All I can see are the imperfections.

[BigDdal13]

The guy I made these for is very happy. All I can see is the imperfections. I am self taught, never taken a welding corse of any kind. What do you guys think of my welds, and how can I improve them?

[wagin]

More heat and practice. Don't look bad just cold.

[TheBFA]

Were you doing all of them as flat welds? If I have something I can move around, I'll flip it to make whatever welds I can in the flat position. I can weld vertical fine, but they always look more perfect when welding flat.

[AFFENDE]

too cold, and it looks like you are trying to move too fast too far with each whip / motion you are using.

My old school teacher used to tell us "Whipping or any motion is a lot like masturbating ... dont do it unless you have no other choice."

[DSW]

Beads do look on the cold side. Knowing what machine you used, voltage ( heat) setting, wire size and speed, material thickness, pushing/pulling the bead, position welded etc would help us a lot. So would closer clear picts of the beads so we can point things out to you.

Consistency needs a fair amount of work. If you are doing a cursive e, you need to do that same exact motion each time. I'm not seeing that. I see it going further or less up and down each leg in places and the interval of each circle changes throughout the beads.

I'm also not sure I'm impressed with your fit up. On something like this I'd have set the outside corners to just touch on the inside leaving a V in the corner to fill. What it looks like I'm seeing is two plates butted up tight to one another. If I'd have gone that route, I'd have either pushed the plate back some to allow 2 fillet welds, or better yet, gapped the pieces and welded up the gap. The outside corner method would have been the easiest though.

[mikecwik]

Seeing imperfection is the idea.

[Hobbytime]

what are those brackets going to be used for? anything critical?

[BigDdal13]

A-Arm, and shock mount for 2006 C6 Corvette suspension.

[BigDdal13]

.035 wire, pushing the bead, 1/4 inch steel plate

[Hobbytime]

A-Arm, and shock mount for 2006 C6 Corvette suspension.

Im not a professional welder, but know enough not to use those and kill someone in the process..have someone that knows how to weld GOOD build them and you keep practicing..thats not a dig on you....thats a high critical area..when the driver is doing 100 mph plus and those welds break off...its gona be a dirt nap for someone or many...

[DSW]

The settings shown are way low for 1/4". The manual lists 6/34 for .035 wire 75/25 gas and 1/4". What you have on the machine is for maybe 14ga-1/8" at best.

[rjacobs]

im not a pro by any means, amateur at best.

1/4" plate and you have your machine turned WAY DOWN. Thats why those are cold welds.

ETA: DSW was posting at the same time as me.
The googles on your machine settings chart recommend 6 on the voltage and 44 on the wire speed for 1/4" steel using 75/25 and 035 wire.

I wouldnt trust those welds to do what you are asking(suspension mounting points). I have a C6 corvette. What did the guy do to the frame where he needed new mounting points? Both of those items are welded to/incorporated into the frame rails at the factory.

[Billdacat]

X3 on all the above... Did you clean off the mill scale???

[DerekV]

Very cold. I would NOT want those on any car, I'm sorry. Extremely dangerous.

[zapster]

REJECTED.

#1...Metal not cleaned to shiny metal before starting.
#2...Fit up sucks.
#3...Way too cold.
#4...Lack of experience in knowing what works and what don't.


That kind of workmanship + High Horsepower = Catastrophic failure.


Try again.
Or leave this stuff to a REAL PRO.

On the PLUS side...
You did title the thread correctly and seem to know what you are looking at anyway.


...zap!

[cloudman]

Looks like a do-over to me

[AFFENDE]

A-Arm, and shock mount for 2006 C6 Corvette suspension.

I hope you have business insurance.

[mikecwik]

I find it hard to say if the weld would work or not. Maybe the weld is good. I think the weld does not look very well. I think that most people commenting here would say the weld looks good had a more experienced welder welded this. Even had everything been
the same.

[DSW]

I think the weld does not look very well. I think that most people commenting here would say the weld looks good had a more experienced welder welded this. Even had everything been
the same.

Huh? :confused" If a more "experienced" "welder" did something that looked like that, I'd still question his "experience" and if he really is a welder, not someone who simply squirted metal in the general direction of the project. Time using a machine doesn't guarantee either skill or expertise.

[mikecwik]

Huh? :confused" If a more "experienced" "welder" did something that looked like that, I'd still question his "experience" and if he really is a welder, not someone who simply squirted metal in the general direction of the project. Time using a machine doesn't guarantee either skill or expertise.

If the more experienced did it it would not look like that. It would still be done at the same settings though.

To me it looks like a text book short circuit weld as far as temperature goes. I however do not care for that look to begin with. I would even be willing to wager that with the same setting an experienced welder could find more heat. I am not going to do the experiment mind you I am just saying.

[Hobbytime]

I find it hard to say if the weld would work or not. Maybe the weld is good. I think the weld does not look very well. I think that most people commenting here would say the weld looks good had a more experienced welder welded this. Even had everything been
the same.

a turd is a turd.....

[mikecwik]

Other than the guy welding they don't look much different than these to me. Not that I would weld it like that either, I am just saying.

[DSW]

There's a lot of difference between that pict and the welds the OP posted. I was hoping he'd post up detailed picts so I could point out issues easier, but he hasn't so far.

The toes in the pict above you posted are well washed in. He has a nice smooth edge to those welds. Also consistency is pretty good, though he's a bit tighter at the bottom and it opens up a bit too much for my taste near the top of the weld. I don't see signs of possible undercutting I saw in many of the OP's welds either. Voltage and wire speed on that pict look close. The weld here isn't humped like the OP's is in many spots.

There's a world of difference between these welds and his.

I tried to post picts where I marked out issues with the OP's welds, but my wireless connection tonight isn't cooperating. I'll try again later.

[DSW]

There's a lot of difference between that pict and the welds the OP posted. I was hoping he'd post up detailed picts so I could point out issues easier, but he hasn't so far.

The toes in the pict above you posted are well washed in. He has a nice smooth edge to those welds. Also consistency is pretty good, though he's a bit tighter at the bottom and it opens up a bit too much for my taste near the top of the weld. I don't see signs of possible undercutting I saw in many of the OP's welds either. Voltage and wire speed on that pict look close. The weld here isn't humped like the OP's is in many spots.

There's a world of difference between these welds and his.

I tried to post picts where I marked out issues with the OP's welds, but my wireless connection tonight isn't cooperating. I'll try again later.

[Hobbytime]

Other than the guy welding they don't look much different than these to me. Not that I would weld it like that either, I am just saying.

its time for you to get to the eye Dr. buddy....the weld you posted is 100x better than what the op posted...maybe you need some cheater glasses....