Appreciation post: That old welder who showed me how to prep tube ends in 30 seconds flat

3 years ago at the Local 1 hall in Chicago, a guy named Pete handed me a flap wheel and said 'stop fighting those mill edges, son.' I still use that trick every single day on stainless jobs. Anybody else got a veteran member who gave them a game-changing tip like that?

2 comments

2 Comments

wendy721mo ago

Pete sounds like a legend. Old timer at my first shop showed me how to mark tube for coping with just a piece of tape and a sharpie. No calculators, no measuring, just eyeball it and cut. Still works perfect every time.

adams.vera1mo ago

Hold up, wait. You're telling me this guy didn't use ANY tools at all? Just tape and a sharpie and just went for it? I've been cooking for a few years now and I still need to measure like three times before I make a cut, otherwise I'll mess it up. That's wild, I can't even imagine having that kind of confidence with a sawzall in my hand.