Best way to practice vertical stick

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I was was wondering what the best way to practice vertical up with 7018.  Currently doing 3/32 on t joint at 80 amps doing stringers.  Are 3/32 easier to run than 1/8.  Am I better off doing t's laps or  just a flat plate.  I've tried just running stringers on a flat plate but that seems harder than the joints. Whats the most cost effective way as far as metal goes I've been buy 2 in by 1/4 flat stock but a lot seems to go to waste.  Not sure if I can find a place for scrap pieces..
Reply:I run a lot of 1/8" and 5/32" 7018. Make yourself a 90 inside corner with two pieces I plate and fill it up with weld using your weld as the corner until the piece is filled up
Reply:I always use a z weave motion when welding vertical up with 7018. I'll run stringers in every position but vertical up. Vertical up is a weave for me.JasonLincoln Idealarc 250 stick/tigThermal Dynamics Cutmaster 52Miller Bobcat 250Torchmate CNC tableThermal Arc Hefty 2Ironworkers Local 720
Reply:My stringers are just a very tight weave doing vertical up. At most my side to side motion is just a wiggle.As far as material savings we usually "stack" the plates at the tech school to get the most out of the material. 1st weld the plates as a T. That gives you 2 fillet for 2 pieces of stock. Then add a 2nd cross piece so you get an H shape, or a + shape. Now you get 2 more fillets but only add one more piece of stock. Continue in this manner until it's too cumbersome to work with. |-|-|-|-| etc. You can also do stacked beads on each joint once you get the 1st pass down. run 2 over lapping ones over the 1st one, then 3 over that, or possibly a weave over the 2. This is good practice for beveled joints or multi pass fillets as well as maximizing materials. We have students save their 1st runs, so they can reuse them for the overlapping beads stage later.We don't do a lot of plain beads on plate vertical. They are tough to get to look good. Once a student is consistent, we move them to overlapping beads to layer the plate. That gives the most practice with the least material and is a good set up for lap joints. Laps we stack like stairs and have the students tack both sides before running the welds. The keeps the back joint from opening up and making those welds harder to do. We teach Laps 1st, then T's. Then outside corners and finally beveled but joints..No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. Government programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this earth! Ronald Reagan
Reply:For 98% of jobs weaving is perfectly acceptable. Use T joints but cool them off every couple of passes.
Reply:I've been doing + never thought adding a plate to each end thanks.
Reply:Originally Posted by DSWMy stringers are just a very tight weave doing vertical up. At most my side to side motion is just a wiggle.As far as material savings we usually "stack" the plates at the tech school to get the most out of the material. 1st weld the plates as a T. That gives you 2 fillet for 2 pieces of stock. Then add a 2nd cross piece so you get an H shape, or a + shape. Now you get 2 more fillets but only add one more piece of stock. Continue in this manner until it's too cumbersome to work with. |-|-|-|-| etc. You can also do stacked beads on each joint once you get the 1st pass down. run 2 over lapping ones over the 1st one, then 3 over that, or possibly a weave over the 2. This is good practice for beveled joints or multi pass fillets as well as maximizing materials. We have students save their 1st runs, so they can reuse them for the overlapping beads stage later.We don't do a lot of plain beads on plate vertical. They are tough to get to look good. Once a student is consistent, we move them to overlapping beads to layer the plate. That gives the most practice with the least material and is a good set up for lap joints. Laps we stack like stairs and have the students tack both sides before running the welds. The keeps the back joint from opening up and making those welds harder to do. We teach Laps 1st, then T's. Then outside corners and finally beveled but joints.
Reply:The smaller rods should be easier to make look good. Weave is easier to make look than a vertical up stringer. Many guys have good luck doing a weave by pausing at the right side then moving to the left and pausing again, no pause in the middle. If you want to learn to make a good looking stringer start out with the weave until you get a nice looking weld, then turn the machine down a few amps and make you weld just a little bit narrower. Continue this making welds that keep getting narrower and you will eventually be making a nice looking narrow stringer. I think even a narrow one requires a little left right movement even it the movement only manipulates rod angle slightly.The worst thing I can think of happening is if everything I ever welded instantly became UNWELDED
Reply:jarrs05Weave: dwell/push/bounce - dwell/push/bounce - over a root/bead.Reserve your heat with 'hand' - and monitor thermal-gradient.Opus
Reply:z weave for me to! i like to do a stringer for the first pass then a weave over the stringer.
Reply:Yeah was having trouble on the first pass so I do that and then do two more over it.  I think I'm going to do a weave over that.  You can't do a weave on the first pass realy can you?  I usually try a little side to sidemotion maybe a half rod with each side.Last edited by jarrs05; 03-16-2015 at 07:49 AM.
Reply:Originally Posted by jarrs05You can't do a weave on the first pass realy can you?
Reply:I use something very similar to what CEP suggests.Sometimes, due to what the puddle is doing, the top of the triangle looks more like an arc, and sometimes the top of the triangle is more exaggerated.I know it sounds trite, but as you have probably already been told, learn to watch the puddle.Uphill, I watch the bottom edge of the puddle, trying to keep the shape of it the same as I go up.Watch the puddle as you intentionally go too slowly, and again, as you intentionally go too rapidly, and then note the results in the finished weld.Watch what effect it has on the puddle(and the finished weld) when you hold a longer arc, and then again when you hold a shorter arc.Do the same with rod angle.I know intentionally messing up seems counterproductive, but it helps teach how to manipulate the rod and the puddle to get the desired result.It also helps you recognize when something is starting to go south - usually the molten puddle, and how to react to it immediately.Last edited by geezerbill; 03-16-2015 at 11:01 AM.Hobart Beta-Mig 2511972 Miller AEAD-200LEMiller 250 TwinNorthern Ind. Hybrid 200Longevity Stick 140Longevity Migweld 200SThermal Arc Pak 3XR
Reply:Originally Posted by geezerbillI use something very similar to what CEP suggests.Sometimes, due to what the puddle is doing, the top of the triangle looks more like an arc, and sometimes the top of the triangle is more exaggerated.I know it sounds trite, but as you have probably already been told, learn to watch the puddle.Uphill, I watch the bottom edge of the puddle, trying to keep the shape of it the same as I go up.Watch the puddle as you intentionally go too slowly, and again, as you intentionally go too rapidly, and then note the results in the finished weld.Watch what effect it has on the puddle(and the finished weld) when you hold a longer arc, and then again when you hold a shorter arc.Do the same with rod angle.I know intentionally messing up seems counterproductive, but it helps teach how to manipulate the rod and the puddle to get the desired result.It also helps you recognize when something is starting to go south - usually the molten puddle, and how to react to it immediately.