hey guys. i'm new to welding as a bunch of you know. my beads are getting pretty good. i uploaded some pictures to show you. however, i'm not sure if i have enough penetration. to be honest i'm not 100% sure what it's supposed to look like so i also uploaded some pictures of the back side. tell me what you think. 1/8 inch mild steel plates with a bevel on both sides, machine set to 55-60 amps. tell me what you think on both the beads and the back sides.

thanks
brian

 

you need more bevel id say.
depends on application really.
as to bead, looks ok except first picture. the holes are bad. either you dipped the tungsten in, or did not add filler there

 

Ya I get thoes holes from time to time not to sure why or what i did to get them but it's only like my 10th butt-joint even so i should just get better in time. What do you mean by depends on application really ?

 

Start with a bigger gap before welding it. I would weld closer to 100a too.

 

 

Make wider/deeper bevels. Also add more filler rod, cause from pics posted I can see that the joints are not filled properly. I know it is hard sometimes to fill joint good, but keep at it Also try to use at least 70amps or more.

About penetration - you can see in last two pics on left, there is full penetration, you want everything to look like that.

Good luck!

 

to avoid the fish eye holes at your stops, let the pedal off slowly (rather than abruptly) while adding filler at the same time and even try dragging the torch a very short distance (1 or 2 ripples) in the opposite direction while doing this. also be sure to hold your torch over your weld pool for the full post flow time.

 

^^^ thanks for the tip, I've always wondered how I could get rid of the little holes at the end of my welds. I find alum. is worse then SS for this, but I sometimes get it on both. I'll give that a try.

 

HAHA how did I know Michael Scott was gonna show up lol Thanks to everyone who replyed I will try and do some more welding sometime this week and ill start with a little gap which i have never done and I was turn the amps up along with making the bevels deeper. So stay tuned i'll post up some pics sometime soon hopfully if anyone has anygood tips about the beads or anything really feel free to post them.

Thanks again
Brian

 

You could try "knife" edge bevel... just bevel until the is no "land" - just an edge, then sand it a bit down, to get just a slight "land", and you should be good to go without anykind of gap penetrating fully with 70-80amps.

 

never enough PENETRATION.... sorry had to

 

Golfball lol it's ok i think its funny..... RadekSkylark i'm trying to follow but i'm not sure i totally understand do you possibly have a picture. I'm not sure what a knife edge bevel is lol sorry i'm a noob i know

 

When you do a bevel on a pipe or plate, the flat face is called the land. A knife edge bevel is basically a really small land, approx 1/32" wide.

 

Everythings fine

Maybe this picture will help:



Thats the way I beveled pipe. You can see that it has like a sharp edge, you bevel it like this, then sand that sharp edge just a little bit of, so that you have a little flat spot to be able to position you material one by another

Hope you get what I mean

Good luck!

 

Little circles with the torch as you back off the pedal and keep adding a little bit of filler is what I was taught to stop craters.

 

OK thanks I think i know what you guys are talking about. I will try and take pics of the bevels and the welds when ever i do them. I havent been able to do any cutting/ grinding due to weather. Its been raining and unfortunelly I have to prepare all my metal outdoors.

Thanks again
Brian