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Old timer at the Muskogee job site told me to stop chasing the grinder with my whole arm
I was on a boiler tube job in Muskogee a couple weeks ago and an old hand named Dale saw me fighting a 9 inch grinder along a weld seam. He grabbed my forearm and showed me to lock my elbow against my ribs and turn from the waist instead of muscling it with the shoulder. Took me about 4 tubes to get used to it but my cut lines came out way straighter and my arms were not shot by lunch. He also showed me how to brace the guard against the tube so it glides instead of bouncing, and I quit burning through wheels so fast. I used to go through a whole box on a pass and last week I only used 4 discs on a similar stretch. Small thing but it stacks up over a turnaround. Any of you got a trick like that where somebody had to physically show you before it clicked?
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drew557d ago
That elbow locked to the ribs thing is huge and nobody teaches it anymore, feels wrong the first day cause you lose reach but the grinder stops riding up on you. Only thing I'd add is switch hands every few passes even when you're tracking good, cause the waist twist loads up one side of your low back all day and that's what gets you on week two of a turnaround, not the arms. Old timers always had a reason for the stuff that looked lazy.
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