She adjusted. The second pass—the hot pass—went in. She fed the filler rod with her left hand, a steady rhythm she’d learned decades ago. Her right hand guided the torch in a tight weave, side to side, pausing on each edge to let the puddle fill the undercut. In 2G, the top edge always wants to undercut—to dig a groove next to the weld. She compensated by holding the torch a fraction of a second longer on the upper plate.
“Elias,” she said, “the patch is moving. I’ve got maybe three more passes before it blows.” 2g position
Last pass: the cap. This was the beauty pass, the one that would seal the weld and make it strong. She turned her amperage down slightly—less heat, less risk of burn-through. She walked the cup along the joint, oscillating in a tight crescent moon pattern. The filler rod melted in smooth, even drops. The cap formed: a line of overlapping dimes, slightly convex, perfectly uniform. She adjusted
But she had never welded in space.
She frowned. “What are you talking about? Horizontal groove, vertical face—that’s 2G.” Her right hand guided the torch in a