How is my weld?

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Just grabbed some scrap off the floor and claned it with the wire wheel on the bench grinder.both are 1/8" thicknessHobart Handler 175 DCEP0.030" ER70S-6thoughts on improvments?i hold the torch with my left and sitting in from of the piece work from right to left as this gives me better visibility the torch is parallel to the work in my hand Attached Images
Reply:Try running a little bit of a trailing angle, maybe a little bit hotter to get it to tie into the sides a little better. Running lap joints keep an eye on the top of your weld and watch out for undercut. That top piece of steel is in pretty tough shape and you may want to hit it with a grinder to get her nice and shiny before welding. ( It is pretty difficult to get a weld to tie in nice on rusty metal.)  I realise this is just a practice piece, and in the real world it is still pretty darn strong, but when you make your living welding you always want your welds looking picture perfect, especially flat/horizontal single pass fillet welds.2011 Dodge 3500 diesel duallyLincoln SA-200Lincoln SAE-300LN-25'sLincoln Idealarc R3RMiller Trailblazer 302
Reply:try traveling from left to right with the gun tipped toward your direction of travel 15 to 20 deg. This is called pushing and should help to get some heat into the toes of your weld so they tie in better. Its more typical to weld towards yourself with mig(solid wire). Personally I like watching the puddle from behind just like you do. waaaay to many lbs of dual shield, flux core and stick in my past
Reply:yes my main welding (paying job) is with 7018-1MR DCEN 1/8"  and im trying to get a handle on the mig, i have about 2hrs total usage with it lolthat piece was welded with the piece laying flat on its back as it is in the pictures, i seen on here a few lay it on a 45.I will take some clean bar i have in my truck and do a few more passes (2" x 1/4")  Almost outa gas though lol (about 200psi left lol) can you post a picture of how your suggesting to push  as it sounds like a very awkward pull to me lolJoe
Reply:Any chance your bringing your habits as a Smaw welder into Mig with abit of whip?Slow down a touch and steady your hand, don't think you are going to need much practice.
Reply:I would use a little more heat and slow down the travel speed a bit.You may find it a bit easier to transition to wire welding from stick if you use fluxcore self shield wire (NR-211 is most commonly available at the hardware stores for the small machines) instead of solid wire and gas.  You can pull the torch and it's a little bit slower like stick welding and you get the familiar smoke and slag you're used to seeing while welding.  Also no issues with running out of gas or having the wind blow the gas away in the middle of the weld.  It is a bit more spattery though.  If you do run fluxcore self shield, swap your leads inside the machine to electrode negative.Last edited by DesertRider33; 08-22-2010 at 07:17 PM.MM350P/Python/Q300MM175/Q300DialarcHFHTP MIG200PowCon300SMHypertherm380ThermalArc185Purox oaF350CrewCab4x4LoadNGo utilitybedBobcat250XMT304/Optima/SpoolmaticSuitcase12RC/Q300Suitcase8RC/Q400Passport/Q300Smith op
Reply:I wont have an issue of the gas blowing away its in a 30' x 54' x18' building, i just need to bring another tank to the shop from the bosses garageHow do i get more heat? go to voltage "3"?for the above welds it was on voltage "2" and wire speed was a hair under "40"Thanks for the continuing help guys, the boss will be happy i can pick up this skill lol and will be as well.Edit:I started off for him with little, no, no welding skills and vague torch skills 2 years ago, worked 6 months and went to drive tow truck, i missed the days only work and went back full time just over a year ago (minus 3 month layoff over winter) and continue to try and improve my skills. I do not have my tickets but he says if i needed them i'd pass my SMAW all position easy.  nice to know i guess.  took me a while to trust myself to do some of the more important welds and i do leave a few to my co worker (welder of 30+ years) to complete but it seems even he has confidence in my ability's lol  anyways im rambling nowpics of one of the docs we built i forget the used material, i know some is 18lb beam, and 6" channel and i think some 8" channel, and some 3x4x1/4 angle its theres about 200-220' of dock in that picture, its a messed height as thats what the cust wanted. Attached ImagesLast edited by Crash5291; 08-23-2010 at 12:03 AM.
Reply:Hah, wow, a nice house at river side.  I've heard more than a few tales of flooded homes in my time.  It takes either a fool or a genius to build their home next to water like that.Miller 330 a/bp water cooledI believe in gun control, I hold my gun with two hands.  If you want to know why, click here.Buy American or bye America.
Reply:That's just the cottage lol.  and on the lower side of the price point here on the St. Lawrence River
Reply:To increase the heat, yes, you would click the dial the next highest voltage tap, and tune in the wire speed to maintain the frying bacon sound.MM350P/Python/Q300MM175/Q300DialarcHFHTP MIG200PowCon300SMHypertherm380ThermalArc185Purox oaF350CrewCab4x4LoadNGo utilitybedBobcat250XMT304/Optima/SpoolmaticSuitcase12RC/Q300Suitcase8RC/Q400Passport/Q300Smith op
Reply:You kind of misrepresented your skills by saying your proficient at all those machines and don't know how to increase the heat;your mig should increase the heat when it senses the feed being turned up, if that isn't enough go one higher on the dial.If you plan on making this your carrer their is alot to be said for some form of formal welding training to standardize your skills, good to here your passing some welds over.Also you can check on the web with millerwelds.com/resources, aws.org, esabna.com for more info they offer alot and it is free.
Reply:The voltage output of the mig machine remains constant unless the operator physically moves the dial to the next voltage tap position.  The exception would be the Millermatic Auto Set models, where the machine automaticaly adjusts the voltage as the wire speed setting is changed, or in most of the synergic pulse mig machines, such as the Millermatic 350P, where the machine automaticaly matches the voltage to the wire speed set by the operator, when pulse mode is chosen.  I don't see any of those machines listed in the original poster's signature.MM350P/Python/Q300MM175/Q300DialarcHFHTP MIG200PowCon300SMHypertherm380ThermalArc185Purox oaF350CrewCab4x4LoadNGo utilitybedBobcat250XMT304/Optima/SpoolmaticSuitcase12RC/Q300Suitcase8RC/Q400Passport/Q300Smith op
Reply:I agree with desertrider on all points. I feel the need to emphesize his point about "adjust the wirespeed to maintain the sound after turning up the volts" I have seen so many people think JUST turning up the volts is "running hotter" and then excusing their **** welds by saying, "this machine just runs messy up high". Crank the wire up there right along with the volts so you maintain the same sound as you go up in volts. volts burn your wire, amps burn the basemetal. wirespeed=amps. Nothing worse than throwing molten wire at proportionally colder basemetal and having it just splash around and not fuse at all.
Reply:Originally Posted by pistolnoonYou kind of misrepresented your skills by saying your proficient at all those machines and don't know how to increase the heat;your mig should increase the heat when it senses the feed being turned up, if that isn't enough go one higher on the dial.If you plan on making this your carrer their is alot to be said for some form of formal welding training to standardize your skills, good to here your passing some welds over.Also you can check on the web with millerwelds.com/resources, aws.org, esabna.com for more info they offer alot and it is free.