secret to a nice bead ??

admin

alright dont beat me up to bad this is only my second time on the welder each time i was on it for about 10 minutes.....how do you get a nice pretty bead like ))))))  i know it takes practice but what movement should i be doing just up and down or just dragging it along or    also i used some 6011 rods they worked better but i think my metal was too thin it was 1/8" also when i see the puddle it seems to just splatter outward from the stick uncontrollably  ??
Reply:well try slowing down and keep the tip of rod closer to the workChuckASME Pressure Vessel welder
Reply:The secret is.....Practice!DavidReal world weldin.  When I grow up I want to be a tig weldor.
Reply:Very well put...
Reply:practice.  i practice 10-12 hours a day at fitting and welding with miles to go!
Reply:Try starting out with a simple rod like 6013 or 7014 until you start to get a feel for what is going on. These are called drag rods and you just keep the rod down on the plate and moving at a cont pace. Like the others said practice, practice, practice. After the first 10 or 12 lbs of rod it will start to look beter. Also I found that longer practice sessions helped at first. It usually took me 5-10 min to get back to where I was the last time I tried when I started. That said, Don't push it stop and take a break when you start to get tired.
Reply:Splitshot welcome and all the input is good advice, let me throw my two cents in the circle. Every aspect of a good bead/ good weldment is important. Lets step back a moment and look at it, I know it is only practice but you need reasonably good steel pieces to practice on, so I would recommend going to a steel yard and asking for the scrap pile. Look for some pieces that might be 6x6x 3/8”. You might just look for one piece 2’x4’ to use as a work surface place it on some saw horses or what ever ya got. Begin your practice by cleaning your steel up with wire brush or abrasive disc the surface should be free of paint and mill scale (dull gray coating) it should look silver. DSW suggested drag rods 7014 or I like 7024 1/8” which is a flat position drag rod. Take a piece of steel and run stringer beads (parallel beads) one bead should be approx.. one stick. Allow your work piece to cool (set it aside) take another piece and alternate. The slag should flake off easily. Clean the surface after each bead. You can’t weld what you can’t see, meaning you need to position your head (nose out of the fumes) to be able to see the puddle if you need magnification lens use em I do. Focus your attention on the puddle which forms the “angry eye” it looks like a glowing cross section of a human eye ball the cornea moves around with the movement of the rod, at first just pull it along with the rod tip (go slow). Good luck hope this helps I didn’t go into travel angle, work angle heat settings etc you can get this out of a good welding book.
Reply:60/11 rods are hard to weld with and ur to hot just try draging ur stick in the straight line back
Reply:thanks for all the help i am going to the scrap yard then practice some more this weekend hopefully
Reply:The secret is no secret... its practice.An autodarkening helmet is a tremendous help also...The Welder Shop has great deals and reviews on Hobart, Miller and Lincoln Welders.
Reply:Splitshot, the other guys here know loads more than I do - I'm just a hobby welder - but here's what I do if I want a good looking bead.Apart from having clean steel etc etc, think of 'two steps forward, one step back'. So I drag the rod along a bit, and then push it back. Drag it along, push it back. And so on.That's how I get the ))))))) pattern.I've no idea whether this makes a strong weld - I don't make things that get towed or that people walk on.Scott
Reply:So you really don't need to weave a 6011 rod back and forth?I have not welded in about 18 years, So I need lots of helpHobart Stickmate AC/DC (Present from my wife)
Reply:6010 can be run in a stringer fashion, or whipped back and forth.  TRY both and see what works for you.DavidReal world weldin.  When I grow up I want to be a tig weldor.
Reply:Splitshot, All the advice I've read here looks good. If you are just starting to learn, It's difficult to fully understand everything the guys are saying. From the picture, it looks like you have a piece of mild steel about 2 inches wide, 1/8th inch thick and a foot long.  I use 6011 rods almost exclusively in my work. On AC, they give good penetration and allow you to produce strong welds with one pass. From the look of the bead in your picture, as mentioned before, you are too hot. Set the amps at about 80 or 90 for mild steel 1/8th inch thick. If you are welding the material out in mid air, you will blow a hole through the metal at higher amp settings. When you describe how the arc behaves as in spreading out and not going to the weld site, there are two important factors you  should look at. If the arc length is greater than 1/8th inch, you will get that, and if the flux coating on the rod is cracked due to age, you will also get that arc spreading.  Practice. The post about getting close enough to see the molten metal going into the base metal is worth another look. Good advice there. When I first started, there was always the talk of the sound of the arc. I don't know if that is still part of the discussion,  but when the arc hums, it's too long and you will get the chicken $hit look on your weld and no penetration. When you hear the snap-crackle-pop, or the sound of frying eggs, you are getting a good bead. I like to wiggle the rod tip at the arc mainly so I can see where the molten metal is going. I am really near sighted, and I see this as an advantage because without my glasses, I have to get really close to the weld site when I'm working, about six inches. The work is realy magnified when you get that close. Yes, I change a lot of plastic protective covers. I scrub the brown stains off with metal polish. Molten metal embeds itself into glass, but bounces off plastic (lexan). Keep practicing. Try vertical up, vertical down, and upside down. Play with your heat settings. Get a good set of leather protective covers. If you can find a leather jacket with a hood, get it. Hot sparks will go into your ears when you are workinig upside down. Been there...  WWQ
Reply:i learned at school by running straight beads on 1/4" thick plate, one layer going side to side, next going top to bottom, next going side to side, etc.,  until the pile of beads was about an inch or so thick. i used 6010 on the first layer, then 6011, then 7018 (i think it was 7018... it was 701 "sumpthin'"). then go back to 6010. it was s long process, but it got done. brush/chip/POUND the slag off between each bead to make sure you get good fusion. i was able to drag the rod... i felt resistance when i dragged the rod over the plate... and it seemed to work great for me. i didn;t take any pictures, but the instructor said they were amazing for a first timer.in short, take your time, do be afraid of the heat, and just do it. from what it looks like there (compared to other guys in my classes), you had your rod too far from the metal. keep the flux coating to withing 1/16 or closer to the metal and you should be fine i would think.Later,Andy
Reply:Splitshot it's me again don't get confused by what everyone is posting up it's all good. I suggested the drag rod method because that is the simpliest way to get early results which builds confidence and a few fundemtal skills such as the travel speed, work angle and the virtual space thing (straight beads). The step or whip will give you the )))) look but you can and will need to do those with certain rods in certain types of weld joint situations. Aczeller was explaining the fundamental weld school practice methods that I did as well 7024 or 7014 are the easiest to get results thats all. When you go to the next level of step, whip, C-motions and inverted V etc you need to have the basics down to progress it can be a step progression using the sensorory feedback method I learned the old school way by starting with Oxy-Fuel welding before SMAW  (7024). The upshot is you can get there many different ways. I use the sight method because I always wear ear plugs one little orange BB cooling off in your ear cannal is enough for me.