AAAARRRRRRRRRRGGGGG!!!!! Kick me!!

[MarkG]

After struggling through 3 small patch panals on my truck, I realized that the thin sheet metal (and my lack of experience!) wasn't the ONLY thing I was struggling with--------after I bought a gas bottle and switched to solid wire, I FORGOT TO SWITCH THE POLARITY!!!

I was fuming that I struggled through 3 patch panels before this occurred to me. You'd think after 2 semesters of class, I'd know better. I was using the flux core it came with for a couple small jobs, but didn't switch when I got a gas bottle. DUMMMY!! :S

On a more positive note, I can't wait to see how my Handler welds when it's connected properly!

 

[Kaasdief]

Whahaha!!

 

[DesertSparky57]

Oh I've been there. It *****!

Try making a special trip to fill a bottle, then getting home with it finally, and trying to weld for a half hour with the valve shut

It *****, but it's funny too.

 

[Professur]

*points and laughs*

 

[Tucko]

Sounds like one of MY tricks. Don't worry, you are now much wiser for it....

 

[48windsor]

wow I can relate . I kick myself when I do something thoughtlessly. All I can say is as long as we are learning from our mistakes than we are doing ok. I once heard it said the diff between Dumb and stupid is Dumb is when we do something not knowing better and stupid is when we know better and keep doing it over and over . Good luck . i am sometimes my own worst critic. Also learn from me when good enuogh is good enough and stop while you are ahead

 

[Stooge]

i tried to plan ahead the other night and had the bracket i was making all jigged up before i left my shop so i could just get straight to business last night...managed to not only forget open the tank valve, but also neglected to turn my helmet on so i saw stars for a few minutes...im always impressing myself

 

[NotStock]

We all have moments like that. I fired up my lincoln 180 Dual for the first time to lay down my first weld beads ever. Had the correct polarity and gas bottle on. Started sticking together my welding table project and after fighting with really crappy looking welds for more than half of the build, realized my whip wasn't connected to the gas port properly and I wasn't getting any gas. I had to grind and re-weld everything...

 

[greenlizard]

"Man! My welding is terrible today. Worse than even my low standards!", says I. Oh, yeah. Turn on the gas, dummy. If no one saw it, it didn't happen...

 

[lotsoftools]

I forgot to change the polarity before starting a weld test. After fighting my way through the first 4 beads I realized what the problem was and had to start over.

 

[djjsr]

Everybody forgets things once in a while. It gets worse as you get older. I have a little note on my mig, "TURN ON THE GAS *******"

 

[sharkytm]

My biggie is "TURN OFF THE GAS, DUMMY". Along with:
TURN OFF THE COMPRESSOR BREAKER
TURN OFF THE VFD ON THE DRILL PRESS (adding an always-on light took care of that)

 

[SunnyBeach]

In my first few weeks of (hobby) welding, it seemed like I picked up a "hot one" every other day. I guess I was just excited when things actually stuck together.

Another trick that I advise against is welding with a simple face shield (clear)... that immediately gets your attention.

 

[e-tek]

My biggie is "TURN OFF THE GAS, DUMMY".

TOTALLY. I've run a couple tanks down over the years like that....

 

[Thumper68]

My biggie is "TURN OFF THE GAS, DUMMY". Along with:
TURN OFF THE COMPRESSOR BREAKER
TURN OFF THE VFD ON THE DRILL PRESS (adding an always-on light took care of that)

I have done this so many times I can't even count, it finally got to the point (the gas store is 45 minutes away) that I bought a 25cf tank for those times when I needed to finish a project.

 

[NASTYZEN]

Pffffttt! Just burned the Tungsten up that I had just dressed the moment before, because I forgot to turn on the gas!
It was a thing of beauty too.

 

[Professur]

Remember in school when you were doing homework ... I knew I'd screwed up something when my handwriting suddenly became beautiful and flowing.

 

[sharkytm]

Oh yeah, two more (not necessarily fab-related):
Put the heatshrink on BEFORE you solder the wires.
Put the nut on BEFORE you flare the tubing.

 

[NASTYZEN]

Remove tape measure before stomping on that shear.

 

[Chuck McB]

It happens! Was trying to weld up some stuff at work and it was just a huge freaking mess really ticking me off then I noticed someone had turned a floor fan on and it was aimed at me.

 

[Brad54]

I couldn't figure out why I was blowing through the floors in my friend's Mustang... Holy **** they looked like hell.

Much later, after we'd abandoned the project because he was never over here for us to work on it, I discovered I had .035 wire in, instead of .023... No wonder I couldn't tune the temp and wire feed.

That's the great thing about experience... once you do something dumb, you've now got the experience to not do that again!

-Brad