"Mirror" welding??

--Saw tiny snipped on how/why on a Science Channel show called 'Megaworld' where they show the process on a new nuclear sub. Innnnteresting but it must take a ton of practice! Anyone got links?

Reply to
steamer
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not only that often they had to bend the rod in a few spots to reach and only could use a few inches per rod. I am not sure how much practice it takes back in the seventies when I worked down at the nuclear sub factory in New London Ct they had a few week training course and some of the new trainees got to do mirror work. A least that is what I believe. Where I actually worked things were more open and I don't recall seeing the mirror work done. I do remember all of the heating elements they clamped or bolted to the sub as they wouldn't weld if it wasn't warm and then they would take some of them away after a while and then the rest of them away later.

Fran

Fran

Reply to
fran...123

It has to do with how your brain is wired. I have done it with Stick and TIG.

Kind of like backing up a trailer, you have to think backwards.

Reply to
Ernie Leimkuhler

Also see 7-29 post by Tin Lizzie in the "Newbie Stick Welding Question"

Reply to
Rick

Or use two mirrors and think forwards! I've never tried that but I think the logic is valid in that idea. The disconnect between where you hands are and where you eyes see your hands might be just as bad as one mirror however.

I've never tried any form of welding with a mirror either - seems like it would be very difficult to get a good weld. Would be fun to try however.

Reply to
Curt Welch

I'll bet my dentist could do it. She does a lot of her work in a mirror. The fact that dentists worldwide do this all the time suggests that it can be learned.

Reply to
Leo Lichtman

Not fun at all, in fact, a good bit frustrating. It might get easy if you did it every day.

Many years ago I was part of a refurbishing effort on drop tanks for the Harrier. We had to tape broom sticks to our tig torches and rod, and weld internal stiffener cracks through small inspection bungs. It quite often required welding in a mirror, and it was very difficult.

Your double mirror idea might be a very good one. Kind of like using a periscope instead of just a mirror. I bet it would be a good solution.

Reply to
Tim

I asked my dental hygenist this a few months ago and she said that it was something you learn and second nature after awhile. Amazing thing the brain!.

Reply to
David Billington

IIRC, there was a study some decades ago where they had the subject wear glasses that inverted everything (so the world was upside-down, IIRC). After a while (days or weeks), s/he adjusted and things seemed normal to them. Then the same process in reverse when the glasses came off!

I have a mirror-image analog "Barber's clock" in one of my offices-- sometimes I get things reversed when looking at a normal (non mirror) analog clock.

So it can be learned..

Best regards, Spehro Pefhany

Reply to
Spehro Pefhany

I can remember seeing that film several times at school when I lived in the US in the 1970s. It was possibly from the 1950s or 1960s and the guy looked like he had binoculars bolted to his head. Amazing stuff!.

Reply to
David Billington

I posted a few tips here not too long ago- try searching for it- I posted it about a week ago...

It's used alot more often than most weldors are comfortable with.

Practice,practice,practice. A little patience helps, too.

Reply to
TinLizziedl

I knew I posted it, just didn't save a copy...

Reply to
TinLizziedl

Double mirror is next to impossible due to the number of reflections. I've tried it, went back to a single mirror. You lose so much detail as those reflections bounce around. What I've never tried is welding in a 'scope. I've thought about buying one of those newfangled Milwaukee scopes and trying some tigging around corners....

I'm afraid I would burn out its sensor. Maybe tape a shaded lens over its camera? Anyone tried it?

Reply to
TinLizziedl

Well, most men do it every morning - when shaving :-)

Cheers,

John B. (johnbslocombatgmaildotcom)

Reply to
John B.

--Would love to have seen that process!

Reply to
steamer

Very tedious and you spend a lot of time grinding tungsten. Oh, and very little pride in workmanship. No one was ever considered good at it.

Reply to
Tim

Could this sort of welding ever be done to high quality standards?

Reply to
Ignoramus29579

Mirror welding with GTAW (tig) is done to high standards all the time in shipyards all over the world. Where I work, if you want to weld pipe, you better get really good at it. We have different pipe classes (P1, P2...) and all the weldors who do the P1 pipe have 100% pass rates for PT (liquid penetrant) and RT (radiographic) tests. Those that "drop" a joint don't stay on the "RT-Crew" for long.

When you're repairing a critical piping run on a nuclear submarine, you cannot afford half-assed workmanship. The saying, "Good enough for government work" really makes my hackles rise.

After all- If you are repairing / replacing parts due to wear and corrosion, you're not going to rip out tons of good with the pound of bad. The weldors have to weld with all kinds of interference in the way. I've never worked a "new construction" project on a boat, so I don't know how to weld anything that's right out in the open that I can see all the way around!

Reply to
TinLizziedl

Every morning you shave and comb your hair.... looking in the mirror :-)

cheers,

Bruce in Bangkok (bruceinbangkokatgmaildotcom)

Reply to
Bruce in Bangkok

I seriously doubt it, at least not with what we had to work with.

Reply to
Tim

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