so have you tried pushing yet? when pushing you angle your gun only 10-15 degrees in the direction of your weld.
I taught welding in High school and junior college. If your welds are narrow and V shaped, you are moving too fast. Slow down and let the machine do it's job. If you are burning holes, you are moving too slow. Your finished weld should look like a roll of dimes laying on their side. "The more I practice, the luckier I get"
wire speed looks OK, turn up the heat more & do lots more practicing, forget the "C" stuff, & just hold at 30 degree angle 3/8 from tip (tip should stick out 1/4 inch from copper shroud) & use some "Spatter proof" (in a jar).
I second that Budd, push it with 10-15 degree angle, any more angle is not necessary and not recommended. sometimes anti spatter spray can cause porosity in the weld if applied to heavy. Practice setting your voltage and wire speed properly and "reading" the weld puddle and you should have minimal to no spatter.
well, those welds seem passable 4 a 1st time garage welder. It comes with time. just remember, if u r welding body panels, the longer u spend making the weld- the more heat u r going to put into the panel and then the more warpage u r going to have to deal with fixing. so i wouldnt worry so much about the appearance and more on proper penetration. a higher crown weld, altho looking nice will need to be ground down just that much more, there again adding more heat -yada- yada= now structureal welds will need a crown for added strength. to do that i usually do a push-pull.. being right handed i like to go from right to left.. start the weld and push it forward a tad, this will preheat the metal and make a small penatration, then i twist my wrist back some and wait a second(and by second i mean a tad) let the wire fill in the spot to the size of weld puddle u want- then twist yer wrist forward and back again this time let the puddle build up about 2/3rd or so on the 1st puddle. once its the same width move on and back again over an over. that;ll give u the dimes laying on one another look-going 2 fast will give u the geese formation, 2 slow will give u a blob. just remember a welds purpose is to hold the metal 2gether-solid- not to look pretty so much.. paris hilton is pretty, cant hold 2 sentances 2gether
What brand of wire are you using. Cheaper is not better when it comes to consumables some of the cheap stuff is junk and you may never make a great weld with it. I stick to brand name wire such as lincoln you might be surprised on the differense good wire might make. 41plym
Usually a dull grey color means the gas cloud is not good. Are you by any chance running a big fan to keep you cool? Ever notice the pros hang curtains around the work area to shield the wind?
the trouble with both of those welds is not gas pressure or wire size...its the speed you are moving the gun...slow down and burn the weld in before you start moving...but what do I know. I've been welding for a living for the past 37 years.
I had trouble SEEING the puddle and that made it difficult to get any kind of decent weld. I found a x3 lens that fit inside my helmet. Now I can see. My welds still suck sometimes, but at least now I can see WHY (mostly lack of practice!).
GOD bless you, there has a been a incredible amount of great advice here, my input is turn up some heat too. .002jpg pic, there is no evidence of heat there, a very cold weld, and when you get in the area of structural welds, frame, suspension etc., cold welds will fail and hurt you and everyone around you. Turn up the heat some, and watch your puddle CLOSELY. As you get experienced, you will learn how even your amount of stickout, will effect your welds. Be sure you have a GOOD ground clamp too. Test yourself, butt weld 2 pieces of 1/4" by 1" flat cold roll scrap, each piece about 3-4" long, then clamp in a vice about 1 inch below the weld, then with a piece of square or round tube pipe 1" above the weld, bend it over on itself like to 180 degrees, it should do just that and not break, if its a solid weld. If it breaks at the weld, practice, practice, practice. Thats one of the many test's most vo-tecs schools will give you for a passing grade.
Try turning down your wire speed and slow down a little. When you see the "V" shaped freeze lines, it is usually wire speed/how fast you are moving. Try to stay at a consistent speed.
i'm pretty new to this too... and that sure is alot of good information up there... now it's just a matter of practice, practice, practice...... where in elk grove are you?? i used to live off of sheldon rd..
If somebody hasn't already posted this, go here when you have time: http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/tutorial.htm
I am a certified union welder, have had my junk certified, they let me work in nuke facilities, ha ha, while mig is nice, mig has its problems, one of the problems is proper heating, you tend to not make a puddle and the feed rate pushes you along, evident on your first welds, this is why you have the v. When you train to become a welder on piping systems you are taken through it as it should be done, you begin with cutting using oxyacetylene, not burning not hacking, cutting, you will know you have mastered this when you laugh at guys using plasma cutters, next you move to brazing using oxyacetylene, joining plate using bronze alloys, you then progress to overlap plate joints using an alloy steel rod and oxy acet., then butt welds, once you go through the gas you then use smaw, shielded metal arc welding machines, a master is certified on pipe in the 6 g position, you then progress through tig training, if you are ahead in the class you may learn mickey wire as we call it, it is disrespected because it does not give a constant quality result and because anyone can buy a machine and throw some metal about. This is why NHRA really dont like it, pretty does not equal strong. Mig is nice for panel welding, little non critical parts, pretty stuff, but on a structural basis you need to pre tack your piece, pre temp your piece and tensile heat your piece, now, when you are all done doing that you really cannot tell it has been done unless you are real good at welding or test destroy the part. I personally tig everything, it gives you the best control and result, I am known to test destroy a part here and again to make sure I am still the master. I am sometimes humbled. I suggest to anyone who welds parts and wants to be good at it to cut your stuff up once in a while, bend it over backwards and test yourself, see if your stuff cracks or not. I suggest to never weld in an uncomfortable position, use any means necessary to support your working arm, clamps tack ups etc., when mig ing structural always test a junk piece, do not just jump into work, run a few beads and test destroy that piece, always rewarm the piece, you dictate the pace, work the bead, whatever pattern you use, I like to do an overlap Z, fall into the machine like feel of it, when you are done with that pass keep the part at temp as long as possible let it cool slowly , that pinging and dinging on a mig part is not good, it is the breaking and cracking of bond crystals in the weld between the base metal weld filler and attachment parts metals, you want that kept to a minimum. NEVER WATER COOL A WELD!!! Learning straight on a mig is hard because you by pass a lot of fundamentals, the fundamentals give you discipline, if you can, go through the other types first and learn from the bottom up. Have fun.
I've had the same welder for 5 or 6 years. Using it every blue moon I couldn't get a good enough looking weld to post. Over the past year I've used the thing a ton doing fab jobs for friends and myself, even making a little money. I run in a frown face pattern dragging the puddle as I go. It stack dimes as good as a mig can. I also used all the rules of welding now as I didn't bother before. Grind area down to clean metal and chamfer as needed. Sometimes when it really matters I clean weld area with mineral spirits and let dry. Never use brake clean for this as it can put off toxic fume that will fuck you up bad and could kill you. When doing a job that is visible on the finished product or I'm getting paid for I always take a scrap piece of the same metal I'll be welding and get the "Perfect sound" by dialing in the settings. I usually start with whats on the inside cover for recommendations then tweak it from there. It's really just practice. I often visit the metal yard and spend around 70 every time I go, picking up 1x1, 2x1 bars and what ever else I see I may be able to use. I have tons of angle around as well as flat stock. The cheater light is a good idea too as you can see better. Buy yourself a cold saw to help cutting duties as cutting with a grinder sucks balls and will demotivate you in going out and practicing. Find things to build. Make a table using a piece of old stero glass, If you have any engines lying around build a storing cradle for them. Try making a small box about 3x3x3 with one open side. Tack it in different spots around it to keep the heat down.
Save on the cleaning solvents and make yourself safer, just pre heat the joint to about 400 and buff it out with a clean steel brush or a power brush. Heat and repeat if you think its still rasty.
Gotta be able to see... get comfortable as possible so you can see the weld till you learn how. Light can be your friend too. Need a cheater lens? Bi Focals can mess with you too. Use both hands and plan your weld so as you move you don't have to shift and break your concentration. Use 2 hands to steady your weld.( I know I said this) After you learn this becomes natural but you stated you were new. I see highs and lows from inconsistent movement.
and dont kid yerself- dragging a weld DOESN'T give good penatration. The weld puddle actually cools the metal down and it just tends to lay on top of the base metal. pushing a weld is usually the best method for good penatration
Hell yeah. I like the Admiral better than the Captain and it is a lot cheaper than Sailor Jerry too. When money is really tight you can substitute R.C. Cola for Coke and it taste just as good.
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