Prepping parts process for welders.

[Crzyrzr]

Hello all. I have gotten some great advice so far from here now I need some welders opinions. We have gotten a new plasma machine in and I think I may have it dialed in for our cutting. Now we move to the welders and there time has increased on the welding side of things. I have taken everystep that I can take to remove all the dross and clean the edges as best I can. We deburr the edges and remove all the dross that we can. However they are still complaining and the welds don't look as good as they used to.
History: all the welders have been used to welding metal off of a shear and punch for years.
Question: What are some areas to look at to improve the ease, quality, and speed? In your experiences what are some of the adjustments that need to be made to the welders to go from welding sheared material to plasma cut materials?

Thanks for any input that you guys can offer. I need to make this process work in order to grow our business.

[mfgbydesign]

Most our material to be welded is plasma or flame cut on a Messer.
There is a grinding op after the burn table and a dedicated person to clean up all the edges. Every part that comes off the burn table goes thru this op. He doesn't need to do much, mostly just break the edges and it's ready to weld. No complaints but that's how it's been done here for decades.
The welders have de-scalers they use to prep the weld area after it's tacked together.

Is it a technical issue or common resistance to change?

[Crzyrzr]

I get the feeling it is a resistance to change. Mostly because they have worked with a plasma before and got a really bad taste in their mouths. Unfortunantly the owner decided to buy this against everyone's (welders,and salesman) suggestions. I got stuck with this because they did not want to hire anyone and i am always here at the location. So guess who catches all the complaints. Anyways I am just trieing to get everything as close to shear quality as possible to eliminate complaints.
Right now I do have someone that "preps" the edges for welding. Here is the process: Grinder for heavy dross, a flap wheel for the lighter dross then wipe it down with a dry rag. Could the flap wheel be causing the contamination?

[mfgbydesign]

The "dry rag" may be your problem.
Sure the flapper leaves some debris but it should be easily removed.
A few years ago EVERYTHING got washed in triclor. or MEK.
Critical parts, especially brazing, now get cleaned with alcohol and a clean, lint-free cloth. Give that a try on a set of parts and see if there's any change.
The shop I'm in has a lot of complacency toward making any changes like keeping filler metal stored, covered, or clean. Just leave it lay out until needed and MAYBE wipe it on your dirty apron. The last place I helped get Nadcap Acredited and trust me cleanliness is king. They even had a written procedure for putting gum in your mouth without touching it for fear of contaminating the product.

[Crzyrzr]

The "dry rag" may be your problem.
Sure the flapper leaves some debris but it should be easily removed.
A few years ago EVERYTHING got washed in triclor. or MEK.
Critical parts, especially brazing, now get cleaned with alcohol and a clean, lint-free cloth. Give that a try on a set of parts and see if there's any change.
The shop I'm in has a lot of complacency toward making any changes like keeping filler metal stored, covered, or clean. Just leave it lay out until needed and MAYBE wipe it on your dirty apron. The last place I helped get Nadcap Acredited and trust me cleanliness is king. They even had a written procedure for putting gum in your mouth without touching it for fear of contaminating the product.

Just out of curiosity what gauges and type of material? I am mostly cutting 18ga stainless steel 304 and 430 and 18 ga galvanized. A written procedure for gum placement.... are you serious? That is funny! But if it works hey can't knock it.

[mfgbydesign]

We do 10 ga. to 6" structural steel (A36) & some 304 up to 10 ga. It's a big table & they can load several 4'X10' sheets at once.

I'm no expert but you need to take some precautions with the galvanized, it'll give off poison gas when you burn it, I'm sure you're already aware if you're welding it.

The aerospace outfit also has a procedure for picking up dead birds. For the common employee basically don't touch it & tell the guard but they need to follow a pretty in-depth process to pick up & dispose of it properly. I picked up the newspaper off the walk & dropped it on the guards desk once and was told it could be a bomb, don't go picking stuff up & bringing it in. They make flight critical sensors.

[Crzyrzr]

We do 10 ga. to 6" structural steel (A36) & some 304 up to 10 ga. It's a big table & they can load several 4'X10' sheets at once.

I'm no expert but you need to take some precautions with the galvanized, it'll give off poison gas when you burn it, I'm sure you're already aware if you're welding it.

The aerospace outfit also has a procedure for picking up dead birds. For the common employee basically don't touch it & tell the guard but they need to follow a pretty in-depth process to pick up & dispose of it properly. I picked up the newspaper off the walk & dropped it on the guards desk once and was told it could be a bomb, don't go picking stuff up & bringing it in. They make flight critical sensors.

wow yeah we take the precautions necessary with the galvanized material.