I am just posting some recent welds i did. I am 17 years old and taking night classes at a local tech school. I forget what miller i'm using (tig) but i will look next time i'm in class. Its a nice little rig seems to be working great with the stuff i am using. basically i am just practicing on stainless flat stuff, and piping and joints so i can build up my skills to eventually make my own turbo setup etc. Anyways here are some pictures. I have probably put in about 15-20 hours of tig practice/ tigging in my life.

Sorry if pix suck, but my camera blows.





in the first picture i was just playing around with different motions etc, and in the second one i started the bead to the left of the nice bead u can see, went around teh pipe to the left, and the nice bead that you can see is where i finished, you can see when you look at the whole piece how it gets better towards the end

 

looks like you need better gas coverage and need to turn the heat down some , but keep at it you will get better

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by B18C1CYA &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">looks like you need better gas coverage and need to turn the heat down some , but keep at it you will get better </TD></TR></TABLE>

x2

 

mad props, for the honda-tech young guys! you guys are so much more advanced than we were at yalls age, good job, keep it up and you will be awesome in no time

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by B18C1CYA &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">looks like you need better gas coverage and need to turn the heat down some , but keep at it you will get better </TD></TR></TABLE>

ya for the piping to flat surface i tried to stick out the tungsten a bit to help my arc control, would i just need to increase my gas pressure a bit? i was running a bit under 20.

Also i think it may be the angle of the pix because i get good penetration, and the welds are just a little higher than being flush with the metal surface on the flat piece.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by hondaboy4life &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

ya for the piping to flat surface i tried to stick out the tungsten a bit to help my arc control, would i just need to increase my gas pressure a bit? i was running a bit under 20.

Also i think it may be the angle of the pix because i get good penetration, and the welds are just a little higher than being flush with the metal surface on the flat piece.</TD></TR></TABLE>

you want only as much tungsten sticking out of the cup as needed , also use the cup that has the largest opening in it that you can , I would turn the heat down and your flow is good , just turn it down and move a little slower give that a try

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by hondaboy4life &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

ya for the piping to flat surface i tried to stick out the tungsten a bit to help my arc control, would i just need to increase my gas pressure a bit? i was running a bit under 20.

Also i think it may be the angle of the pix because i get good penetration, and the welds are just a little higher than being flush with the metal surface on the flat piece.</TD></TR></TABLE>

yeah, there were two things that stuck out to me. In some of the flat plate welds the heat affected zone is pretty wide and the welds have a flat gray look to them. That's why I agreed on less heat in the weld. If you look at your pipe to plate weld you can see alot more color and shine. Those welds are generally easier and bad gas coverage isn't so bad it seems in those types of welds. Possibly I assume because the argon tends to linger in the area better.

Before I got a gas lense my butt welds looked dirty, but my flange welds looked not great, but ok. Got the gas lense and all of a sudden everything brightened up, very shiny, nice color...basically the way it's supposed to be.

Some of the texture in the plate welds indicate contamination, which is why I went with the better gas coverage thought. I suppose that could be the cause for some of the flat gray look as well and maybe not so much the heat. Definitely both heat and coverage are a factor though.

I'm no expert though as I am self taught. I went through the same stages though...eventually you figure out what's what and everything comes together. Your on the right path.

 

i think for the flat peice which was 1/8th thickness i was around 69 amps? cant really remember tho. may have been more. for piping i weld at around 43 amps. The reason it also may be wide is i was using a pretty wide motion when doing those welds.

 

nice welds!

 

how do you know how many amps you use when you're welding if you control it with a pedal? I never really adjust my machine unless i'm doing something really thick or thin, or AC. Just watch what you are doing and feather the pedal accordingly. Thjats what it's for. You are too cold on all the starts on your beads and too hot everywhere else, are you just flooring it and thats why you know how many amps?

Also, dont bother trying to do any patterns or weaves, it tends to make for messy looking welds until you have more experiace under your belt. Just keep the torch angle constant and dab your filler with a nice rhythm, keeping the filler in the gas shield the whole time. For most types of weldments I just move the torch at a constant rate in a straight line.


Modified by Bailhatch at 12:05 AM 12/17/2006


Modified by Bailhatch at 12:07 AM 12/17/2006

 

I would weld a piece and adjust the amps until i thought the amps were right, then i would just floor it so i would get the amps i found. I will try playing with the pedal more. I have only been welding for a little bit so i'm still learning, and my teacher doesnt help me a ton he just sits in his office. Forgot to add that on some of the beads i went back over them using a motion, like fusing? just to see how that looks forgot to add that. When i was trying just not using a motion my beads were looking too cold/high, thats why i changed to using a motion. I will go back to trying just straight and play with the motion more.

 

to the "motion". Ditch it, just keep a steady pace and rhythm. Set your pedal higher than you think your going to use, then truly watch your puddle and adjust with your foot. You want to get used to using your foot as part of the process, not just flooring it, essentially taking your foot out of the equation. Set your amps high, then just roll into the heat until your puddle forms the way you want, then start adding filler and moving.

Another thing, is try to get away from welding on the middle of plates. To truly get good practice you need to be joining something. Middle of the plate welds are good for the first experience with the welder, but after that you want to try joining material.

 

i understand the whole use the pedal more concept and i will work on that next time i get to use a machine. I will also try to do a normal no motion bead. I have been joining seems, its just that i am using up all of the materials in the scrap bin and the teacher doesnt want me using anything else. I have mostly been practicing joining stainless piping, but just joined a bunch of square tubing during one class so maybe i'll try to get pictures of that.