Need A Grade And Advice

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I am hoping I can get a grade on my welds. What I have is a Harbor Freight 110v 90amp flux wire welder with .035 Lincoln flux wire. The metal is a steel that is about 3/32” thick and was a grass edger blade in a previous life. Prep was a wire wheel to the areas to be welded. The first image was welded on the low setting which may be 55Amp and wire speed set in the middle, or number 5. The second image is the same wire speed, but set on high – maybe 90amp. Welder was plugged in to an outlet which isn't dedicated, but no other load. The third image is the underside with the top penetration line from the higher setting. Clean up was just a wire brush. Not too much experience other than the occasional AC stick welding when needed.   Any input would be appreciated. Thank you.Paul Attached Images
Reply:Doin alright. I use a grinding wheel for prep and the wire wheel for cleanup. The wire wheel just doesn't do much for cleaning the metal. You can get away with just using the wire wheel as you've shown but things just runs smoother with a quick pass with the grinder. You can also get away with using the .035 wire but I'de stick to .030 for that machine. It'll just be easier to work with and will handle any thickness the machine can. Other than than it's all movement speed. MIG is very unforgiving out by the edge. Gotta hit it and move off quickly to avoid the burnback. Just keep the rest of it consistent
Reply:Looks OK, keep your eye on the puddle and develop the consistency with your travel. Don't bother trying to weld 2 pieces together right know, get a feel for it on a flat, well cleaned piece. Hit the steel with a grinder first and know the limitations of your machine.......no trailers, suspension parts, etc. Welcome to the forum!If you don't want to stand behind our Troops, feel free to stand in front of them.
Reply:Pic 1:  Slow travel speed for first 2/3'rds of the weld, a stop & restart with the last 1/3 looking good.  Nice wet out on the edges, travel speed looks about spot on.Pic 2: Don't know what that is on the right.... tack weld???  The first 1/4 of the weld (right side as viewed) the weld is ok.  The middle part of the weld looks good, the metal is hot now & weld wets out at the edges.  Hold the puddle a little bit longer to let the metal heat up a bit & the puddle will "wet out" to the joint a bit better.  Looks like you stopped there too.Last part of the weld, moving way too fast, weld is cold, edges didn't wet out.  Weld is on top of the metal & not melted into the base metal.Pic 3:  Notice the color change on the top weld.  You have sufficient heat in the base metal, could be a little bit more heat, but adequate for an initial weld.  Bottom weld, not near enough heat.  It should be a bit more visible like the one on the top.All in all, a good start.  I'm not being nasty critical, just pointing out where the problems are & how to correct them.  Next attempt, do as Snuffy & SWells says, a grinder is your friend.  The metal must be clean before it's welded & not just polished mill scale.  Took me a while to figure this out with experimentation.(I am a teacher you know, lol)Last edited by MarkBall2; 11-11-2012 at 10:11 AM.MarkI haven't always been a nurse........Craftsman 12"x36" LatheEnco G-30B MillHobart Handler 175Lincoln WeldandPower 225 AC/DC G-7 CV/CCAdd a Foot Pedal to a Harbor Freight Chicago Electric 165A DC TIG PapaLion's Gate Build
Reply:Thanks guys, I appreciate your candor. That's what I am looking for.  And thanks for having me.  I will change over to the .030 wire and surface grind a piece of flat stock for the next practice session. And here I thought wire-wheeling the joint area was doing good. I am glad you mentioned grinding!  Mark – Your comments read like you were watching over my shoulder as I did it and, yes, that is a tack weld on the right of pic 2.  I want to “blame” some of my shortcomings on not being able to see all that well while welding. You guys mention to watch the weld, but I really do not see all that much during the burn. The garage doesn't exactly have the best lighting and maybe supplemental lamps are normal in the business, but I figure there are going to be jobs at times that require odd positions/lighting that can't be compensated for so didn't add a light for this test. I do wear reading glasses under the helmet. The wet out on the ends must have been an accident. I probably couldn't do it again if I tried.  Again – Thank you very much, guys.Paul
Reply:Be careful about the high ceiling lights reflecting off the inside of your helmet.  You may need to reposition yourself to not be directly under the lights.  I actually took a LED headlamp & attached it to my helmet to focus directly on the weld.Once you can see the puddle, you will be able to see how the edges "wet" out onto the metal.  Once that happens, start moving watching that puddle.  Practice watching for the puddle, the speed & consistency will happen.  You will be able to tell when you are almost ready to burn through, how the heat is going in the base metal & how the puddle wet's out.  Keep practicing, grind the edges back about a 1/2" with a flap wheel if you have one & keep posting pictures.MarkI haven't always been a nurse........Craftsman 12"x36" LatheEnco G-30B MillHobart Handler 175Lincoln WeldandPower 225 AC/DC G-7 CV/CCAdd a Foot Pedal to a Harbor Freight Chicago Electric 165A DC TIG PapaLion's Gate Build
Reply:When it sounds like bacon sizzling in the pan......you're in "the zone".If you don't want to stand behind our Troops, feel free to stand in front of them.
Reply:It's really difficult to see what's going on with FCAW esp with that type of joint. As SWells was pointing out, you gotta rely on your ears a bit more to tell you what's right.
Reply:Excellent information! I can't wait to try again. I found a piece of 16ga welding steel as my next victim. I also have a type 29, 80grit flap wheel. But right now I'm hungry for bacon.Thanks...PK
Reply:OK – So, the 16ga steel project didn't turn out too well.  I burned through much at the lowest setting, but was moving along at what I thought was fast enough.  Today I worked on a piece of 1/8” x 1-1/4" steel and felt like I made a little progress. The welder settings were on high current (90 amps, if that) and a wire speed of 8 out of 10. Flux wire was still .035 as I couldn't get the .030 wire to feed consistently. A new wire feed wheel is on the way. I did wait at least 5 minutes in between each weld, but welds two and three happened on warmer metal and I think the steel strap moved with the torch for awhile on #2.  Please see the following two images. Thanks for the help before and thanks in advance for any further insight. Attached Images
Reply:#1 looks like cold metal.  Pause when you first strike the arc on cold metal, letting the metal warm a bit, then move.  Edges look like they "wet" in ok.  Back side not near hot enough to show.#2 looks like the gun was stuck at the beginning & you were piling wire into it.  But you already noticed that.  Back side looks like it was about to burn through.#3 looks good, width of the bead consistent & the back side shows good heat.  I think that one was the best so far.  Remember what you did with that one, then practice that.MarkI haven't always been a nurse........Craftsman 12"x36" LatheEnco G-30B MillHobart Handler 175Lincoln WeldandPower 225 AC/DC G-7 CV/CCAdd a Foot Pedal to a Harbor Freight Chicago Electric 165A DC TIG PapaLion's Gate Build
Reply:There's alot of spatter goin on there even for flux core. How much stick out are you runnin with? Torch angle?Clamp it down. It'll be impossible for you to be consistent if the piece is moving around on you.
Reply:Here is tonight's adventure. My earlier weld's stickout was probably too long because I was trying to see my mess as it was happening. While I was welding today, I thought I had improved on the spatter by keeping the torch closer to the metal, but these pictures don't seem to tell the same story. The torch angle may have been over 15°, but close. Weld 4 had a feed setting of eight and I attempted to hold a bit longer to warm up the metal. Welds 5 and 6 had a feed setting of seven and weld 7's setting was on six.  Thank you...PK Attached Images