Grade my 7018 vertical up-Picture.

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1/8" 7018 marquette rod old as hell been in a sealed metal tin container. just was fooling around practicing uphill on a piece of angle, 1/4" i believe. what do yall think? i have other pictures of entire weld but cant get them uploaded for some reason
Reply:It looks pretty close to me, but you need to hold the sides longer. It looks a little high and ropey, but a small pause would make it look better.
Reply:thanks bud. kind of what i thought after looking at it. but shell hold i think lol
Reply:You need to work on your consistency. Also as mentioned you need to hold the sides a bit longer and move quicker across the center.The area I circled in yellow shows the one small spot that I easily see where you got everything right for just a moment. Note the sides are filled more than the rest and the middle is even with the rest of the bead. The area circled in red shows the tall ropey look. The blue circles show here you didn't hold the sides at all and ended up with small gaps at the toe.I don't see any undercutting here. If I knew your settings, I could say if that's simply because you are doing some things right, or if it's more because your settings are a bit on the low side. Hard to say. I'd expect to see some signs of under cut along the edges if the heat was up where I'd run it the way the red area looks. That's almost a classic area of someone trying to do "timing" patterns and usually that means undercutting when the center is the height I see there.Overall it's not bad at all. You just need to work on some of the details. I can't really tell in that pict if you have figured out how to read the puddle or not yet. If not, that is the key to learning vertical up. You make changes in your weld based mostly on what you see the puddle doing and react appropriately to correct some of what I see in that pict. Once you have the "Ah Ha!" moment and it all clicks, things get a lot easier. Attached Images.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:not to bad, keep it up start stacking them up . weld ,weld weld then weld some more. then do it with the hand
Reply:thanks fellas. ill try turning heat up a bit and pausing a little longer
Reply:Don't mean to Jack your thread, but this is exactly where I am as well, but running 3/32 rod at 90A. I have been pausing a bit at the toes to avoid undercut and coming across quickly. Lower amps seems a bit cold starting and keeping a tight arc, and tall bead height. I'm still looking for the A-Ha moment.I see more the front and sides of the puddle moving with the rod as I tie the toes in, but not the shape of the rear of the puddle like in flat or horizontal, or even overhead.So, without the feedback on what happened a few seconds before, I'm not really able to adjust. I feel like I'm close but just not sure what I'm missing. Some looks pretty good but more like the red circle, but I also get that typical ripply toe blue circle by moving up to far or too fast.richT red circle looks more like his weave got more narrow with a little too much time in the center.Last edited by jtcnj; 12-30-2012 at 06:59 AM.Lincoln AC/DC 225/125 and WP17. 75A AC is for pipe thawing!HH 140 - new addtion 9/2012.I didn't agree, but hoped for Hope and Change.I got change for myself and my family: for the worse.This is the reality of: Barackalypse Now. Again.
Reply:Originally Posted by jtcnjI'm still looking for the A-Ha moment.I see more the front and sides of the puddle moving with the rod as I tie the toes in, but not the shape of the rear of the puddle like in flat or horizontal, or even overhead.So, without the feedback on what happened a few seconds before, I'm not really able to adjust. I feel like I'm close but just not sure what I'm missing. Some looks pretty good but more like the red circle, but I also get that typical ripply toe blue circle by moving up to far or too fast.richT red circle looks more like his weave got more narrow with a little too much time in the center.
Reply:did some more today. picture might make it look a little convex but it isnt
Reply:Looks better, but the pict is hard to see the edges well. The bottom looks a bit better on the edges than the top. The top still looks a bit humped, but it could be due to the way the lighting is on that part vs the bottom. I still see some slight signs of issues at the toes from the middle up, but it's hard to give good feedback from that picture. Most of this is probably minor adjustments though. I tend to be somewhat of a perfectionist when it comes to grading welds, and I know many times my welds look a lot better in person than they do when I shoot picts of them..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:Is welding a root pass with a 7018 allowed? Our teacher never let us run 7018 as a root. Always 6010
Reply:Originally Posted by joseph_zlnskIs welding a root pass with a 7018 allowed? Our teacher never let us run 7018 as a root. Always 6010
Reply:yeah i hear ya. some welds are hard to tell by pictures haha. but thanks for the reply dsw
Reply:Yep a school in southern Louisiana that produces pipe welder for the oil rigs. Aws code is always welding a 6010 root then 7018 fill and cap, xray, and off the boat it goes. Always pipe welding down there.
Reply:Different techniques for different work. You probably wouldn't find a can of 6010 on any bridge or highway job, or for structural work..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:I think it looks pretty decent. Like the others have stated, hold your sides. Count. 1.bang. Move across the middle just fast enough for the puddle to thin out across and hold the side. 2.bang. Allow the puddle to thicken up a bit then back across. 3.bang....and so on. Don't spend too much time in the middle. It will cause your weld to sag. I typically crank my heat up a bit and run most everything a tad bit hot. I like to run as fast as I can. Plus its always fun to have someone beside you or on the other side of the column racing. . Just keep practicing. Play with the heat. Turn it up and weld hot then turn it down and weld cold. Keep trying different things. Remember...we all weld different. What works for me may not work for you. Fiddle with it! Thanks for reading!
Reply:Never done that kind of work, just decorative and oilfield work. What would you do for bridge and structural welding for dot ect?
Reply:Originally Posted by jtcnjI'm still looking for the A-Ha moment.
Reply:I never had any experience in bridge or DOT work. Mostly industrial steel or plant work. Welding lots if I beams, channel, tube and angle. Hanging iron or building additions. All my test were all 3g 7018 with 1/8 gap and backing strip. Never had the opportunity to take a bridge test. I think that test is 1" plate with 1/8 gap no backing. Using only a wirebrush and chip hammer. I've been told its a bit more difficult. I don't really know for sure. Thanks for reading!
Reply:Originally Posted by DSWThe reason behind this is so you actually see the puddle "chase" the arc and try to notice when the arc and puddle meet.
Reply:Sounds about right, but tonight I'm just not visualizing things in my brain as well as I'd like to for some reason. Part of it is most likely because I probably do at least 100 vertical mig welds for every 1 vertical stick weld I do. All I can "see" in my mind is what the mig welds look like tonight. Also each stick rod has it's own individual "look" to me when I run a bead, so a 6010 bead won't look the same as a 7018 bead.This is one of the hardest things about welding. How do I explain to you what I personally am seeing. It's like trying to explain "red" I can explain "maroon" or "pink" to you if you understand "red", but if all you know is blue and green, you have no reference to work from. If anything it's easier to show than try and type an explanation. I can run beads and tell you where and what to watch as I make the correct moves. All you have to do is look at the puddle until you suddenly see whatever it takes so you can duplicate the results. Whether we are "seeing" the same thing, or you've keyed in to some different parameters, doesn't really matter if you get the right results. Many guys never really learn "why" they do what they do. It makes them a poor choice for an instructor. They simply go on autopilot and make good welds. The mechanics aren't something they ever think about.Last edited by DSW; 12-31-2012 at 02:12 AM..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:Originally Posted by richTthanks bud. kind of what i thought after looking at it. but shell hold i think lol
Reply:Originally Posted by MikeGyverlol if you ever hear "she ain't pretty but she'll hold" from a welder, run away.
Reply:They saying I've heard the most down here in the sound is " sturdy before pertty"  a redneck version.
Reply:Hi. I'm wondering if the technique for vertical up mig is much the same as stick ? Thanks  ',Originally Posted by JoseyHi. I'm wondering if the technique for vertical up mig is much the same as stick ? Thanks  ',