Filler rod, tungsten and shielding gas all end up inside the weld. Unlabelled rod and damp storage produce porosity that no amount of parameter tuning will remove.
A gauge that reads slightly wrong applies the same bias to every decision, quietly. Checking against a reference block and writing the result down is what keeps those measurements honest.
A reject found on the bench is the cheapest outcome still available. What follows in the next hour decides whether the finding is contained and the process changes, or simply repeats next month.
A weld map ties a numbered joint to the procedure used and the person who used it. Built at the bench it shortens every investigation; reconstructed afterwards it is fiction with a signature.
After welding, every dimension has moved a little. Reading a part against the right datum, in free state, is what separates a real non-conformance from the movement the welder predicted.
Water and air store very different amounts of energy, and that single fact decides which test belongs on a fabricated tank. A practical look at what each method proves, how to prepare for it and what to record.
A joint can look correct and still be attached only at its edges. Bending and breaking a coupon reads the inside of the weld, which is the only place that failure shows.
Visual inspection is the cheapest check in a fabrication shop, but only when the light, the angle and the reference sample are fixed. This article sets out what a trained eye actually looks for on welded exhaust and tank work.
