Assume all you welders out there have already seen this ...

[11.4]

A Rolls Royce Cobra weld:

This is splashing all over the engineering internet. Here's one of many threads about it:

this is what a rolls-royce cobra style weld looks like, courtesy of mats bertheussen : pics

[Albie]

That's a pretty standard looking weld (albeit, a very good one) when you "walk-the-cup", as they say.

A lot of very big pipe in refineries and power plants is welded that way due to necessity, but a whole load of other weldors like the aesthetic.

[zank]

That's a beautiful weave. Thanks for posting, Lane.

[edoz]

Yup, it's very pretty, but it's a classic case of someone from the outside seeing something commonplace and thinking it's extraordinary.

[Jake Rosenfeld]

Yup, it's very pretty, but it's a classic case of someone from the outside seeing something commonplace and thinking it's extraordinary.

I'd also bet that it was timed perfectly so that there wasn't enough time to start another one before lunch :)

Wish I could weld like that...

[crumpton]

looks nice but i'm betting it was an automated orbital weld process. not human hands and eyes.

[zank]

Nah, I know plenty of guys who free hand like that.

[edoz]

looks nice but i'm betting it was an automated orbital weld process. not human hands and eyes.

Definitely human hands. Orbitals don't weave like that, that is a textbook example of walking the cup.
Like this:

[Jonathan]

As a contrary view, I'm also surprised at the number of "high quality" items out there that have really poorly welded items.

[crumpton]

thanks for that link Eric. that guy looks automated. ;-) but the work movement is automated.

this one demonstrates that "walk the cup" mentioned. very cool though perhaps with not as nice a result.

[Eric Siepmann]

Brown Dog Welding also has some good info on walking the cup. There are other cover weld styles as well.

[Amaro Bikes]

As a contrary view, I'm also surprised at the number of "high quality" items out there that have really poorly welded items.

Well, sometimes we forget many "high standard" industries don't give any shit about aesthetics but the pure and real "health" of each weld, call it X-rays or any other test procedure. Bicycle industry has become pretty nuts about how welds look, being probably the one with higher demands on the visual aspect of it. And that's quite a recent concern, because I can't stop getting amazed each time I see many 90's frame and the welds, being so "unpleasant" on today's eye standards. Funny enough, many of these "unpleasant" welds were made by skilled people and the frames have lived a long life of use and abuse, while many other modern "supercleaneyecandy" welded frames get fucked after just two seasons. As it happens with humans, it's not just about the physical appearance, of course it's desirable and something we all welcome, but it has to have some inner true as well.

[dashDustin]

to the uneducated eye, that's hot.

[dgaddis]

I do a lot of work in industrial plants, and I'm always amazed at how nice the welds are on process piping systems.

[11.4]

I used to work for GE and the welds in nuclear reactors put everything else to shame.

I just thought I'd like to see welds like this on my next frame. Nothing more involved than that.

[abbeyQ]

Well, sometimes we forget many "high standard" industries don't give any shit about aesthetics but the pure and real "health" of each weld, call it X-rays or any other test procedure. Bicycle industry has become pretty nuts about how welds look, being probably the one with higher demands on the visual aspect of it. And that's quite a recent concern, because I can't stop getting amazed each time I see many 90's frame and the welds, being so "unpleasant" on today's eye standards. Funny enough, many of these "unpleasant" welds were made by skilled people and the frames have lived a long life of use and abuse, while many other modern "supercleaneyecandy" welded frames get fucked after just two seasons. As it happens with humans, it's not just about the physical appearance, of course it's desirable and something we all welcome, but it has to have some inner true as well.

If I had a nickle for every bike rider, mechanic or customer that things they're a certified weld inspector I wouldn't be welding anymore! When I worked at the vessel shop we had to do an x-ray test to get hired on, 3 positions, full pen, dual shield. Once a week when they lined the test plates up outside the QC room we would go take a look at them. It was pretty nuts what would pass and what wouldn't. Some of those welds that look slick as shit were full of defects. Once in a while the ugly ones shot clean as a whistle. The beauty is on the surface but the proof is in the pudding. I did a decent amount of production x-ray work there and it's a different world, you're only as good as your last set of films. You might have been proud on the inside if it looked great, but all anybody really cared about was the film.

I used to work for GE and the welds in nuclear reactors put everything else to shame.

I just thought I'd like to see welds like this on my next frame. Nothing more involved than that.

I've got some work in those places. Most of it's all shell work though.

[Jonathan]

I worked with a guy who did X-ray weld inspections on pipelines in Alaska. When they were up in BFE for months he and his partner had zero friends. He said said it could get a bit uncomfortable telling a welder to grind off what he'd done and start over. He also thinks he got cancer from it.

[abbeyQ]

I worked with a guy who did X-ray weld inspections on pipelines in Alaska. When they were up in BFE for months he and his partner had zero friends. He said said it could get a bit uncomfortable telling a welder to grind off what he'd done and start over. He also thinks he got cancer from it.

Was he there before or after they took that job away from the union because they had to many rejects?

[Jonathan]

Was he there before or after they took that job away from the union because they had to many rejects?

Considering he was later a lobbyist who crafted Florida's right to work laws I'm guessing he was post Union. This probably would have been early to mid 70's, maybe a little later. This guy told stories of other inspectors getting the shit beat out of them. There's not much to do in the time off other than drink apparently. Tough crowd.

[edoz]

BFE always has a bar.
Seriously, I remember guys who would go back to the motel after working a 12+ hour day, take a shower and head out to the bar. They would drag in about 3am,and be back on the job site at 6.
Rinse and repeat 4 or 5 days a week.