Busting Fake Internet Welds

Not everything on the internet is real. This video examines common TikTok style welding craft videos and how they MIG weld. We'll show you how MIG is really done, and even show you how to edit like the fake videos.

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[valuedhumanoid]

When I was in the USN I met a guy while on watch and he was one of our nuclear welders. On a nuclear powered ship we have specialists welders who’s primary job is to make joints the will stand up to intense heat and pressure. He told me that 37 started the welding school and 4 graduated. The requirements to pass are just insane. They X-ray your welds and pressure test them. But he showed me some of his work, and brother let me tell you it was like a robot. Very few have the talent.

[bryancondrey]

Amazing how much time 'they' take to edit the video when that commitment could be spent in practice. My late father always told me welding is about 10 percent position and 90 percent practice.

[batcat]

I have never welded anything in my life. I don’t even think I’ve been in the same room as a welder before. I still watched this whole video and was entranced throughout

[marcanthony]

Way back in the 70's I took a 2000 hour welding class before my ETS out of the Army. At the end of class we were given the structural welding certification test: do a vertical and over head weld on 1" plate. The tester then cut 5 thin sections of the plate and did a guided bent test on two of them. If there was any cracking or undue deformity in the weld, you failed. I passed and had a welder in my hand as a fleet fabricator for the next 40 years. It's always fun to see these "new" types of welding shown. You can fool some of the people some of the time...

[williamhall]

I really do want to thank you for doing this. People really are getting hurt with “fake” welds. I was asked to consult on a fatality where a very large weight box crushed a worker. Some welds that where key to supporting the load had zero penetration and a man died over it. Welding is a real profession that takes dedication and time.

[Ericbz]

I remember attending a metalworking fair once. People showing off welding, blacksmithing, CNC milling, and other techniques.
There was a welding contest where two steel square tubes were to be welded together and one person got through his weld in just under half the time his opponent did.
The judges went up and stomped on the pipes to test weld strength. The slow welder's didn't even bend. The fast welder's snapped in half, disqualifying him.
Nice seeing people show off what makes a weld strong or weak. Good video!

[stevescoville]

I’m a 60 year old retired tradesmen (41 years in the trades) With my time I’m teaching myself welding…CORRECTION, YOU are teaching me how to weld. Your videos are excellent. Thank you sir.

[neilbradley]

As an apprentice in the 70s I went for a test/interview at a local company.They did chassis extensions and built HGV road trailers from scratch.
The weld test was to do a vertical run on a joint for a chassis extension using MAG (stick) welding.
I had never done it before and after using 3 rods(sticks) I got the job .
Only used MIG welding on lightweight trucks like Fords and DAF small trucks, the rest was IVECO 10 ton truck chassis and Volvo trucks.
I once had to work on a Volvo tractor unit that was being extended by 20 feet. I took my time, setting it up perfectly and was about half way through when they took me off it and another faster welder finished the job.A month later the VOLVO was back in the workshop as all his welds had cracked the first time it was driven on the road.

[crackerjack]

A boiler maker/welder told me 60 years ago that you can teach a welder to drink, but you can't teach a drinker to weld. And wow, he could certainly do both.

[dementedrabbit]

I know nothing about welding and clicked on the "Busting Fake Internet Welds" title out of an odd "who cares?" sort of curiosity...I was pleasantly surprised to find a great video explaining things in ways a layperson like me could easily understand. Now I get why i SHOULD care about fake internet welding, lol. Thanks for an excellent video!

[joepie]

As a machining channel host, I totally understand your motivation for making this video. Its unfortunate that people hungry to learn, may embrace bad habits or believe their work is as good or strong as it gets by watching edited videos or ones produced by craftsman with little deep knowledge of what they are presenting. There are many. To anyone that may doubt your observations, pay attention to the smoke. Stay well.

[airexasaurus]

I bought a welder a few years ago to do some odd hobbies for some scrap metal I had laying around. I searched the Internet for a long time trying to "hone my skills" for quite a while. This was a random video on my YouTube page, and it's probably the most informative I've seen yet. Thank you!

[wymple]

I welded for Caterpillar back in the 80's. They sonic tested our welds regularly & testing involved slicing out sections & bending them 180*. Cat was serious about quality, and every welder in the shop was a good one with experience.

[RonaldFinger]

I always assumed those videos were edited that way to avoid excessive flashes of light that could be triggering for some people. Either way, the "hacks" are most often absolutely ridiculous, no doubt about that!

[idriwzrd]

"If you want it to look like a TIG weld, you should grab a TIG welder. "
Amen, brother.

[TempuraKai]

My first factory job require me to pass a mig welding test to work certain lines on the floor. One had me welding thin pieces of metal together. Not only was it HOT but the fumes had me going home with black mucus. It was hard as hell and i messed up pieces all the time burning through them. My trainer would occasionally make me look at my welds and would tell me were i could improve. I definitely respect people who do it as a daily job. Yall do fantastic work and there is no reason for people to cut corners.

[bulletz]

Lol my old welding instructor used to make fun of me for bad welds "do you often have problems achieving penetration?" or if my workpiece failed a stress test he'd say "if that was a bridge you would've killed people". One thing I learned to appreciate about welding was just how big of a gap there is between a good and bad weld, and it took me a good amount of practice to get it right. I'll never forget my first good weld, the instructor took a look at it and told me "looks good, now go try to break it" so I went and put it in a vice and spent the next half hour smacking it around with a big sledge hammer. I came back to him drenched in sweat and completely out of breath and said "I'm sorry mate but I can't break it for love nor money" and he said "well that just means you did it properly". I made a face and replied "well you could've told me that half an hour ago!" to which he and the older guys in the class all roared with laughter.

I didn't fully appreciate it at the time, but I get it now. The reason he let me smack that piece around for 30 minutes rather than coming to check on me after 5, was so that I'd understand how much abuse a good weld can take. I left that class with it absolutely seared into my brain that a weld doesn't mean shit unless it penetrates. It doesn't have to "look good" (in fact my first "good" weld wasn't anything special to look at) it just has to be strong. If you can do a strong weld (not a pretty weld) reliably and quickly at any angle, then you have what it takes to be a welder.

[HigherPhoto]

Being a rookie welder but and experienced video editor, I REALLY LOVED this video! Thanks for exposing the fraud!

[whatsagrinder]

I went to a company that welded 1inch thick eye hooks to roll cages for special forces utv's. The eyelets were used for parachute attachments to dump it out of a C 130. The contract stated gmaw pulse, their idea of pulse, was tacking all the way across, "pulsing" the trigger. They seemed shocked when i told them they were going to get people killed. Imagine months later when they had cracking and failures.