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Critique my welds please!

C-man405

Member
Joined
Sep 16, 2014
Messages
8
Location
Oswego illinois
Hello folks my name is carter and am 16 years old. I have been welding for the past year or so and I would like you to give your opinions on my welds. The first two are 7018 stick welds and the last one is a aluminum tig weld. All of them are t-joints
Thanks carter
 

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A_Pmech

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May 8, 2007
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8,002
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IL
Welcome Carter,

Your welds look commercially passable from what I see.

Your TIG looks very good.
 

raddksn

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Oct 3, 2011
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1,304
Location
south central upper peninsula michigan
:thumbup:Welcome Carter I struck my first arc about the same age as you almost 40 years ago. I'm still learning and still enjoy welding. Those welds look very good for a beginner keep after it and you will be doing top shelf welds before you know it. :thumbup:
 

zkling

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Jan 23, 2007
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16,939
Great start.:thumbup: Work on consistency, particularly in your tig weld. Try to make separate yet deliberat dabs while continuously progressing forward, like how a sewing machine works.
 
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Muffin77

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Apr 5, 2014
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10
Only thing I can say on aluminum is consistency.... One thing I do for aluminum is start out slow to get heat/ penetration... Then in my head I'm always counting(one one thousand, two one thousand, etc) and at the end I dip the filler... Google welding tips and tricks and be ready to watch a lot of videos. Don't anything I said above negative tho as your doing a great job.
 

motofool33

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Feb 2, 2013
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Currently North of Houston
looks like your moving too fast on the aluminum if those black spots are porosity. either cup angle or gas flow is not keepings the air out of your arc.

definately wire wheel your welds before asking people about them.

anti spatter spray might help a little.

Really clean prep work and fit up make up half of the job of welding.
 

Kracin

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Mar 25, 2013
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Omaha, NE
they look decent, but its hard to tell with no other angles.

the first looks like you have either a little too much heat or the welds didnt get high enough on the top of the T, side views would help. it looks like your speed and feed was a little inconsistent on this first one.

the second looks like there is a little undercut, so the heat was still too high, looks like you put more rod into the second one.

what are your settings at, what size rod, what kind of prep?
 

that-guy

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Sep 6, 2012
Messages
603
Location
NoVA
first one looks a little hot and concaved, but the second is much better. the tig looks pretty good as well. keep up the practice
 

bartd

New member
Joined
Jul 13, 2014
Messages
1
1st pic: focus on getting in the angle at 45 degrees. also, try to scrape the slag off instead of hitting it, I assume the dents on the metal of from hitting it.
2 pic no real comments, looks fairly ok
alu pic: looks like you had to much heat on the top part and not enough penetration on the lower. again try to pay attention on you torch angle. I also see a some contamination.

good tip is to really take your time to prepare everything, it really is 50% of the work. If you're serious about learning how to weld, be prepared to spend a lot of time preparing, beveling, grinding, cleaning. you can't believe the difference this will make on the end result and how much better and easier your work will be. This is the difference between getting paid 15 dollar of getting paid 45 dollar.

keep practicing, you're on the right way
 
OP
C

C-man405

Member
Joined
Sep 16, 2014
Messages
8
Location
Oswego illinois
Thanks to all of you for all the Advise! I'm defiantly going to try some methods you guys gave me! I didn't have any prep on any of the welds. What would you suggest to use to do do for this?
Thanks carter
 

Notgrownup

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May 5, 2014
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5,846
Location
Snow Hill NC
Clean grind or wire brush, Have a nice void to fill you know , not just a 90 degree angle but a little angle ground or cut out where the 2 pieces meet to increase your contact patch.
 

R.Anderson

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Joined
May 26, 2012
Messages
906
Location
Wisconsin
looks like your moving too fast on the aluminum if those black spots are porosity. either cup angle or gas flow is not keepings the air out of your arc.

definately wire wheel your welds before asking people about them.

anti spatter spray might help a little.

Really clean prep work and fit up make up half of the job of welding.

Not on your TIG welds. Soot **** and color of the weld beads are tell tail signs. Do that in any welding school with instructors that care about your education and you will be made to do the welds again.

Black soot **** is most likely contaminated tungsten with newbies, unsteady hands dip the tip :) but contamination in the weld could be the problem as well.
Brown/red rust soot with steel black on aluminum with porosity, lack of shielding gas or air is mixing in with the shielding gas somewhere and/or contamination. Take apart and check your TIG torch over, check o-rings where needed and make sure hose fittings are tight. Also make sure your collet is in the right way this is a common screw up.

Color on stainless beads is lack of shielding gas after the weld puddle while its cooling and/or your weld zone is too hot. Dull sugary burnt weld, lack of shielding gas or simply just way too hot. On aluminum dull weld beads means your weld got too hot, you want your aluminum TIG weld beads nice and shiny, without anything wire brushing or polishing.


With antisplatter you shouldn't need it with stick welding. If you do, you are most likely doing something wrong. Too long of arc length, too much heat, current, lack of shielding, or contamination. Any splatter should come off with ease.
 
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