Check my welds

[fury9]

I **** at welding, so any criticism and/or suggestions will be appreciated.
welder info- Hobart 187, 220v, 75/25 gas. Don't know the specific wire specs at the moment, will update. Two beads, different angles. Thanks

 

[zkling]

Not bad at all. Turn up the heat and or slow down a bit to get the toes or edges of the weld to flow into the base a little more.

 

[Tinner]

You're not hot enough, the wire is piled up in the center and not tied in on the edges. Are you pointing the gun back into the puddle? If so, that's part of your problem. Angle the gun 10-15° in the direction of travel, keeping the arc on the leading edge of the puddle.

 

[fury9]

Thanks,I kind of thought it looked a little "cold" from what I've been seeing on the web, I'll slow myself down, mess around with the settings some. I'm pretty suprised how much cleaner the gas is over the fluxcore.

 

[fury9]

I went from right to left,with the top of the gun pointed to the right, so I think I am pointing in the wrong direction,not really sure on the angle of the gun, I was kinda just going. I'll have to pay more attention, do some more reading

 

[Tinner]

I went from right to left,with the top of the gun pointed to the right, so I think I am pointing in the wrong direction,not really sure on the angle of the gun, I was kinda just going. I'll have to pay more attention, do some more reading

If the top of the gun is pointing right, the bottom must be to the left, which is the direction of travel, so that is correct.

 

[Tinner]

 

[ddawg16]

I'm not an expert....but I have learned to slow down the wire and crank up the heat.

Here is one of mine.

 

[Shadowdog500]

I inspected your welds with an X-ray app on my ipad there appears to be several inclusions in those welds.

+1 on slow down or turn it up.

Chris

 

[steel 35]

I'm not an expert....but I have learned to slow down the wire and crank up the heat.

 

[MoonRise]

As you weld ...

watch the puddle.

You want to see the parent material melting and the added filler filling-in the molten puddle and thus tying the workpiece(s) into one piece.

MIG is notorious for making a weld that 'looks nice' but is just laying on top of the workpiece(s). AKA cold-lap aka lack of penetration aka inadequate fusion.

Your welds look mostly consistent in position and travel speed, so to you.

But, from just a few pics over the Net, it also looks like your welds are just laying on top of the workpieces and didn't penetrate into the workpieces and tie them all together.

 

[bullnerd]

Weldingtipsandtricks.com

He just did a series on mig basics..... Good stuff.

 

[trackwelder]

More heat for sure. Do you have any way to cut your piece in half and acid etch it to see your penetration ?

 

[Boredmechanic]

try running circles. You will grab all edges.

 

[fury9]

I could try to cut it with the porta-band, thanks for the links. I'll try more heat and less speed, i'll try a combo of stuff. I'm trying to learn this so I can get to work on my 52 chevy, now that I have a lot more tools now than before (Thanks guys).I'll update when I get a chance to play around more

 

[logixjock]

I'm not an expert....but I have learned to slow down the wire and crank up the heat.

Here is one of mine.

Not too bad at all dawg, pretty fair work for a "not expert"

 

[Whiskeymike]

You're not hot enough, the wire is piled up in the center and not tied in on the edges. Are you pointing the gun back into the puddle? If so, that's part of your problem. Angle the gun 10-15° in the direction of travel, keeping the arc on the leading edge of the puddle.

I'm in the learning process as well. Are you suggesting he change to push instead of pull?

I thought a pull would be moving for instance, left to right, with the gun pointing into right side of the puddle, and pulling/dragging it to the right.

Push would be the gun moving right to left, and the gun pointing to the edge of the puddle on the left.

Is that accurate?


Also, my welds are never that shiny when I finish unless I clean them up. They typically have some soot or powder on them. I know I have to clean my millscale up better, but is that the only difference? Why are these so shiny?

 

[MoonRise]

re: push or pull

If there's slag, then drag.

SMAW or FCAW, generally you drag. ie: right handed welder, weld travel direction is left-to-right and point the electrode 'back' at the puddle.

GMAW is a non-slag (mostly, not counting silicon islands and 'soot') process, so in general you want to 'push' the puddle and not drag it. Same right-handed welder, point the electrode/wire from right-to left and use a weld travel direction also of right-to-left and keep the arc right on the front edge of the puddle (not in the middle or back edge of the puddle, because then the arc is directing its energy/heat into the puddle and not really into the workpieces where it is mostly needed).

There are some exceptions, but in general just remember ...

If there's slag, then drag.

 

[Whiskeymike]

That was very helpful. I had read similar info several times before, but had a tough time visualizing it.

 

[NUTTSGT]

If there's slag, then drag.

Thanks, I've never heard that before but should be easy enough to remember for the future.