Mejor
Respect Your Welders
No! I already quit school and threw my Lincoln in the pool!
Respect Your Welders
Mejor
Respect Your Welders
Looking better. Looks like you started out moving a bit fast on the bead shown at the top in that picture. Then you slowed down and got comfortable and your consistency improved. Also looks like you may have shifted from welding the sides 1st, then welding the center, to welding from left to right. You top surface looks smoother than the others did when you welded the other way. I don't see any sign of undercutting, but the picts don't show detail very well to be 100% sure.
Picts a bit closer would show more detail and make it easier to make specific suggestions. You can always do a general overview, then a detailed pict. We don't charge by the picts posted.
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No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. Government programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this earth!
Ronald Reagan
Ok this is kind of a roller coaster here we will be going right to left, 95A, straight stringers for the most part, the 2nd Bead I may have done a little wiggling to fill in but very Little....
Ok here I'm not really crazy about this second one on the whole but I DO like that, while sloppy, I thought it bordered on starting to blend the two beads which I thought very difficult since they were of equal heiight coming in and it's not really the mound I figured it would be...
Ok this 3rd shown also in last pic of last post shows potential too, as its tying together on both sides in places but in general is sloppy and mainly speed is not consistent, and the last pic shows no penetration to the wall leaving an unfortunate deep gap for the next/last pass
Well, as it gets late and kids are needing me, I'm pretty pleased with this last pass, good penetrating on the wall and ties in pretty well and even erases some of the ugly gaps left by number 3, when I compare the pics it seems like I did as good as possible after the third pass left me with doodoo
Last picts it looks like you are finally starting to get the beads overlapped better and getting rid of the hills and valleys. The earlier ones ( picts 1 and 2) I was going to suggest you work on where you aimed your beads as they weren't overlapping each other enough, leaving deep valleys between beads that will trap slag.
Also the later beads the two legs of the combined weld look about even ( same distance from the root). In the 1st few picts it looked like most of your weld was all on one side ( side showing as up in those pictures)
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No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. Government programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this earth!
Ronald Reagan
How long is your program? I know you are trying to make your welds look better and improving your tie-ins.
But, take the time to fill in the top and bottom so its flush with the plate. It looks better
Also scrub that plate raw after each weld so the contaminants don't screw with your penetration and you have good fusion at the toes.
I have only been in the field for 2 years and 3G uphill with 7018 kicked my *** back in school
Here is an example of what I am talking about.
Vets please feel free to scold me if my info is not accurate.
Last edited by bostonbrand; 03-18-2015 at 10:57 PM.
Boston, your pic there needs to be rolled 180deg.
Then your info will be accurate.
Just a couple welders, big hammers, grinders, and torches.
Work will free you.
Men in dirty jeans built this country, while men in clean suits have destroyed it.
Trump/Carson 2016-2024
I think he has it shown correctly. End divot looks like it's at the top and the ripples point down to the start point. That's assuming the OP is running vert up like I think he is.
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No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. Government programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this earth!
Ronald Reagan
Just a couple welders, big hammers, grinders, and torches.
Work will free you.
Men in dirty jeans built this country, while men in clean suits have destroyed it.
Trump/Carson 2016-2024
Ah. I missed the edit note at the bottom.
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No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. Government programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this earth!
Ronald Reagan
Thanks for ALL advice and yes most certainly I need to work on the beginning and end especially the end is what usually happens is it starts to build a little hill and I can't stop it just gets bigger and bigger and bigger LOL
Respect Your Welders
Don't forget about arc length! You control a lot of what is going on with the puddle by the arc length. Closer arc length, is a colder / dryer puddle. Longer arc length, is a hotter / wetter puddle.
Just one more thing to think about as you're welding.
Also as I get to the top the rod as you know is dwindling away and it always got my hand/electrode homer up against the V of the joint
Put the rod in the end of the stinger, and hold it all like a pencil. Always the most natural, comfortable, way for me to go uphill. Allows you to get in tight at the end of the rod without burning your rod hand. Where I have room, it's my go-to way of working uphill.
still too cold, Lumpy.
Ok first run of the day, God it's nice to burn a 55° plate and get it I wet immediately..too slow as I ran out of rod an inch short of the top and I agree@lumpy(not this one tho) serious penetration here, maybe a bit too much on the wall(too far right) though...Sam are u saying hold the rod up and down? As I hold it side to side(I'm left handed so the handle is parallel to the ground left to right, which I suppose impedes me from getting in between the two plates when the rod gets short)
Respect Your Welders
Respect Your Welders
Ok I tried holding the rod almost up and down except for the bar running toward me from my stand(btw I do not understand why they(school) has us using this bar to rest on when we build them cuz it's not as tho u would have it out on a job) this bead kinda sux but it IS a new position for me, actually it's ok I guess, got good puddle and blends ok but not straight at all
Respect Your Welders
The reason for a rest is to keep things simple. If you can rest and be stable, you can concentrate on your beads. Once you can make decent beads using a rest, then it's not hard to do the same thing free hand. Why fight multiple things all at once?
I have plenty of hard headed students who want to fight me on this. Reality is most students who use a rest learn faster. In the field there is no reason NOT to use a rest if it's available. That might mean leaning on the item you are working on. Adding a piece of angle and a clamp to hold it in place temporarily, using a chair or stool... who knows what may be available. You will often see pros like Zap having something to rest their hand arm on if you look close at in process picts many times.
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No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. Government programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this earth!
Ronald Reagan
Ok, here's what I mean.
Put the rod in the end of the stinger.
You can hold the thing like this, and it's pretty natural. Instead using a pistol grip, and having to move up with the weld, while keeping the rod shoved into the metal..........you simply "write" the weld. The hand will naturally follow the rod as it burns up.
I would say that at least 80% of my work is below my shoulders, or waist, and I'm looking down thru the arc to see the puddle because the weld is progressing up towards my eyes. In this case, I like to hold the stinger like a bicycle handlebar, and my rest hand is actually on top of my arm as I come upwards.
I don't know if this will work for you, but it's another way to skin the cat.
If you're worried about "high" welds, and maybe not enough amps........................Sometimes uphill progresses pretty slow, and you can build excessive material. This results in a convex weld, but it's not necessarily a cold weld. Look at the metal where you're running your arc. If you see the arc digging out a good bit of undercut, it's good penetration at the toes. You got some good heat going. Filling that undercut can sometimes result in too much deposition, but not necessarily a bad weld. Personally, I'd rather see a guy progress a little slow, with a good burn in, than run too fast in the name of a flat weld. The flatter profile will come with time, or it may never come fully. Everyone has a different style of welding. I mean you don't want to carry this to the extreme, but you get my drift.
At least you're seeing your puddle, and that's more than a lot of people can do at the beginning.
In other words............to fast of a wiggle when dragging the bead uphill can result in not enough heat at the toes.
But that's the thing I'm running straight stringers except a cpl times a cpl layers ago, and I thot that was the definition of a stringer, straight without variation, that's why I'm doing it cuz my instructor said it may be on field test
Respect Your Welders
if it has not been already mentioned... what rod size and what brand of electrode???