good welds - is grinding usually avoidable?

[luvit]

.
Is grinding on welds nearly always avoidable?

• Unless the product is absolutely meant to look flat or flush, do most consumer and professional products typically have the weld in it's natural form? -- I ask this even for robot welders and humans.
• Sometimes I wonder if some pros or amateurs often grind on the weld to help hide poor workmanship.
• I hate grinding, so as I try to improve myself, I want to avoid grinding at all costs, if it's very acceptable.

.

 

[DHS]

I personally like to see the welds, half decent welds look good with paint. If I am ashamed of a weld I will usually grind it out and give her another go.

 

[Frederik]

From my experience, in industrial settings welds are usually never ground down, as it is a waste of time. Unless there's a good reason to do it, don't.
My old welding teacher always said that only bad welders ground down their welds.

 

[KinzeMech]

I never grind welds for cosmetic purposes. That's what paint is for.

If the finished surface has to be flat, that's different. That's a functional purpose. Those will get some grinding.

It's worth noting, I work on ag equipment. Farmers like to see big welds, and lots of 'em.

 

[GirlnAgarage]

I grind for functional, like said above, if it has to be a flat finish. But I leave welds alone otherwise. It's unnecessary work and uses grinding discs. I do like a clean finish on some lighter items so it is a bit of a fight with myself to leave welds alone. On big welds, leave them.

 

[zuk123]

Well done welds look good. I'm always suspicious of ground out welds (unless they are meant to be flat.)

If you are painting, it would be easier to wipe bondo into the fillet if you like the look of smooth corners.

zuk

 

[drb007]

I am still a better grinder than I am a welder...hoping to keep getting better!

 

[Buckgnarly]

Depends on the project, some things look better smooth, others do not really matter. People get way too hung up on judging welds by what they look like.....the best set of "stacked dimes" can have no penetration, while ugly "booger" (or farm) welds can have great penetration. Unless you cut or x ray t, you are not going to know by looking. Might even argue that grinding can reveal imperfections!

 

[FMC]

all my work is interior finishing, tables,chairs,stair railings etc, no weld left unfinished, I pray for a customer that wants an industrial look lol, if anything a ground weld does lose some strength, so prep is very important

 

[BD1]

Each welder person has his own '' pattern '' or ripple. This is their art work. At the shop I worked at, you could look at the weld and knew who did it.
The prettiest are tig welds on stainless, tight ,small narrow welds.
So, no grinding.

 

[shampoop]

Depends on the project, some things look better smooth, others do not really matter.

+1

 

[luvit]

Might even argue that grinding can reveal imperfections!

Yeah, when i was first learning on my father's wire feeder, i would grind into it just to see if i'm breaking the bead clean off (zero penetration).
But on the farm, they too were grinding everything down that they welded.
I felt that farming mods/repairs were hard enough and frequent enough -- just make pretty welds and move-on -- you can see the grind marks under the paint, anyway.
As I study Arc welding tonight, my first time studying any welding, I am learning I may have created this thread one night too soon.

 

[tkonetzke]

I have heard some say that grinding a weld flush can weaken the weld. Not very much but when we cut a truck in half to shorten or lengthen CA, then **** weld it back( with other reinforcement) we want all the strength we can get.

Leave the welds alone unless it needs to be flat. A nice weld looks much better painted than a ground down weld, unless you out some serious time into it

 

[srmofo]

I like to grind certain things down, but its not usually in a corner joint. Example I recently repaired a cracked PS bracket. The piece was a stamped piece of flat steel and it was cracked right down the center. I welded both sides and grinded it down with a flap wheel so you couldnt tell it was repaired

 

[TAftw]

I like to grind down the slag or little burs on either side of a weld, but otherwise leave the weld alone. I can't stand when a weld is painted and you can still see all the little burs.

 

[BWS]

OK,I'll probaly burn in H*ll for this....but swear its true.I simply can NOT remember the last weld bead I ground.At least how I'm understanding the OP.

IOW,s....not counting welds on **** joints to be filled/painted.Because,other than that.......its been 20 years since I ground one.


Oh wait,there was this one time on some chickenchit fit-ups a guy did on some handrails for us.....But that was more out of piss-offd-ness than any real need?

 

[garydog]

Welding is an art. if ya grind off the bead...how would anyone know of the weld was any good?

 

[t100]

this is copied from the NHRA General Regulations book, page 16.

regarding welding:

All 4130 chromoly tube welding must be done by
approved TIG heliarc process; mild steel welding must be done by
approved MIG wire feed or approved TIG heliarc process. Welding
must be free of slag and porosity. Any grinding of welds prohibited.

 

[AndyA]

I don't grind anything unless I screwed something up. I hate grinding. A lot of times I'll use the torch to remove the bulk of the material, then grind just to get back to clean metal.

Tig and mig don't get more than a wipe down before paint (if that).
Stick and flux-core get the flux knocked off and a good wire brushing before paint.

 

[Gary Anderson]

I have heard some say that grinding a weld flush can weaken the weld. Not very much but when we cut a truck in half to shorten or lengthen CA, then **** weld it back( with other reinforcement) we want all the strength we can get.

Leave the welds alone unless it needs to be flat. A nice weld looks much better painted than a ground down weld, unless you out some serious time into it

Grinding a proper weld DOES weaken the weld!!!!

End of story.

Your Pal, Gary

 

[king nero]

Grinding a proper weld DOES weaken the weld!!!!

End of story.

Your Pal, Gary

I can show you a dozen examples where it doesn't, and even will be benificial for the weld.

maybe the best example: a **** weld of two plates of equall thickness, where you grind the weld, top and bottom, flush with the plates.
the excess does nothing towards strength, and you'll remove stress risers so it will perform better in fatigue.

 

[garydog]

Grinding a **** weld does in fact weaken the weld. If it has to be flush, then beveling the plates is required to give full penetration of the opposite welds. Actually, I feel that **** welds should be beveled in the first place, then the weld will be close to being flush all by itself.

 

[tkonetzke]

Very true on beveling, anything(**** welds) requiring any structural integrity needs to be beveled.

 

[Builderrhys]

I can show you a dozen examples where it doesn't, and even will be benificial for the weld.

maybe the best example: a **** weld of two plates of equall thickness, where you grind the weld, top and bottom, flush with the plates.
the excess does nothing towards strength, and you'll remove stress risers so it will perform better in fatigue.

Very true King Nero. Grinding the "cap" of a weld does not weaken the joint. Under building code it is required on handrail (all welds that your hand passes) to be ground flush so your hand meets no resistance while passing over it. I am currently working on high energy piping at work (main steam at 2200 psi and of large diameter) that must have it's cap ground flush for "phased array" and "replication" NDE methods. Also, on the same high energy piping applications where temp "pad" welds have been made, they must be ground smooth and on a three to one ratio to prevent stress risers. Grind if you want, just be sure not to go less than the thickness of the parent metal.

 

[Ozwelder]

Do your grinding before the weld- not after.
in other words the prep to start with a clean welding surface.

Most of you fellows seem to use mig.Cleaning is must ,even if the work is only a little bit rusty.
Always clean (grind) the area that the earth return clamps to ,as well - stops lotsa problems.

Cheers

 

[jrod60]

Welding is an art. if ya grind off the bead...how would anyone know of the weld was any good?

A pretty weld cap does not indicate a sound weld. You can lay the most beautiful stack of dimes for the internet to covet and still not get any penetration into the base metal.

 

[mattdwelder]

in my shop i can always tell when someone has made a mistake, by the sound of his grinder lol

 

[welder4956]

Grinding is usually avoidable, unless the weld must be smooth for appearance or design purposes. I would rather see the unground weld to see how well it was welded. Poor welding technique is easily spotted on an unground weld.

 

[Robert Haas]

I knock spatter off with a flap wheel but the welds themselves, if they are not in the way, I leave. If you can not make a pretty looking weld with today's welders you should take up knitting.

Lately if I am not pressed for time I would rather use my TIG anyway, no spatter, and the finished product is like looking at ones child. I burst with pride

 

[BWS]

JMO...but,it seems to always go back to starting at the "bottom".....learn OA welding first.It teaches you so much about heat control,rod work,penetration,ect.Once you can do a real nice bead with gas....everything else is gravy.

To the point,alot of our resto work on equip....it just don't matter what processes we use.Very acceptable results pretty much always follow.Just sayin.

And yes,welding is like bodywork.....its ALL about he prep.

 

[luvit]

In my world, I suspected people grinding for the wrong reasons.. then I also wondered if I was just being lazy for not wanting to grind.
Even with their non-scientific reasoning to grind, I tried really hard to not be cynical.
There's a chance that they felt they had a good weld, but too ugly to not grind.
I'm talking about many observations from years ago, prior to the internet.

I know that if it wasn't for the web, 5 people would have 5 different answers.. and maybe one answer would have been right.

I will continue to practice & master the art of a good bead with my old AC Arc Welder..
.

 

[BWS]

I didn't turn on a welder today....wooohoo.

 

[03protege]

A large majority of my work is all aesthetics so most of my welds get ground down at least enough to be hidden well once painted. another thing I do requires it to be ground flush.

I don't think this question is so cut and dry. Application being the biggest factor.

 

[luvit]

.

• Unless the product is absolutely meant to look flat or flush...

.

A large majority of my work is all aesthetics so most of my welds get ground down...
I don't think this question is so cut and dry. Application being the biggest factor.

that was cut & dry.

 

[Mud]

It's what the client wants or requires and thats it.

 

[NASTYZEN]

Application being the biggest factor.

This usually dictates the way to go.

 

[ImLow78]

in my shop i can always tell when someone has made a mistake, by the sound of his grinder lol

LoL

Shannon

 

[Rickenbackerman]

Somewhat older thread, but... I'll toss in my $0.02...

I work at NASA - all of the welds on the GSE (ground support equipment) aren't only not allowed to be ground down, they can't even be painted! They are supposed to left bare for inspection once a year (or whatever the protocol is). Welds can crack. Friends don't let friends be addicted to crack.

 

[Heavy Metal Doctor]

I'm usually working against time - grinding takes more time, so I only do it if it's required.

 

[GIJoe4500]

I am an NDE by trade (weld and tubing inspections). And as far as grinding goes, there are many times in the naval ship repair industry that it is required. A properly prepped weld will not be hurt at all by grinding, as long as you don't over grind.

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