First weld advice request

admin

Finally got my Hobart Handler 187 hooked up and running. Tried first weld with .030 flux core wire set at 40 wire speed and 6 for power. All I had to practice on was an old hitch that is 3/8" thick. Cut with chop saw and bevelled both sides. This is the first weld after 2 passes before and after grinding. Please give me advice to improve. Attached Images
Reply:LOOKS like  you need more heat, and a steadier hand.  Please chip the slag off so we can see the weld.One more pass on each side would have filled the groove better.A good startDavid Real world weldin.  When I grow up I want to be a tig weldor.
Reply:I think the steady hand will take a bit of work.  Can i make a third pass after grinding. I surprised myself that I did better than I thought I would.  Weld seems strong as I stomped on it a few times to test it.Thought I would get more criticism. Don' hold back. Got more metal scraps tonight so will practice more tomorrow. Thinner stuff this time to try corners and stuff.
Reply:It's tough to critque a weld that you can not see under the slag.Use both hands to get a steady movement and get comfortable. If you don't have to weld in an awkward position why do it? Sit, rest your elbows on the table, do what you need to be comfortable to weld.I'll assume taht you cleaned the weld well between passes. You can see the area that didn't fill where you ground. I dont see a lot of holes in the weld so that looks good.Keep it up and just keep practicing. Good luck.
Reply:Those slag pockets I see in the weld that was ground down, I would take the edge of the grinder and grind those clear out then fill back in. I realize it's just a practice weld, but I think gouging out is part of the practice. Good opportunity to see what can be done.
Reply:I didn't clean the slag between welds, I know now to do that next time. Is a wire brush good for that? Thanks for the advice and help. I realize that I have a lot to learn.
Reply:Patience and attention to detail is sometines the hardest part of welding. What little slag there is with flux core just falls right off after it cools a bit. Just rake it with anything metal and clean up with a wire brush or wire cup. Even a minute is a long time to wait when you are practicing on one small piece tho. When the metal is super clean and you're running good there may not be any more than dust for slag. But there are always times when you get slag trapped. When that happens the only way I feel good about it is when I grind it right down to clean and fill 'er back up.
Reply:Originally Posted by bobcat7  Weld seems strong as I stomped on it a few times to test it..
Reply:Watch the puddle while your welding, make sure your melting into both sides and flowing the puddle together in the middle. Did you grind the paint/rust off before starting? If not you should.If you don't want to stand behind our Troops, feel free to stand in front of them.
Reply:also.."If there's Slag, Drag"With Fluxcore you want to drag the gunEd Conleyhttp://www.screamingbroccoli.com/MM252MM211 (Sold)Passport Plus & Spool gunLincoln SP135 Plus- (Gone to a good home)Klutch 120v Plasma cutterSO 2020 benderBeer in the fridge
Reply:What do you mean by dragging the gun?  I took it slow and tried to weave side to side as the joint was bevelled.  Will practoce again tomorrow.
Reply:Fluxcore:Start((((((((((((((((((((((((((endStart on the left and move right so the bead follows behind. If you push then you are pushing the Slag IN TO the bead. Or start on the right and drag to the leftWith Solid Wire and gas you'll Push the gunEnd (((((((((((((((((((((((((((( StartYou can Push or Pull with Solid wire for what we do.Ed Conleyhttp://www.screamingbroccoli.com/MM252MM211 (Sold)Passport Plus & Spool gunLincoln SP135 Plus- (Gone to a good home)Klutch 120v Plasma cutterSO 2020 benderBeer in the fridge
Reply:Originally Posted by bobcat7What do you mean by dragging the gun?  I took it slow and tried to weave side to side as the joint was bevelled.  Will practoce again tomorrow.
Reply:very much what SWells said--learn to look for the puddle and watch what it does.it becomes the bead.
Reply:Slow down on your travel speed.  When you have the 'right' combination of voltage, wire feed speed (amperage) and travel speed (how fast you are moving the gun/puddle along), you will (or should) have the bead look like (((((((((((((((or <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<Not ((< <(<  (   (< (  etcTry for a smooth even steady movement (just straight line, no need for circles or ovals or figure-8s or whatever) of the gun as you make the weld.  Your weld is humped-up and then dipped down and not uniform in width or height/depth.Also, the edges (the "toes") of the weld should smoothly melt into the existing metal as you are welding along.  That is what ties everything together, the arc melting some of the existing metal on one side of the joint and also on the other side while melting the filler metal (the wire or electrode or filler) so that weld has 'become one with the metal'.  If you have the weld bead not melting into the parent metal, you have insufficient heat aka lack of fusion aka cold-lap.Also, related to the heat issue, is that 0.030 FCAW wire is a-bit- on the thin side to weld 3/8 inch thick steel.  The wire will melt, but is there enough heat during the arc to sufficiently melt the parent metal and allow that small puddle of molten steel to become 'one' with the metal on both sides of the joint.  Even with mulit-pass welding, where you are filling a big/bigger joint between the pieces, you have to have enough heat going into the arc and the metal to make sure all the metal in the joint area melts together (some from one side and some from the other side and some from the previous bead and the molten filler all need to melt together).  Usually 0.035 FCAW wire is iffy on 3/8 inch thick material, and 0.045 wire would be a better 'match'.  Because you can only push so many amps through a wire, the 0.030 sort of tops out at around a voltage/speed setting of 6/40 on your machine on 1/4 inch thick material using multipass.  And you said you were running 6/40 onto 3/8 thick material, which is 50% thicker than the 1/4 inch material that the parameter chart for your machine says is max for 0.30 FCAW wire.Yes, to using a wire brush (hand held or grinder-powered) to remove the slag.As Sandy mentioned above, take your grinder and grind a groove along the practice weld until you have clean smooth solid metal.  Then weld a bead and smoothly fill the groove up, ensuring that the bead melts into the existing metal all around it (left, right, and bottom).  You didn't have huge bubbles in the center of the ground down weld, but you have some low spots and pits and such.Read and look at the pictures of welds and problems/issues with welds at the Lincoln or Miller or ESAB websites.  Or the Hobart site as well.  And practice, practice, practice.  The best laid schemes ... Gang oft agley ...
Reply:Rojo and Moon just told you all you need to know for getting started at this. Learn to run stringer beads first. Get good and consistent with them, Once you can do that then you can start worrying about weaves and such. When you get into that you open yourself up to a whole new set of concerns and even more potential for defects.Welding is an acquired skill and takes years of practice to master. Just keep practicing and don't get discouraged when one doesn't turn out like you want it to. We are seasoned pros and every now and then we make one we don't want anyone to know we did. I moan about the ones I think are ugly and my business partner gives me a rash about how he wishes he could make them that ugly.The difference between art and craft is the quality of the workmanship. I am an artist.