Please Critique my Welds

While waiting on a few days when I don't want to drive my Jeep (and nicer weather) to finish up my disc brake / full floater project, I am practicing my welding. I know these are not nice looking and are far from being right, so I would greatly appreciate some constructive criticism. I have a Lincoln Weldpak 3200HD and I am using flux core wire.

 

Question for you. Are you using two hands? Try smoother pass. Watch the puddle it should melt into both pieces of metal. Maybe small circles will help.

 

The top bead of Weld A looks like you started getting the hang of it.

The key is being able to see what's going on, and understanding what's going on. This is called "reading the puddle", and making the puddle do what you want it to.

You have to get into a comfortable body position, and use 2 hands, as Scott suggested. The smoother, and more controlled your hand movements are, the nicer the weld will be.

With flux core wire, you drag the gun, like stick welding (in the flat position). With gas/solid wire, you push the gun.

So, to sum it up, learn to see the puddle, and try to keep a nice oval shape to the puddle. A slight weave,(north and south, not east and west), or circles, may help you develop a rhythm.

When learning, it's better to have too slow of a travel speed, than too fast of a travel speed.

You may learn a few pointers here...

http://www.earlycj5.com/forums/showthread.php?t=64203

Have fun!

Rich

 

I was using both hands, but was welding on the floor. I think I would be more stable on a table or bench.

So, in welds B and C I need to go slower and do little circles?

 

slow and steady wins the race is how i was tought to weld also get as comfortable as posible

 

Yes...your travel speed was too fast. The weld never got a chance to develop, as you were pulling it along.

Think of it as having a paint brush dipped in paint. If you put it on the surface, and pull it slowly, you'll get a nice, solid paint line.

If you pull it too fast, you'll get a partial line that's thin, and has missing areas.

It would be easier, up higher, on a table or bench.

Rich

 

davistroy-

while im not a welder, i WILL say that my skills have improved 10-fold with the direction of rixcj... he knows his dookie fer sher...

i have done things i would never thought i could do just by trying them... thanks to his guidance...

i think your stuff looks good... but itll get better with time, practice (Lots of it) and patience...

im gonna sit in on this one for a while... this is gonna be GREAT...

 

Grab a 4.5-inch angle grinder with a flap-disc (coarse sanding) and clean up your material first. I see rust and that coating on the steel for shipping isn't the best to weld through. Even on clean DOM tubing I'll give it a light sanding and follow up with Brake Cleaner to remove any grease, oil, or residue. Shoot it with some compressed air to completely dry out the brake clean before you weld. The fumes can be harmful if you weld on wet brake cleaner.

Check your gear as well. Make sure the tip is clean and that your wire tension is properly set. Grab a piece of wood (smooth concrete floor works as well) and back the wire tension off a bit. Aim the nozzle at the wood at an angle and pull the trigger. Keep tightening the wire tension inside your machine until the wire will just sorta roll off back up and off the wood. If your wire tension is too low it won't come smoothly and consistently out of the nozzle. If it's too high, it can kink or bend and get hung up inside the cord, giving you inconsistent beads like this.

I'd make sure the work cleanliness and wire tension are addressed before going any further with the critiquing. Then you can worry about steadiness, technique, and machine settings.

 

You don't need it so you absolutely shouldn't ever consider the chemical cleaners !
Just don't go there. PERIOD ! Ever heard of Phosgene gas ? It will KILL YOUR *** !
It forms when clorinated compounds mix without oxygen under heat.
The smallest amount of that DAMNED gas can do you in. As in 1 part per million. As in "THE END".

Some of us went to the "old school". That required thousands of training hours to learn how to weld.

Yes the wire feed drive wheel tension is critical especially for "cheap" feeders.

I will suggest beginners forget the flux core and go with with solid wire and 75% CO2 mixed with 25% Argon.

Eye / hand coordination combined with correct amperage / wire feed settings produces the desired results.

Edit....Here I just found this info: http://www.earlycj5.com/forums/showthread.php?p=767106#post767106

 

Do your homework on what different people call things. Don't confuse "flux core" wire with "unshielded wire with flux". Every brand uses different terms for its wire. Ask a lot of questions at a REAL welding store. The friendly helper at HD or Lowes just won't cut it. With wire feed welders there are 3 basic kinds of wire. "short arc" or "solid wire" usually dull red in color is perhaps the most common hobby type wire that uses CO2 to shield it and doesn't leave a layer of slag on the finished weld. Also very popular with body shop type sheet metal welding where strength isn't an issue and nice clean welds speed up the work. "dual shield" or flux core wire that uses co2 or a similar type of gas to shield the weld and leaves a layer of slag that must be chipped off final weld. Then you have the "non-shielded" flux wire that is being pushed as the way to go with the hobby type 110 welders at HD and Lowes. This is by far the ugliest finished weld and is meant to be a backstop type weld when welding in the elements is neccessary and you dont have a proper stick welder. The best way in the long run, as well as the strongest weld will be from the "dual shield" wire in a .045 with straight co2 shielding. Although the solid wire and the dual shield carry the same strength rating, that is in a static situation and not on Jeep frames that flex. I would never recommend using un-shielded flux wire on a structural part on a Jeep. I also don't recommend using a 110 volt welder on anything that is structural. You simply don't have the penetration for a solid weld, even if it looks really good when done. Try to stick with metals 1/8" or less with the 110 boxes. Sorry for the rambling, but it really is important when doing steering or suspension.

 

I see what you are saying, but a picture would be awsome. Do you actually touch the board with the shield when doing this adjustment? My wire feed machine is a cheap Craftsman unit and I have never been able to get it to run consistantly. It always jerks whan I'm trying to lay a bead.

 

I do the same thing by putting a welding glove on my left hand. I loosen the wire drive roll tensioner,so that when I pull the trigger with my right hand, and shoot the wire into my gloved palm, the wire stops,when it hits my palm (it doesn't continue feeding out of the gun).

Then, tighten down the drive roll tensioner, until the wire DOES continue to feed out of the gun, and curls up in your palm. You're done.

Rich

 

And when you do it without the glove it does go right in. Just trust me on this. When dealing with a wire-feed welder, take very good care of the cables and gun. If you throw em around and coil up too tight it has a tendency to destroy the liner that the wire feeds through. Try to keep the gun cable as straight as possible when in use. Sometimes the little things add up. More rambling but also try to avoid any extension cord with a 110 welder as you don't want to lose ANY power due to resistance. If you must use a cord, keep it as short as possible and at least a 12 guage cord.

 

So - thank you to EVERYONE who has posted on here - I will take all of the advice to heart, I promise.

Any more specific input on my welds?

Also, what's the best way to buy gas (and how much should it cost me) for a bottle that's still portable. My welder did come with the lines and fittings, etc. for a gas setup as well as the flux core I am using now. Do I have to buy a bottle and get it filled? What size should I get?

 

Go to a local welding supply house, and buy the largest bottle that they will sell you (about 2 feet tall), and have it re-filled, as needed.

I lease the large ones, because I have to. In your case, I would buy a small one.

Rich

 

i went to AirGas and got a 20 pounder.... and blew thru it in no time... now i have a 40 pounder that i get from a local supplier here in cartersville.. M&A Welding supply... great bunch of guys over there and i think i paid somewhere round $40 for the M/A bottle and a refill, plus some other stuff...

i agree with rich, get the biggest bottle you can afford... and watch the gauges... theres nothing more aggravating than getting into the rhythm only to run out of gas... i speak from experience...

i may even go larger by modifying my welding table...

good luck an d keep us posted!

 

Also, since your welsed can use flux core or solid wire with shielding gas, make sure the polarity is switched over for using the flux core. On my Craftsman this is done by removing a couple wires inside the welder and reversing them. Not doing this can result in poor quality welds.

 

x2

 

My 2 cents, using a lincoln 135 110 mig gun. I have found this machine to be nice for sheet up to 1/8. That's it, it doesn't get enough penetration for 1/4. It works best with 75/25 gas and .024 wire. Anything else, I use my tig, stick or torch.
I use a half circle technique. If you have a torch, practice with that to get a good idea of how a puddle is supposed to look. I have to keep the feed cable as straight as possible to get it working well.

 

I set my Hobart 187 model 220v welder at 2 and a little bit inch pounds on the wire tension, its just right for that machine.

slow down, go wider, make half moons wit the weld puddle, thats just how I have figured it out.

don't be tense when you weld, go out for a smoke before you start....seriously, the more relaxed you are the smoother the weld will be. Being comfortable is ok, most of the time when I weld im like playing the game of twister across what im working on!

Everyone is different on the settings they like I like my wire speed slow, but the heat high, deep welds, but I move quick enough to keep from burning through. play with the setting till you find something that suits the best.