Thanks, so much, JD. I really appreciate that. I’m going to watch that part of the video again: I can’t remember ever having seen such close-up, detailed views of an MMA arc and puddle. And having tried not very successfully to take photos of TIG arcs myself, I know just how skilled and difficult a job it can be, but the results are stunning. When they say a picture’s worth it thousand words, it’s a big understatement. Thanks again for your reply, JD. And a very happy Christmas and 2024 to you and your wife and the puppy.

Thanks, JD, for such a detailed explanation not only of how things are at the company, but also how they’ve got where they are. I’m glad the company’s doing well; your comments make me realise too much growth too fast can be a bad thing.

My only concern was that the firm should try to shift any blame to you should there be an accident because someone didn’t know what they were doing. But I’m overthinking it: it’d be like a bad driver trying to blame the car manufacturer because he came off the road when driving too fast.

It reminds me of one or two of your previous videos when you showed the correct way to use an angle grinder, and I then realised I’d never had any formal training on using an angle grinder - hardly anyone ever does, and then we’re all surprised how complacent and ignorant we are when we have our first accident with one.

Thanks, JD. I love these videos in the industrial workshops.

JD,

Was this the same system where you recently installed 2 dryers into the pipework? Do they have all these modifications properly documented? It looks as if it could end up like a load of spaghetti with no-one really knowing what some of the circuits do and why they’re there. I guess that’s how many/most systems evolve, but without proper documentation and circuit diagrams, is it not a recipe for disaster? Are the high-pressure systems marked clearly to distinguish those circuits from the low-pressure circuits? Do they have to go through a proper evaluation before modifications, or is like I suspect: someone says, “JD, can you take a pipe from there to there for us?”, and that’s all there is to it?

Where do you stand if someone does something stupid later on and there’s an accident and it’s determined that a modification should not have been done because it had introduced some sort of danger. Would you be in the clear because you carried out the instructions?

Excellent close-up arc shots, JD. I see the dangers of the flux running ahead of the puddle, and I can see why the manipulation helps avoid that. No doubt you act on instinct when you see the flux getting ahead, so you might not even know what you instinctively do to combat it, but when you do see flux getting ahead, what’s the immediate action you do to stop it? Or put it another way, if I saw the flux suddenly appear in front of the rod, my immediate action would be to check my drag angle and if I’ve lost it and gone too much straight in, I’d increase the drag angle; I’d also immediately do some manipulation of the arc, and I think I’d also possibly try to reduce the arc gap. Now, are those the right things to do? Which is the most likely to fix the problem, or the thing I should do first - drag angle, manipulation, or both at the same time?

Is there any link between welding current and flux getting ahead? Is it possibly a sign that the welding current is too low?

👍👍👍

Very smart! And what an excellent demonstration of just how strong the contraction forces can be after welding.

I watched the BakerGas video on the Esab Volt. They say the batteries are also on 3 year warranty, but I wonder exactly what that covers….surely not “fair wear and tear”. But the video did look very impressive; for example, it has settings for cellulosic rods. Why not contact Esab and explain about all the WelderSkills videos you post and say you want to borrow a Volt to give it a decent test in the field for a few weeks, putting it through its paces and making a some videos of it in action. You can tell them there’s already interest in it from your Zoom call.

Another thing: you said you have a lot of thick copper cable. I hope you have it locked away when not in use on site. We have big problems with thieves stealing electric cable from the railway and tram networks. It’s a pity they don’t electrocute themselves, but with copper being so expensive, you can see why the network suffers.

But I’m glad you’ve got a puppy to sweeten life. Reminds me of what Lester says in The Wire, “Life, Jimmy, you know what that is? It’s the shit that happens while you wait for moments that never come.”

I was thinking about that Esab battery-powered welder. I think it warrants careful consideration: I’m not a fan of battery-powered kit, unless, perhaps, it’s used every day and can pay for itself. When battery-powered kit is infrequently used, I think the batteries suffer, especially if forgotten about and left discharged. And you’re locked into DeWalt batteries so they can charge you whatever they like, because your machine is useless without them, although you did say that it runs also off 110V and 240V, but you already have plenty of such kit. So you end up with kit that, instead of running 30 rods, can only manage 10, at best unless you pay a small fortune for a new set of batteries (or find someone to rebuild them).

It was really good to see you back, but it was only pure luck that I found out. I went into the WelderSkills app the day before and noticed the short video notification. Otherwise, I would have missed it. In the early days, I’d get email notifications of forthcoming Zoom calls. I presume that also explains why there wasn’t a big attendance. I have general settings Notifications set to On for WelderSkills, but I never seem to get any, but I do get notifications for Jody’s site. I contacted Joey and asked if he can reinstate the email alerts. I notice there are Notification settings inside the app that are not included in the General Settings, so I’ve now turned them on, but an email alert would be good, too.

I’m so sorry you’ve had such a shit time recently, having your phone stolen is traumatic enough but maybe little compared to selling your house. You were making light of it but I could see you’ve had a really tough time.

Joey

I caught this by pure chance: I happened to open the app and saw the entry. Thankfully, I saw it a day beforehand otherwise I would have missed it. I’ve set Notifications to On in my iPhone, but today I saw there are extra Notifications settings INSIDE the app. So I’ve turned them on. But a good while back, I used to get emails alerting me to forthcoming Zooms (and, I think, new videos as well), but since then I haven’t had any email alerts. I think I was the only one on JD’s Zoom; perhaps people weren’t aware it was on. So I’ve got a couple of suggestions: firstly, could you draw attention to the existence of the extra Notifications settings within the app that are in addition to any settings in the General device settings. Secondly, could you perhaps instigate email alerts on an opt-out basis, for upcoming Zoom calls as well as new video postings? Without those emails, I realise that I now rarely open the app and out of sight is out of mind. Thanks, Martin