overhead. was only about 1fr above the floor, but being short i couldnt reach