how to fix ugly welds

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I am in the process of installing a do it yourself anchor winch in my commercial fishng plateboat. The winch has to be removeable due to needing access to both sides of the boat for pulling in nets.  I have seen what other fisherman have built or had built and making what I need to save my back for later in life.To make a long story short I made the plate to attach the winch to and the welds came out good since I could build it on my welding table. I fab up some tracks for the inside of my boat.  My boat is marine grade 3/16 alum and the angle tracks are also 3/16 or very close to that. The weld will be a vertical T weld.  I prepped both the boat and the alum angle. I fab up some clamps to hold my pieces to be welded where they needed to be. I did some pencil lines to have a visual for squareness. Sharpened the tungston,set the welder according to my quick guide. Then I started welding. [Insert siren sound here]  I stopped and went over what I had practiced and have to say my welds came out crappy due to lack of expierence, poor positioning of my body in conjunction with the footpedal.  My thumb controller is out of commission for unknown reasons but I feel the footpedal is do able. .I did notice some metal discoloration on the outside of the boat in the area I was welding.I have a buddy who could come over and finish the project for me but is having woman problems to the severe level and he is deep six right now.  I do hoever have the will, want and desire to finish the project myself.  I'm thinking that I could take my four inch grinder and grind the welds out and start over.  I just asking those that have the expierence of what I need to be sure I do when I start over if there is anything I need to do. Thanks in advanceRandy aka NetmanLast edited by netman; 05-24-2010 at 09:02 AM.Lincoln Power Mig 300 with PythonLincoln SquareWave Tig 255 Hypertherm Powermax 45 HH120 w/argon
Reply:Netman,If the welds are truly crappy, then you have no choice but to grind them out and redo.  Piling more filler on top of a bad weld is not the solution.I will caution you that you are weakening the area adjacent to the weld with each subsequent pass.  If not done correctly, your new weld will fail in the HAZ (heat affected zone).If not totally comfortable that you can do the weld in a single pass to complete the installation, I would find someone with more experience to make the weld for you.In the marine fabrication that I do, we strongly discourage double pass welds (especially on things such as towers) because of the negative (weakening) effect it has on the metal adjacent to the weldbead.Just my .02Syncro 250 DX Dynasty 200 DXMM 251 w/30A SG XMT 304 w/714 Feeder & Optima PulserHH187Dialarc 250 AC/DCHypertherm PM 1250Smith, Harris, Victor O/ASmith and Thermco Gas MixersAccess to a full fab shop with CNC Plasma, Water Jet, etc.
Reply:Originally Posted by netmanI just asking those that have the expierence of what I need to be sure I do when I start over if there is anything I need to do.
Reply:Sundown I was able to clean the weld up and got my buddy over to finish it up for me. He looked at what I had ground off and said the weld would have held but it was rough. He looked at my winch bracket and said that was a good job.  We got the track welded in and now its down to cosmetic work. I will take a pic or two and post when done. Thanks for the replys.RandyLincoln Power Mig 300 with PythonLincoln SquareWave Tig 255 Hypertherm Powermax 45 HH120 w/argon
Reply:netman,Glad it worked out for you.Getting your buddy over was probably good for him also.  Got his mind off the woman troubles he was dealing with.Syncro 250 DX Dynasty 200 DXMM 251 w/30A SG XMT 304 w/714 Feeder & Optima PulserHH187Dialarc 250 AC/DCHypertherm PM 1250Smith, Harris, Victor O/ASmith and Thermco Gas MixersAccess to a full fab shop with CNC Plasma, Water Jet, etc.
Reply:Randy, TIG welds that look poor, may have poor fusion and the toe and top of your bead is where you want to watch as you weld AND to look for visual inspection.If the parent metal is not fully heated, too cold a weld, then the weld filler will ball up. That will show up in the hood or after the weld as a lack of flow at the two main edges of the weld to the parent metal.Depending on your power supply, you may need to pre-heat to 150-250 degrees with a gas torch before welding. This means the weld amperage doesn't have to to bring the parent metal all the way to full fusion heat (melting point) it just has to raise the metal's temp the last 60-80% to fusion.   I'm glad your friend could help with the weld, I hope the winch handles the ground tackle without you having to heave it over the side in the River's current?On the subject of cleaning out a weld or weld zone prep?  Grizzly Industrial sells air and electric die grinders for less than almost anywhere else. With a solid carbide coarse toothed rotary cutter for non-ferrous use, coated with cheap frying pan spray, you can gouge a weld zone pretty quicky. Acetone when you're done to get the grease out, then tooth brush with a SS hand brush, preheat; rebrush and weld.Cheers,Kevin Morin
Reply:Thanks for the help.  I am about to finish this project as now I am in the process of smoothing out some sharp edges and making the winch/bracket rope friendly. Another  buddy of mine rounded up some six gauge wire for the wiring of the winch. I will take some pics of the winch in use too.This is what the end result is forThanks again RandyLincoln Power Mig 300 with PythonLincoln SquareWave Tig 255 Hypertherm Powermax 45 HH120 w/argon
Reply:i love aluminum boats too  good luck w the anchor  can u post some picks when ur done?btw nice hogs!!“I'm going to do the thing that God put Galen Beasley on this Earth to do:Have Salon quality hair and weld.Nothing like a good cup of coffee and the smell of 6010 burning in the morning. 971-204-3444 cell API ASME Structural NDT and Repair
Reply:Now that a fish!! Time to build a BBQ grill big enough to handle it.Co-Own CNC shop:Miller :1251 plasma cutter, MaxStar 700 TIG/Stick, & XMT 456 Multiprocess Welder.&  2 Hypertherm HPR260's Plasma CutterSorry I had a bad stroke but now I am back.
Reply:Kevin, that is the front end I was asking you about.  I would like to 'duck bill' or round it off.Here is a pic of some back workAnd a pic of me at the stickLincoln Power Mig 300 with PythonLincoln SquareWave Tig 255 Hypertherm Powermax 45 HH120 w/argon
Reply:Randy, I'd say you could #1 use short radius weld 90's of 2" to cut into the two corners of the garvey's forward sheer lining pipes. Or, #2 you could have two 2" sweeps bent by any electrical contractor with a Greenlee 555 as that will bend 2" sched 40- when you by the pipe make sure its 6063 aluminum not 6061 which is more hardened and brittle and will likely break where the 6063 will bend without breaking.Last would be to use a completely separate pipe of a larger diameter than the one welded to the gunwale and that would be either bent in a U, or if you don't have a local electrical contractor or welding shop with a larger diameter bender- you could make the two fore and aft legs that are just outside the gunwale of straight segments then use 90's or bend sweeps to butt weld the corners, using TIG and a straigth pc between the two forward corners.First step will be to set the method of getting the rounded corners; cut into the existing pipe or add outside? Next is to define the sweep radius you need to see if you'll be bending or using short radius butt weld fittings? Then to find a shop with a bender and some 6063 to built the brow from.I'd say a vertical post in a pivoting socket at the gunwale would be helpful with this gear.  It looks like a long "slinky" or fish trap?  To handle it easier (?) I'd want a pivoting mast in a socket - at 95 or 100Deg to the socket, above the gunwale I'd want a 2" pipe with a rounded end (orange peel closure) and I'd use it to 'rack' the round frames of the trap.  This means the buoy end would come up, the first ring lifted and slipped over the near horizontal arm, and the wt of that ring is now on the boat, the next ring is on and so-forth collecting the entire trap as a long 'slinky' - all over the water if possible. When the net was 'racked' onto the handling arm/boom/pivoting davit- then swing it in board and slip it off the arm onto the deck- I don't know how you pick fish from this net???? but it looks like a lot of work to pull that gear over the gunwale by hand?Cheers,Kevin Morin
Reply:you have no choice but to grind them out and redo.