Please critique my welds

[olds70supreme]

Hello,

I haven't welded much since high school shop class, and that was mostly stick welding. Now I am trying to improve on my MIG welds. I know that you can't necessarily tell a good weld from pictures, but if those more experienced than I could look and see what mistakes are evident from the pictures I would appreciate it.

Thanks in advance.

 

[DARK AGE 53]

my welds aren't much better then your's so I won't try to critique your's, if your not a member already here's a great site
http://www.hobartwelders.com/weldtalk/ . BTW, good to see another Olds member here.

 

[mmg440]

I will be interested to see what real welders think about it, I am just a mechanic I have welded for more then 25 years or so but never professionally trained in it. I think they all look ok. In my opinion your build up is a bit much (mostly pics 2 and 4) this could be flatter (with deeper penetration) by reducing your wire speed or increasing the heat and moving slightly faster. The second one down looks a bit off center of the two parts. And as you well now you have welded past the end of the joints a couple times by a fair distance. Your glass my be to dark or to light. When welding your eyes should be able to see the material that you are welding. Many times I find helmets lenses are to low and the flash is to bright to see the puddle and the material as good as I like. I would trust your welds from what I am seeing to hold and they and look like you are paying some attention to the puddle forming and flow so keep up the practice and make some stuff. by the way some real nice practice steel you got there. You could make a nice engine stand or trailer out of it

 

[chadincolo]

Pretty good looking welds first of all, would be good enough strength to pass in almost all situations.

Photos 1 and 3 need a little more fill at the end. See the little crater? Hold the trigger a few seconds to fill that before you stop. Not a deal breaker on a weld, but a weaker spot and not as pretty.

I agree with the other poster, could turn your heat up a bit, but I wouldn't worry too much about it, and possibly go a shade lighter on your shield.

Only other thing to clean up your welds a touch is consistancy. Looks like your weave gets a touch bigger and smaller (Photo 2) but that's just a cosmetic improvement on your welds.

 

[olds70supreme]

Thanks for the feedback, I appreciate it. I am practicing on these A-frames to use as supports when I do bodywork on my car, so the end goal is to be consistent and get familiar with the welder, and than move on to practicing on sheet metal. Just wanted to make sure I was on the right track. As far as turning up the heat, I tried that but I have a cheapo HF welder with only 4 settings, and at the next highest setting I couldn't keep from blowing holes through the metal. I might try to adjust wire speed to compensate and see what results I get. As far as seeing the work area, you guys are right. I did have trouble seeing anything but the flash and a bit of the puddle. I have an autodarkening helmet that I think I can either adjust or swap lenses out on.

Dark Age: Thanks for the link, and what Olds do you have?

 

[olds70supreme]

One other question: On welds like this, how much (if any) should the welds be ground down?

 

[sberry]

The "heat" is the speed, the other setting is the voltage.

 

[chadincolo]

One other question: On welds like this, how much (if any) should the welds be ground down?

Unless you are going to prime, sand paint (in other words, make it look like it's not welded) don't sand it. The bead is reinforcement, shouldn't need the extra strength, but why bother grinding unless you are going for the unwelded look.

 

[garfunkle24]

The "heat" is the speed, the other setting is the voltage.

err.......what?

Heat in most people's terminology is the voltage. The speed is the wire speed.

 

[sberry]

The engineers on the cheap machines dont know the difference so they label the voltage heat, which is the arc length or intensity, rate of burn off.. Its NOT, the current is the wire speed, more wire = more current = more heat, you need to compensate by turning the voltage up to match this with the right burn off rate.

 

[DARK AGE 53]

.
Dark Age: Thanks for the link, and what Olds do you have?

Your welcome, 1969 Cutlass S w/812 miles, 1984 Cutlass Supreme w/1250 miles. 1984 was the last year we built the rwd Oldsmobiles in Lansing.

Later,
Al

 

[olds70supreme]

Your welcome, 1969 Cutlass S w/812 miles, 1984 Cutlass w/1250 miles. 1984 was the last year we built the rwd Oldsmobiles in Lansing.

Later,
Al

Nice sounding stable, I've got a '70 Cutlass Supreme (undergoing major surgery) and a '75 Starfire.

 

[DARK AGE 53]

Let's see some pics, here's mine.

 

[e-tek]

Let's see some pics, here's mine.

REAL unconventional choices for classic cars - love it!

 

[olds70supreme]

 

[DARK AGE 53]

REAL unconventional choices for classic cars - love it!

Thanks, worked in the Oldsmobile plant for 33 years before retiring.

olds70supreme, the Starfire looks great, the 70 Supreme should look great also when you get it done. Sorry about getting your thread off topic.

 

[garfunkle24]

The engineers on the cheap machines dont know the difference so they label the voltage heat, which is the arc length or intensity, rate of burn off.. Its NOT, the current is the wire speed, more wire = more current = more heat, you need to compensate by turning the voltage up to match this with the right burn off rate.

Of course you're right. As I said though, I was speaking "in most people's terminology".

Sorry for any confusion.

 

[ryno]

to get this post back on track...
id say more heat, less speed/build up and try to bevel or "v" groove your metal to give it more of a valley to penatrate into.

 

[chadincolo]

to get this post back on track...
id say more heat, less speed/build up and try to bevel or "v" groove your metal to give it more of a valley to penatrate into.

As thin as that metal is and the way that bead looks, I would be willing to bet that if you cut across the weld you would see enough burn through that and bevel would not be needed. Now, if you are welding 1 inch plate in multipass welding, then a bevel is needed. I've also seen beveled 1 inch plate welded single pass.

 

[PurdueSD]

Looks to me like youve either A: you'vegot your wirespeed too high or B: arent moving fast enough. Too much weld build up for that thin of box tube.

 

[bugdust]

I'm no expert.

pic 1 - start a little sooner, stop a little sooner. Travel speed inconsistent. Are you going to weld all around? Starting short like that can cause the weld to fail along that seam if not welded either all around or go back and spot in the end.

pic 2 - start position ok, travel too slow at start then sped up & lost seam. Are you pushing or pulling the puddle? A little manipulation of the puddle (starting on radius of tube and washing your puddle over to the thinner cut end) would be ideal. The crater is a bad thing but you probably wouldn't have had it if you were still in the seam.

pic 3 - again, started a little late, better weld, still need to stop a little sooner unless you're trying to get the pigtail on the end.

pic 4 - again, like pic 2

What shielding gas are you using (75/25?) and what do you have it set at? Your welds are a little bright (unless you cleaned them) but it looks like the "smoke" is blowing out quite a bit from the weld like you have turbulence in the puddle (not enough to cause porosity) but it could also be your stick-out changing, which could also cause the weld size inconsistency as the amperage changes as the arc length changes.

 

[TNToy]

He scrubbed them with a wire brush. There are small directional scratches in the HAZ surrounding the weld, if you really look for them. ;

#2 looks the best of the group. Listen to bugdust.

I would not have beveled the ends of tubing that thin, either. You definitely have the machine hot enough (most beginners first mistake) but you need to concentrate more on spending most of your time on the whole tube (including the start, which'll always be cold with MIG) and working the puddle over to the butted-up tubing.

Something I don't think enough beginners learn: Cut up a couple of small scraps and go play. Go into it trying NOT to produce a pretty weave, so you won't be tempted to ust figure out a back-and-forth motion that produces a consistent bead, which is what you're clearly attempting right now. Just run the wire across the material and look for the puddle. Not the arc, it's a distraction. Find the puddle of liquid metal, and how it reacts as you move the wire around, change the stickout, etc.

Learn to see the puddle, and a 'pretty' and STRONG weld is pretty easy to manage. You'd be amazed how many people own a machine for years and never actually see it when burning . They just work the gun back and forth like trial and error has taught them to produce a consistent weave.

 

[Gonzalo Bravo]

Hello,

I haven't welded much since high school shop class, and that was mostly stick welding. Now I am trying to improve on my MIG welds. I know that you can't necessarily tell a good weld from pictures, but if those more experienced than I could look and see what mistakes are evident from the pictures I would appreciate it.

Thanks in advance.

I see too much wire feeding's speed.-

 

[olds70supreme]

Wow, thanks for all the feedback. You guys are great. I am trying to learn how to properly weld before I get too far into the sheetmetal work on my car. I've got a lot of practicing to do.

 

[mulepackin]

He scrubbed them with a wire brush. There are small directional scratches in the HAZ surrounding the weld, if you really look for them. ;

#2 looks the best of the group. Listen to bugdust.

I would not have beveled the ends of tubing that thin, either. You definitely have the machine hot enough (most beginners first mistake) but you need to concentrate more on spending most of your time on the whole tube (including the start, which'll always be cold with MIG) and working the puddle over to the butted-up tubing.

Something I don't think enough beginners learn: Cut up a couple of small scraps and go play. Go into it trying NOT to produce a pretty weave, so you won't be tempted to ust figure out a back-and-forth motion that produces a consistent bead, which is what you're clearly attempting right now. Just run the wire across the material and look for the puddle. Not the arc, it's a distraction. Find the puddle of liquid metal, and how it reacts as you move the wire around, change the stickout, etc.

Learn to see the puddle, and a 'pretty' and STRONG weld is pretty easy to manage. You'd be amazed how many people own a machine for years and never actually see it when burning . They just work the gun back and forth like trial and error has taught them to produce a consistent weave.

Thats why when you first learn to weld in a formal setting, the first thing they teach you to do is to push a puddle with an oxy-acet. torch. It's all about controlling the metal, both the base and the filler.