What have you learned when welding?

...shocked when inserting rod, arm was on the tractor, but had sweated through the leathers
...slag rolling 7ft down backhoe boom coming to rest on hydraulic oil soaked dirt at the pivot point, starting small fire
...accidently striking arc on project while getting into a better position, hood up
...cannot strike an arc, clean the spot again... chunk rod, and the next rod works fine

I am wanting to learn from others experiences, things that they don't teach you in the book. Now before turning on the welder I try to make everything is as safe and organized.

I am learning to weld on a Weldcraft 295, lots of practice needed but getting better.

drew

Many years ago, worked in the evening wrenching on cars, trucks, ect to supplement my income while I was in the service. Guy I worked for had somehow aquired a 1lb coffee can of gun powder. Why is was kept in the shop--I cannot recall. Seemed that can was always in the way and was moved serveral times. Well, I was at the bench one evening with something in the vice and was cutting off rusted bolts or nuts. All of a sudden there is this freight train sound and blue-orange flame shooting up about 6 ft in the air. Lasted about 5-10 seconds (or at least seemd that long). As soon I saw what was happening all I could do was stand and stare at the tube of flame with the torch in my hand (ruined the peice I was working on). Guy I was working for was also frozen in awe (or maybe terror). Afterwards, as we became mobil again, we looked behind-next to the bench and there was that coffee can on the floor (now empty). Only damage was some burnt paper that was hanging on the wall, sorched peg board, and a black spot on the ceiling about the circumference of a 1lb coffee can.
Had to call the wife to come pick me up, spent the rest of the night getting all the blood out of my alcohol stream to keep the shakes down.

My biggest blunder:
I'm 18yrs old and my first job as a new welder. Never squat with your legs spread open to weld overhead. I'm 6 stories high welding handrail on a loading platform when a hot piece of slag dropped onto the head of my-penis. Where's that foreskin when you need it. LMAO

Since I worked at Coors that had there own medical facility, all women including doctors, I choose to take a tooth pick and dig out the slag myself, about 1/8" deep. Dam did that feel good!

T_Bone

I was gonna write about how I got some slag into a shoe once, but it somehow doesn't seem like much now (did at the time). You've mentioned you had kids so I guess it healed up.

Oh don't use the cutting rod or max out your machine to warm stuff up with some old rod. that and air gougers will cook a lot of life out of your machine.

And get insurance; a common story is the guy who lost everything after doing a favor for a "friend" who got hurt when he broke a hook off a loader bucket while doing some thing stupid and the lawyers sued for a "bad weld"

Watch your zoneing or your noise, a grinder and welder flash at 10:30 friday night looks and sounds like manufactureing and you may find yourself in a zoneing fight with the neiborhood jerk.