Hi guys, just want to say that these forums have been a tremendous source of information, a lot of you guys are extremely knowledgeable. This was a piece of 1/8" flat fillet welded to 1/8" wall 2x2 tubing. Miller 211 supplied by 110v (got a date with an electrician to install a 230v receptacle and a 50 amp breaker). C25 gas at abt 30 cfh, voltage on 7, wire speed 50, .030 hobart er70s-6, dragging the gun using cursive "e"s. The reason there were starts and stops in the weld was the breaker kept popping. And the reason the piece looks a bit beat up is because I was bashing the snot out of it with a 6 lb sledge trying to make it break. And I know it doesn't look like it but the mill scale was removed where the actual weld is. Let me know what I can do to improve! Attached Images
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ractice!! Haha, look really good man, just work on your consistency a little...[Account Abandoned 8/8/16 Please Do Not Attempt Contact Or Expect A Reply]. See you on YouTube! -ChuckE2009
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ooks like cold lap on the bottom there - make sure you are tying in to both pieces.Hobart LX235Victor 250 Oxy-Acetylene Rig (welding and cutting)Bobcat 773F-350, 1999, 4x4, 16' 10K# trailerOutdoor Wood Burner - 10 cords/year
Reply:I see what you're saying there, gwiley, like it isn't tapering into the base, right? It looked okay until I started beating it with the hammer, bending the flat stock back and forth.
Reply:Originally Posted by ARexpatI see what you're saying there, gwiley, like it isn't tapering into the base, right? It looked okay until I started beating it with the hammer, bending the flat stock back and forth.
Reply:yep crank the volts up a bit and u'll be fine
Reply:My impression is that the weld looks decent, I don't see any problem.Apparently beating the weldment with a sledge did propagage a crack along the lower toe of the bead, in the heat affected zone (HAZ). The HAZ of a steel weld undergoes some grain coarsening which can reduce ductility, and the HAZ is cooled somewhat rapidly by the adjacent base metal which can produce a narrow zone of increased hardness and reduced ductility particularly if the carbon (or alloy) content of the steel is high making the it more readily hardenable. Additionally, moisture or hydrocarbon contamination can lead to embrittlement and classically underbead cracking in higher strength steels. So, it's hard to say what contributed to this joint failure along the lower toe, but attention to cleanliness, some preheat and slow post weld cooling could be a benefit if you were to fabricate something from this same steel.
Reply:Originally Posted by puty72yep crank the volts up a bit and u'll be fine
Reply:dragging the gun using cursive "e"s Try pushing and see what happens It kind of preheats the steel too before the weld goes down.Last edited by dcc432; 03-02-2011 at 09:14 PM.
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ooks good to me.......wets out good and no undercut........ Miller Dynasty 350Twenty Six HammersThree Crow BarsBig Rock
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ulser, next time I get a chance I'll do a little preheating and see how that affects this same kind of joint. Dcc432, I see what you're saying about pushing instead of dragging, it's sort of like the heat "snowballs" huh? Is there any standard rule of thumb for when you want to push as opposed to drag the gun? B_C, I have a vague idea of what undercut is but I'm unsure of the meaning of "wet" in this context.Also, if you sectioned out this weld and looked at it from the side, the bead would appear to be convex, not so much so that it's a blob sitting on top of the base, but just more convex than concave. I was under the (perhaps incorrect) impression that a concave bead makes a better joint. Is that right? If so, any tips on acheiving this? My first impression is that you should spend more time at the apex and at the trough of the "cursive e" and move faster between the two. Thanks guys!
Reply:The reason why the weld cracked was because you're aiming the gun more so at the top plate and you have about 80% of the weld metal there. You have very little filler at the bottom, so hitting the bottom with a hammer, will do what it did. (crack) The angle that the weld was put it, and would make sense to put a weld into the bottom plate under the top weld. Typically, it would be a root pass, then then a two cap pass: one at the bottom, then one above to. With this however, it just needs a pass at the bottom andcthe weld will be good.
Reply:AR :The "WET" thing.... I try to scrutenize my stick welds each time I make one. I notice that if I usejust a little less than optimal current the weld is a little more convex and taller + rounder in crosssection but a smaller detail .... if I look REALLY closely at the weld toes I can usualy notice verytiny little step where the weld edge meets the base material. It often looks only a few thousants tall. Once I raise the current just a little and do another bead I can see the bead laying a littleless concave - a nice fluid and smooth look to the bead texyure And the little step at the toe will go away and where it was will look like a smooth "wet" transition - like wet paint that hardened.I think this little step is the edge of the bead which hasn't fully intermingled with the base. I canvisualise that when the bead is stressed (Mr. Sledge ! ) that little step is like the top of a zipper.Pull hard enough and she unzips. I'm not sure how this helps you to get your adjustments closerto ideal but if you hit ideal maybe this will help identify it. ( I hate mig - don't do much mig -so I am of no help on adjustments.... sorry ) If my beads look concave I slow down a little to plump them up a little more. I try to get fillets about flat - neither concave or convex. I'm still learning stickso maybe someone else can correct anything if I have given you twisted logic !
Reply:Originally Posted by ARexpatPulser, next time I get a chance I'll do a little preheating and see how that affects this same kind of joint. Dcc432, I see what you're saying about pushing instead of dragging, it's sort of like the heat "snowballs" huh? Is there any standard rule of thumb for when you want to push as opposed to drag the gun? B_C, I have a vague idea of what undercut is but I'm unsure of the meaning of "wet" in this context.Also, if you sectioned out this weld and looked at it from the side, the bead would appear to be convex, not so much so that it's a blob sitting on top of the base, but just more convex than concave. I was under the (perhaps incorrect) impression that a concave bead makes a better joint. Is that right? If so, any tips on acheiving this? My first impression is that you should spend more time at the apex and at the trough of the "cursive e" and move faster between the two. Thanks guys!
Reply:Hey guys, I got some more samples for your scrutinization. More 1/8" flat and 11ga 2x2 sq tube. Miller 211 on 110v, C25 @ 35ish cfh, voltage at 7, hobart .030 er70s-6, turned wire speed down to 40. I'm more satisfied with these beads as opposed to the ones I posted previously. They exhibit a much more concave rather than convex profile. I'm still getting the hang of getting a good profile at the beginning of the weld (left end, dragging the gun), though. It's kind of hard to tell from the picture but it's almost as if the wire is "bunching up" on top of the parent metal at the beginning of the joint before it starts to "wet out" further in the bead. I know the first one has some consistency issues also. The last two pictures are the same bead. Attached Images
Reply:Other than a good rhythm and a bit too much wire speed for me it looks fine.....I'm not a mig guy but have done my share through the years and kinda like to burn the weld in a bit more than your sample......But looks OK to me... Miller Dynasty 350Twenty Six HammersThree Crow BarsBig Rock
