A teasing or derogatory term for a welder or helper who lacks discipline, safety awareness, or skill. It specifically targets the dangerous habit of violently chipping hot, freshly deposited flux from a weld before it cools, often without wearing safety glasses. In a broader shop context, it describes an amateur who is obsessed with laying beads but relies heavily on a chipping hammer and grinder to hide sloppy technique.
Get that slag monkey away from my bench before he chips a piece of 7018 crust straight into his eye.
Veterans know that a good stick or flux-core weld will often peel its own slag as it cools, making aggressive hammering unnecessary.
Related terms
Slag
The glassy crust that forms on top of a stick, flux-cored or submerged arc weld and is chipped off.
7018
A low-hydrogen stick electrode with 70 ksi minimum tensile strength, the workhorse rod for structural and pressure work.
SMAW
Shielded metal arc welding: arc welding with a flux-coated consumable electrode, known in the shop as stick.
FCAW
Flux-cored arc welding: arc welding with a tubular wire filled with flux, with or without shielding gas.