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critique my weld

superspec

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miller div. 180 set at 95amp

this is after about 3 hours of seat time over the past month or so and only a few min of someone teaching. so what do i need to work on other than the obvious line and blending the stop to the start.

tig_zps232b4ee6.jpg
 
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BleedingOange36

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Work on your hand control. It's looks like your a tad jerky, try finding a comfortable yet fluid way to position yourself for a more consistent bead.
Keep your helmet down, and keep burning. That's the only way to perfect it.
 
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superspec

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yes i am having hell with making any sizable length weld . i switched from the OEM miller torch to a different style thinking i could reposition on the fly but i think it is the weight and stiffness of the hose from the machine to the torch that is giving me the most problem.

do you see any other problems...to much heat...not enough?
 

BleedingOange36

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Try putting a little less heat into it. And work on a smaller bead, and move and add filler in smaller increments. It's looks like your bead is blowing out in the sections where it's hottest.
Practice, practice, practice.
Its not a bad weld. Try different settings and techniques occasionally, maybe switch hands for a few welds.
 
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superspec

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im a righty but have found that i like the torch more in my left hand. ill back the heat down tomorrow and try that. ive been around 87-91 up until today but was finding myself right at the limit of the pedal sometimes so today i bumped it to 95 to give me a little more headroom.
 

BleedingOange36

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I'm a righty and I also use my left as my torch hand. I started with my right and couldn't figure out with my movement was so abrupt. Switched to left and I have a more relaxed control over it. I tend to switch back and forth to cross train though. Most of the time I find myself upside down, sideways, and backwards trying to weld the **** they throw at me at my job....
I once had to crawl inside the Lehr and weld the ribbon heating element. Granted the ribbon is paper thin, and all I could get my boss to splurge on was a cheapie lift arc welder.... Wasn't fun.
I miss the Lincoln I had at my old job...
 

DHS

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When I first started welding the best thing for me was to find the most comfortable position, usually sitting to practice. Keep at it and it will get better.
 
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superspec

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ive got a stainless table that is 5x2 ft. maybe i should lay down on it haha. in the position i was in today i could probably fall asleep.
 

aggierailroad

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Good way to practice hand control - "practice" the weld first. Fake the weld, where you're going to support your hands -2!!!- and see where your glove will snag and cause you to jerk, where your palm will fall off and you'll have to re-position. This will get more critical as you do longer beads and out of position welding.

Also, a problem I had when starting was literally that I wouldn't blink while welding. My eyes would dry out and then you just start sweating it out trying to finish the bead w/o stopping. Seat time will fix this - so just burn some metal!
 
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sberry

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Set the pedal aside and learn control from technique. You can refine it later with a control.3 hrs in a month if evenly spread is great for concept, its not a lot of time for actual motor control skills to become automatic during learning. You would likely see some help from visualizing this 5 mins a day also.

I can see you have the general technique, simply needs refinement and a little risk that comes from practice, a bit of repeated instruction over a month,,, like a coach with a golf swing.

I have seen people get this in 30 days that are world class, 19 yr old kids you wouldnt let rmove a sliver cause they are 2 dumb weld pipe at your nuke. Seem them from compentant to outright gifted ************ to work. Super eyesight, super hands like a surgeon, brain the size of a pea but a million dollar coach, train them to do this one little thing.



If I was a woman wanting a job I would have to seriously consider being a tig welder if I didnt have a passion elsewhere. Train for a year or 2 at some equipment company where you got practice and it became aoutomatic and then find some gig where I could stand around and twirl the torch while everyone admired most of the day. Maintenance deal in a power plant or something. Made the most money I ever made working for someone else doing this doing the least work I have ever done while no one really seemed to care. Whats not to love about that.
 
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dieselgarage

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I'd start out with doing a lap weld and just work the high edge down in to the puddle. Once you have that then start to learn how to feed in filler. This way you can concentrate on puddle control and figuring out what torch hold and positions work for you. Take little steps so you don't get frustrated.
 

dieselgarage

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Set the pedal aside and learn control from technique. You can refine it later with a control.

True but better yet forget the pedal all together. The ONLY time I let a pedal be used in the shop is to give a guy a weld test so I can accurately evaluate his skills. In a production environment (not bench welding) Pedals waste way to much of the guys time. It's kind of funny at first they resist it. But it does make them a much better welder in the long run.
 
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superspec

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i think im going to go back to the OEM torch. i tried not using the pedal but found that i couldnt use the button on the torch with a glove on. i cut meat for 15 years so my feeling isnt the greatest in my fingers. i can run it bare handed but that ahhh isnt such a great feeling. the oem torch with pedal worked good for me though so i guess ill switch back. i think my biggest problem is the weight of the hose and its stiffness. is that something that can be switched out for a more flexible lighter alternative?
 

dieselgarage

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i think im going to go back to the OEM torch. i tried not using the pedal but found that i couldnt use the button on the torch with a glove on. i cut meat for 15 years so my feeling isnt the greatest in my fingers. i can run it bare handed but that ahhh isnt such a great feeling. the oem torch with pedal worked good for me though so i guess ill switch back. i think my biggest problem is the weight of the hose and its stiffness. is that something that can be switched out for a more flexible lighter alternative?

Loop the leads up and across your back to take the load off of the torch.
Like if your right handed run the leads up your left side to your shoulder and across your back to your right side.

The more you use the leads the more flexible they will become.
 
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superspec

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I haven't tried going up one side and down the other, I did however just drape it over my left shoulder but there was still a fair amount of weight pulling at the torch.

If the hose gets flexible with use I might just unhook it and treat it like a whip for an hour or so haha
 

hh76

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I'm still a beginner too, but I've realized that dry runs before each weld really help a lot. I'll try different positions for the torch, the hoses, the clamping, and figure out my start stop points before turning the machine on. Sometimes I'll run through the entire weld 3 or 4 times with the machine off just to make sure I can get the smoothest run when it counts.
 

dieselgarage

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Learn what I call your reach out. Basically the area or distance you can make the torch travel comfortably before you must reposition. Once your out of that area or distance then reposition. It's much better to have starts and stops in a weld than weld out of your reach out and make a ****** weld. I rather have stops and starts in a weld than grind and re-weld or wash-overs.
 

BleedingOange36

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Learn what I call your reach out. Basically the area or distance you can make the torch travel comfortably before you must reposition. Once your out of that area or distance then reposition. It's much better to have starts and stops in a weld than weld out of your reach out and make a ****** weld. I rather have stops and starts in a weld than grind and re-weld or wash-overs.

Absolutely!!!
One thing to always do is test your reach out. Make sure you aren't sitting on your jacket. Make sure yours hoses aren't snagged. Make sure you don't have a stool like mine that wobbles.... How how that aggravates me... One of these days I'm chucking it and telling boss man to buy another.
 

R.Anderson

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Wisconsin
Whats your gap size? you don't want a gap with thin pipe you want a nice tight fit.
Looks like exhaust pipe but to make sure what are ya welding? steel, stainless
What size filler are ya using, diameter? 1/16, 3/32, 1/8

About the only time ya want a foot pedal is for aluminum
have you tried liftarc?
liftarc is the way to go for stainless and steel in my opinion.
 
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