Thread: Welding strength?

Originally Posted by motegi

Can someone please post pictures of what a good arc weld looks like? In detail?

thanks

Ok here are some pics.You may want to enlarge them with your comp program as they seem to print a bit small for my liking.

It does not matter where you place your earth clamp. So long as the metal under the jaws is shiny clean you will give the current the best chance of carrying ALL of the current needed to make your arc.

Clean where you you want to weld ,again shiny clean.

Put some scrap near where you want to weld. Strike you arc and keep it running to maintain an arc length( important term here-arc length distance between unburnt electrode material and the surface of what you are welding- RULE OF THUMB SETTING -DIAMETER OF THE ELECTRODE CORE WIRE )

Once the arc is running ok on the scrap jump across to the weld surface proper. This must be done quickly before the red hot end of the electrode cools.It arcs up much better when hot.

With setting the amps , play around on your scrap pieces until you get a weld you are happy with.

Off the top of my head I would say set your adjustment at about 3/4 throttle if using 2.6mm rods.

Shade 9 in your welding helmet is very light by Australian standards. If using the Ozito shield it may be Chinese standards ,who knows.

Electronic lenses are pretty much standard fare, I would look at one if you are going to do a lot of welding.

Have a go at the above .We all will be here for you when you come back.

Cheers
GRAHAME

Another night of praticing...what do you guys think about these welds?


Not pretty...but will this be strong enough??


Practice...first weld of the night...


This is probably one of the better welds...

Clean off more paint. Yes they will burn through the paint, but if you grind off the paint (and other impurities) it will make it a little bit easier to weld.

Looking at the photos I think your problem is that you have been traveling too fast.


1. You need to build up a little bit of weld at the start first.
2. Then travel much slower

What has happened in those photos is that you most likely had the tip of the electrode too high from the work.

The arc will wander left and right and everywhere more erratically as it is a larger gap to jump across.

So you could either,

a) keep the rod at the same power settings and at the same working height but just travel slower

or

b) bring the rod closer in to the metal.

The closer the electrode to the work the more penetration you will have. When the rod is further away the gap is bigger which makes the arc voltage bigger which just heats up more metal for no real reason.

When doing fillet welds with too high a welding position (tip to work distance), you will only end up welding the outer edges or toes of the welds to the base metal. There won't be much penetration of filler metal in the root of the joint. This will give you voids and holes etc.

Bring the rod in closer.

Peter

I'm currently using CigWeld 12XP Ferrocraft...

And the other thing is to hold that rod as steady as possible, maybe have a drink first to calm nerves?

If right handed, once the arc is going use you left hand and just balance and steady the rod on it.

You need to move like a robot consistently. If you can do that and you power setting is right, a good earth, good rods and correct tip to work height you will have no problem.

Thanks for the tips Peter and Graham...

you're spot on with the hand shake...i dont have stead hands and i find i have to use both hands with elbow rested on my knees ( seated). The welds first round was also due alot to my position ( arching my back)....

I'll be welding the spring U-bolts on the weekend...but will practice somemore before doing that since that joint is so critical...

You're getting there but you are just starting, mind you so am I!

I'm what I call a beginner welder compared to my BIL but I can see the following probs.

A : too many stops and starts or jumps - I'm not talking about you or the arc - if we cut the weld thru A we would see there is no or very little weld there.
B: Weld not making proper contact with side
W: Weak finish, this is not good and represents a weak point where cracks can start
Arrow: I like to see welds run to the edge on SHS this thin



You also need to clean the paint away back to the red line.

At this stage I'd still be practice really long runs - full rod runs on flat steel till you get that right, then practice butt joints, then T joints, then 3 way corners, theb try a non-load bearing project, the worry about the trailer.

I also have seriously shaky hands so I sometimes cut my welding rods in half! When I first started I also attached an F-clamp to my work and then leant on that. Eventually you can get away with that and you need to be able to do that to get closer in as the welding rod shortens. Also I don't think anyone has mentioned rod angle - It's pretty important.

Wow trying to build a trailer from scratch as your first project in welding.

That's like walking below you can crawl.

However you are moving in the right direction

I suck at welding done a couple of courses at tafe and still suck.

But I now can weld to get myself out of trouble.

Practice, just get some 10mm plate and practice.

high amps low amps various electrodes.

Take some pictures and the advice will be given.

Good luck

Pulpo

Originally Posted by motegi

I'm currently using CigWeld 12XP Ferrocraft...

If you are near a hardware shop today try to find a small packet of Satincradt 13's, in my opinion they are just that bit easier to use then the ferrocraft 12's..

They do come in a small packet of 10 rods, so if you can find such a packet it won't break the bank to try them..

Can someone please post pictures of what a good arc weld looks like? In detail?

thanks

Here is a couple more for you.
Have a look at the first two pics. Using a stick welder, welds of this quality are easily acheivable with a bit of
practice, and then a bit more practice.
Look how far you have come already from those first welds you did.

Mabey one day you might be fabricating/welding as good as the third pic.

Fossil how did you manage to get pics of my first welds????

Fossil,
Thanks for the encouraging words...will do one more final ( hopefully) grind back and reweld. I think I'll be adding a foot long brace for the corners to add a little more strength for the draw bar.

ps...I'll be ghappy if i start doing weld like the first pic...if the third pic even humanly possible with an arc welder? by hand? I'll really have to see to believe!

cheers

I've just did a more welds but must've been the weld...couldnt keep a hand steady!

Both are done with 2.5mm rods and at a little higher than the recommended ampage, Seems like there is decent penetration but is that too quick? I cant seem to get a nice flat crown?




more of a close up of the above pic


I tried welding a flat piece of 8mm steel plate to 5mm RHS. There does not seem to be enough penetration? I see in the above pics that the weld is suppose to fill up to the void ( where metal meets at right angle)
What do I need to do? Should I wait a little longer to build up a pool before i move? do i need to go slower?

Bearing in mind that in my day job, 10mm plate is thin plate ...

what you could try is, with your angle grinder, cut a bevel on the edge of the material you want to join, when you bring the two pieces together you will then have a V you can fill with weld metal