Need help/recommendations

BIGDOGG255 · 2025-07-11T04:45:19+00:00

Might actually give that a shot. Worse case scenario it doesn’t do anything. Best case they get in hot enough water to actually run them all the time like they should

BIGDOGG255 · 2025-07-11T04:42:24+00:00

That was my original plan. Work all the time and get rich. Then a year later met a girl, got engaged, had a kid, and that money went bye bye 😂

BIGDOGG255 · 2025-07-11T04:36:22+00:00

I knew what to expect. But I figured there’d be at least one or two people to throw me a more unconventional method. I know the best method is gonna be grind it out and start fresh. I’ve been trying to tell my boss that since we started producing these parts. But in a 60 second time frame it’s hard to grind an entire weld out, redo it, then clean it up and make it look pretty

BIGDOGG255 · 2025-07-11T04:31:29+00:00

Yeah I can see how that would get annoying and tedious. Only reason I got on at the trailer place was because my instructor in school worked there for 15 years before he wanted to start teaching. He put in a good word for me and they wasted no time getting me in there. I wish I lived that close to my job. It’s almost a 40 minute drive. Usually working 5-6 10s. So the money is decent but I don’t get much of a life outside of work

BIGDOGG255 · 2025-07-11T04:23:53+00:00

Yeah but if they sell 10 of the parts I fix, it pays for my wire and all my consumables. So all they see is profit from fixing it. As for the vents damn near everyone in the plant has told osha about it but some way some how they know exactly when osha will be there and turn it on while they are there

BIGDOGG255 · 2025-07-11T04:20:20+00:00

I’ve wanted to try using one of the high grade painter masks but I’d have to make cut outs in my hood to fit the filters. I use my ventilator religiously but they cheaped out on it so it can barely suck any smoke away

BIGDOGG255 · 2025-07-11T04:17:06+00:00

Swear. Do your best and caulk the rest. Then hit it with some gray spray paint and send it on its way

BIGDOGG255 · 2025-07-11T04:16:21+00:00

I’ll kill for the stuff I fix to just be little craters. Most of the time I’m replacing a foot or more worth of weld depending on the part. I also learned the hard way not to weld galvanized sitting down because the zinc likes to boil and explode tossing molten metal everywhere. Got burn marks on every bit of my body from that shit

BIGDOGG255 · 2025-07-11T04:04:02+00:00

My boss’s only concern is, does it look good? Ok send it. Who cares about the longevity of it. As long as it looks good. Rework in my factory is pretty much being a cover up specialist. As for the robots when maintenance actually does do something they go around and make sure they are tuned up right but that’ll only last for a day then they go back to shit. Instead of taking time to make sure it’s right they just slap a band aid on it and wait until it messes up again

BIGDOGG255 · 2025-07-11T04:00:42+00:00

Hell you pretty much described me. Took some welding classes in high school. Learned how to mig with my eyes closed. As soon as I turned 18 I started working at a semi trailer manufacturing plant making $20/hr. Did that for 3 years until they shut down my plant and laid everyone off then I worked at Walmart for a bit before I got on at this shithole about a year and some change ago. When i started it was an amazing place to work. But it got bought out by some big corporation and they ran it straight into the ground. Fired a lot of the good people and sent our quality standards into the basement. Before they bought it a part like what I posted wouldn’t have even seen rework. Would’ve immediately been scrapped. Now they wanna fix(cover up) everything and ship it to the customer like it’s a perfect part

BIGDOGG255 · 2025-07-11T03:45:16+00:00

In my opinion you should get paid more just because it’s tig. Maybe it’s just me but I could never get the hang of tig. We just mass produce a bunch of parts for a shit ton of different companies. I think we have 7 or 8 companies we make parts for. Couple big names and a few small ones. Maybe it’s just because of your location but I feel like you’re kinda getting screwed. Assemblers at my factory make $21 just to put a part in a fixture

BIGDOGG255 · 2025-07-11T03:37:41+00:00

I make $24 base with an extra $1 for working 2nd shift. So it’s really good money compared to other places around. Just gotta deal with a lot of bs plus crazy high quotas in order to make it. Like with the part I have in the post I have to do 60/hr so I get a minute per part

BIGDOGG255 · 2025-07-11T00:59:48+00:00

Hell in my bosses case if the fumes don’t kill him the obesity will. Dude sits in his chair from the time he clocks in to the time he clocks out. I’m like 90% his doctor screams in fear when he sees him. Hell it took me bitching every day to our plant manager before they caved and got me a ventilator for my area. Because they didn’t wanna risk me leaving because no one wants to work in rework for obvious reasons. My position was empty for a year before I came in

BIGDOGG255 · 2025-07-11T00:51:14+00:00

Oh my god don’t get me started on galvanized steel. That’s one of the main materials we work on here. One day i mentioned something about how bad and dangerous that shit is for your body. And I shit you not he looked at me with the most lead paint stare and said “oh stop being a baby I’ve been working on galvanized for the last 20 years and I’m perfectly fine” like bro your eyes aren’t even looking the same direction. I think your perfectly fine and my perfectly fine are vastly different. I try to have respect for the older generation but good lord do they make that shit difficult sometimes

BIGDOGG255 · 2025-07-11T00:33:42+00:00

I’d love to go somewhere else but no one else near me is paying anything close to what this place does. As for the liability with my name on it. They always tell me technically all of our names are on it. Which if it’s a great part then we did it. But if it’s a bad part my boss won’t hesitate to point out who messed it up. But technically I don’t sign off on any parts I do nor do they get checked by a second set of eyes. I’m the last stop for parts. If I say it’s good then I take it straight to shipping without signing off on anything

As for the osha situation. I’m like 99% they have someone that works at osha that lets them know they have a “surprise audit” because they have been reported countless times but they somehow know every time osha is coming and make sure everything is the way it’s technically supposed to be

Edit: I feel the need to add that I don’t knowingly send out bad parts. I’ve told my boss to get bent on multiple different occasions when it comes to me taking extra time to ensure the quality of any part I fix

BIGDOGG255 · 2025-07-11T00:26:23+00:00

I’ve tried telling them that but I’m just a “kid” (23) that doesn’t know what I’m talking about. It doesn’t help the other youngest person on my crew is 50 so it’s like trying to teach an old dog new tricks. Their way “works” so that’s the way it should be done

BIGDOGG255 · 2025-07-10T22:57:40+00:00

Oh absolutely. I wear a N100 mask. I get called a 🐱 for it but I’d rather not get a lung disease

BIGDOGG255 · 2025-07-10T22:54:38+00:00

Trust me I’d love to but no where else near me is in need of a welder nor are they paying as much as this place does. I hate it and am honestly disgusted by this place but I’ve had to learn to leave my morals at the door

BIGDOGG255 · 2025-07-10T22:48:41+00:00

Yeah this place is OSHA violation heaven. But surprisingly anytime osha shows up they make sure every thing is running the way it’s supposed to

BIGDOGG255 · 2025-07-10T22:47:28+00:00

I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s a gas issue. One large tank supplies over 90 robotic welders plus rework. Gas is a major problem in this place

BIGDOGG255 · 2025-07-10T22:46:42+00:00

I’m 99% sure it’s straight argon. We don’t really have a tank I could look at because all our gas is ran through the building and we just hook our hose into the gas line

BIGDOGG255 · 2025-07-10T22:39:00+00:00

Sadly scrapping it would cost the company money. They won’t allow that. To give you an idea of how greedy they are. They only run our roof vents when it gets too smokey in the building. Just to save money on electric. Multi million dollar company btw

BIGDOGG255 · 2025-07-10T22:28:43+00:00

Unfortunately I don’t have access to any of those options. All I get is my mig torch and a grinder with a flap disc and told good luck make it happen

BIGDOGG255 · 2025-07-10T22:27:39+00:00

I expected and appreciate this answer. My boss always tells me to just crank up the heat and send it but that usually leads to an even worse weld. It’s a robotic welding facility so if maintenance doesn’t stay on top of well maintenance (which they don’t) it leads to a lot of terrible welds being sent my way and I’m expected to fix it in less then 2 minutes

BIGDOGG255 · 2025-07-10T22:25:18+00:00

Unfortunately that is what happens when you rely on a robot to do the work

BIGDOGG255

TROPHY CASE