JTMcC,
I am not casting doubt towards the truth of your tale nor towards the skill and perseverance of your welding friend. I have seen welders working in many awkward positions, and having the weld pass after working in the position you describe is more than remarkable it is admirable!
I, on the other hand, am not as slick as your friend is. I could not have accomplished what HE did. (Please de-increment your slick welder count by 1) No way, not on my best day. I am Joe Journeyman, the average (and I may be over evaluating that!) welder that the procedure is written for.
If every welder had the same level of skill, knowledge and experience as your welding friend then the skill of the welder would not be a wildcard in the quality equation. If he and I were side by side in the same bobbing boat trying to weld the pile splices, even in a calm sea state, he would weld rings (pun intended) around me.
The WPS was developed in the shop where the floor does not move, the walls do not sway and the wind does not blow your shielding gas away. It was designed to give a welder, at any skill level, the essential variables to perform the welding with a reasonable expectation of producing a sound weld. Reasonable expectation I think is the key. Those ‘welders’ that do not have the skill set (yet) will fail. But with experience… But again, that is in the shop and not onboard ship, 15 stories in the air or leaning over the gunnels of a boat trying to weld piles.
When I proctor welding exams, I want every welder to pass. I do all I can to ensure that happens. I would never suggest that the slag not be cleaned out of the toes of the weld or that the next pass will burn out the slag. I would never annotate the welder’s record indicating that he (or she) could, in fact, produce a sound weld coupon without interpass cleaning of the stringers.
Yes it is a pain in the a$$ to have to clean the stringers between passes. If cleaning them will help guarantee the weld will pass then I’ll clean them. If the time it takes to weld, then clean maybe then a welding helper/laborer should be employed to clean them while the welder welds? “Pay me now or pay me later,” said the Piper. Short cuts may save time, now and then but they can kill more than reputations. To get quality one must be prepared to pay for quality.
As you have correctly pointed out it seems to be common practice not to clean the stringers between passes. Just because it is commonly done doesn’t mean it is proper or correct and I feel any one who does not clean their welds are taking an unnecessary chance.
Again, I did not mean to intimate that you were being untruthful in any way. Nor did I intend to besmirch the talent and skill of the welder you related the story about. I only intended to make the point that over looking or encouraging a welder to eschew cleaning of his stringers between passes is asking for inclusions and should be avoided.