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That time a welder told me I was grinding wrong and showed me a better way
Been laying beads for like 2 years on my farm gates and fences and always had trouble with splatter and weak joints. Old man Bob walked over last week while I was fixing a cattle gate near Austin and said "son you're holding that grinder like a hammer, let the tool do the work." He showed me to use a lighter grip and move in circles instead of just jamming it straight on, totally changed how my prep looks. Now my welds are way cleaner and I'm not burning through discs every 20 minutes. Anyone else had some old timer critique your setup and it actually helped?
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claire_davis312mo ago
Old Bob sounds like he knows his stuff. Light grip and circular motion is the kind of advice you don't get from YouTube videos. I've been welding since the 90s and still pick up tips from the old guys at the shop. They've been doing it so long it's second nature to them. Grinding is one of those things everyone thinks they know how to do until someone shows them a better way. Good on you for listening, a lot of folks would have just brushed him off.
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pat7812mo ago
Yeah "light grip and circular motion" is exactly what this old coot named Merle told me up here in Montana when I was building a hay rack. He said I was hanging onto the grinder like I was trying to milk a scared cow. Merle had me switch to a flap disc instead of the hard grinding wheel and use a figure eight pattern barely touching the metal. Felt weird at first but the prep came out smooth as glass. Funny how the guys who have been doing this since before cordless tools existed still have the best tricks.
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