welding technique/ tips

[Voodoochikin04]

how the f*ck??    how is that a constant bead?  i would swear that from the brown residue around each little swirl that you just spotted away at it.. but im not knowledgable enough to make that claim.  i tried and tried and tried to do that.. and the only way i can is to do each little bead one at a time.  my best ones at a constant bead look like the weld in the very top left hand corner.

[Rick S.]

I showed that pic to a welder here at work and he tacked two pieces together, then laid down a bead just like it. Even nicer, since we only use 95/5 there are no bb's whatsoever.  He pushes the gun straight forward then pulls back a little in an arc motion.
Says it looks nice , but a straight forward motion will actually penetrate better.

[Yummi]

Looks like a hot pass to me.  Just working the puddle. 

[phelpsracing1]

Hey Voodoo, you running hard wire or flux core? What machine do you have? To get a weld like you will need to practice fluid movements that are exactly the same every time.  You can run a continuous bead but your heat and wire speed need to be right. Cant be too hot, too cold, too fast, or too slow.  Think of a hostess cupcake frosting, thats one of the easiest ways to get a uniformed bead that looks good

[Nutz4sand]

Sometimes circles work and sometimes going in a "U" shape does.

If you are welding a thinner metal to a thicker one it really help if you can go a little slower on the thicker metal to heat it better and a lil faster on the thin so as to not burn through it with the heat you need to penetrate the thicker metal.

 

[Voodoochikin04]

my welder is an older century 220, with spot continuous and stitch adjustments and weld times for them all. im running .035 steel mig wire.  i do welds with small circles and the u shape and sometimes little figure 8's. i can make nice beads.. but they dont look like tig welds like some of you guys. 

[Carlriddle]

All my pretty welds are in the areas you cant see and the crappy ones are on the edge of the roll cage that people just stare at and say this guys stuff looks like puke.

[Twisted Minis]

All the ones I posted are constant beads. If I do the stitch method there is a lot more spatter, and usually a dimple in the middle of each bead.

[Boostinjdm]

All my pretty welds are in the areas you cant see and the crappy ones are on the edge of the roll cage that people just stare at and say this guys stuff looks like puke.

Just remember...
All welders have bad days.
A good welder knows when to grind.
A great welder doesn't have to.

[fabr]

Amen

[Icky]

Just adding my two cents so that thing will stop showing me the annoying post your first message sign  . Any of you guys try using a whipping/oval motion <----> in line with your weld, pausing for a second when you come back to your puddle. I use that method in small varances for lots of different applications. 6011 stick weld, MS mig, and SS mig. if there's a gap a J shape works really well for vertical, horz, and overhead. just put the long part of the J on the higher side or thicker side.

[Boostinjdm]

I have objections to the J because it causes the gap to widen as you go.

[Yummi]

Welcome ICKY!

[SPEC]

Welcome ICKY
I like that name
I think your right with your suggestions on HEAVY material...
But on buggies and thin tubing, hot stick is not the best method, I say mig but thats cuz I han't been able to tig for several years..

[Icky]

I have a Miller 200 Syncrowave at home, i mainly tig weld everything at home, especially tubing,i was just making suggestions for those that were having trouble. I use the J method for structural welding when needed, 1/4" and above mainly, when the metal is that thick it actually fills in the gap a little at a time. You don't need to know how to tig with the 200 it's got a pulse mode haha. I actually only use pulse for Alum.