Vertical Down Welds and Destructive Tests

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Ok, I took advice form everyone and did another set of vertical down welds.This time I only placed a small tack in the middle of the side I was welding.Material: 1/8" Mild SteedWelder: Lincoln Pro Mig 175Method: MIGThe recommend settings on my welder for .135 wire is E 7.5. I turned up the wire speed to 8.5 and let it rip.I have a welding video that sates vertical down is ok as long at you crank up the heat and stay ahead of the weld pool. I did not have another higher heat setting so I kicked up the wire speed and kept a short stick out.Both welds passed the 20 ton press test.  I smashed them as flat as they would go!Below are the pics.  Hope this helps others. Attached ImagesLast edited by malich; 04-09-2005 at 01:31 PM.
Reply:Looks pretty good.  I'd recommend that if you do two sets like that, fold one over one way and the other over the other way so that you can stress the weld both ways (if that makes sense).
Reply:Definitely:  Good enough for the girls I go with :'))
Reply:Alrighty!!! Can't do much more than that. A guy doesn't really know what's going on till you see it for yourself.
Reply:P.S.Thanks for the pics. It sorta helps as a stare and compare as to what others are doing. Kind of a common point for discussion purposes.
Reply:What kind of motion did you use? And what angle did you hold your gun at?  I just had a weld test and interview today, and they made me do a .045 MCAW weld, in the flat position a horizontal t-joint, a single pass from edge to edge and then a 3 pass from the middle to one end, and I pretty much aced that. He was impressed with the first part of the test, I know.  Second, he wanted to see an inside corner downhand weld, and I totally forgot to use a side to side motion and just went straight down at about 10 degrees. My weld was slightly concave as a result of not using any motion, but I still felt pretty good about the second part of the test.  I'm really hoping that I get the job, after the walk around of the facility, I was pretty impressed. They're running a pretty good setup, and they've got fairly new Lincoln machines, and I also saw a few Hobart machines I think. I also noticed two brand new Lincoln S500's, and damn, I had the chance to weld on an S500 at a previous job, and I fell in love with it, so I'm really hoping that I get that machine, lol.
Reply:Vertical down I use about 45 degrees up on the gun and side to side motion.  Concave is to be expected and vertical down on sheet under 1/8th is usually a seal weld rather than a structural weld.  Commonly used for guards, covers, and for the inside corner of chutes carrying grain or other materials where you don't want a convex causing material to cling or hang up.   Note, downhand is a weld on the flat.  Downhill weld is I think what you mean.