Tips or comment on my poor vertical welding, please.

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I've been in a local night welding class at a community college and have learned a lot, its helped seeing the different processes and seeing proper welds to compare to, the instructor is a good welder but not much of an instructor. I've been trying to practice vertical welds by making multiple passes on 2 - 3/8" plates tacked in a V, and stacking beads beside and on top of each other.These are with 1/8" 7018 at 105 amp, DCEP. Its been getting better each time, at first the beads were terrible, big drips and gaps. I think these would be better if I could keep straighter and more consistent. I'd like to hear any tips you would share. Thanks. Attached ImagesAC thunderbolt 22542i longevity PlasmaThermal Arc 211i
Reply:When I weld vertical up with 7018 I use a slight side to side oscillation with my rod. You pause slightly on each side as you move up. That fills any undercut that may happen. Keep your arc short.JasonLincoln Idealarc 250 stick/tigThermal Dynamics Cutmaster 52Miller Bobcat 250Torchmate CNC tableThermal Arc Hefty 2Ironworkers Local 720
Reply:Bury the tip of the rod in the puddle so that it feels like you're dragging it on the metal. Get comfortable, prop your stinger hand so it's steady. Stay at 90 degrees straight in or a slight push angle.Keep your travel speed steady and consistent. Do some dry runs before you start so you can get a feel of what you're doing. 105-115 is a good range. Just practice. It takes work, but it ain't hard.
Reply:My guess is you are having the same typical issue most guys have when they hit vertical. You haven't really learned to read the puddle yet. Most guys can get by on flat and horizontal doing "timing patterns", but that doesn't work on vertical.As mentioned when doing filets like you are a slight oscillation side to side helps. You need to watch the puddle and wait until the puddle catches up to the arc, and then quickly cross the center and wait again until the puddle catches up to the arc. What happens when you do a timing pattern is that lets say you spend a count of "1" on the left, then swing across  for "1" to the right and pause for "1" again before swinging back across the center for "1" again to where you started. Problem is you spent "1" on the left, "1" on the right, and "2" ( 1+1) in the center and it's droopy. speed up and then what happens is that you get the middle under control, but have undercut on the sides because you didn't wait for the puddle to fill in what the arc melted out.If you watch the puddle and learn to read it, all this takes care of itself. I've probably done at least a dozen posts on this for others. Google Weldingweb, DSW, vertical stick, timing pattern and you will be able to find these easier than using the sites search engine..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:Thanks for the tips.I haven't gotten the slight oscillation movement down yet, my side to side movement always ends up touching the sides and digging in. Keeping the tip of the rod steady and consistent moving up always gives me trouble, I seem to always get hung up dragging the lead or getting caught on the corner of the piece. I'll have to work on that more, I'll try some dry runs.I see when I get the puddle develops well and think of it as its chasing me, I try to keep that going but when I lose it I don't always get it back right away but now after reading your suggestions I think my arc is too big when it's tough to get a good puddle back chasing me.Thanks for the help, more practice tomorrow. While the steel and rods are free AC thunderbolt 22542i longevity PlasmaThermal Arc 211i
Reply:Another thing I find guys do is make their movements too big. They try to go slow and thus have to go up a fair amount with each sequence. That tends to have issues where the toes end up with "gaps" or you end up with droopy welds from too much material. Instead try to go side to side faster moving up a fraction of an inch each time.I do a super exaggerated "weave" ( 3" across) for students to get them to see what happens when I pause and wait for the puddle to catch up to the arc before I switch and head back the other way. Once they say they can see that, I do another one that is maybe 1" wide and ask if they can still see that. If they can, then I drop down to maybe 1/4" wide and by that time I'm usually over and back before they really pick up what I'm doing. Drop down to 1/8" wide and it looks like more of a wiggle side to side than anything else, but I'm still watching the puddle fill and waiting until the puddle catches up to the arc. Because the motions are so small and I move up less than a 1/16" each time, most guys wouldn't realize what I'm doing If I hadn't done the bigger versions at a slower pace..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:As you oscillate side to side, you see the arc digging in as you touch each side. That's undercut of the parent metal developing.  To remedy that, simply keep a short arc and pause for a second there. That allows you to fill in the undercut of the parent metal with weld. Having your machine set at the correct heat (amperage) is a must also.JasonLincoln Idealarc 250 stick/tigThermal Dynamics Cutmaster 52Miller Bobcat 250Torchmate CNC tableThermal Arc Hefty 2Ironworkers Local 720
Reply:If you can, practice with 3/32. It's a little easier to control, and easier to see what DSW is talking about. You may have to choke up on the rod to help with the wobbles.         Rick