Self taught and needing lots of help

admin

Hi everybody , I'm totally new here and pretty new to welding , thanks for reading this and any help you guys might be able to give me.  So I run a drum company w/ my wife and the drums we make require a three ring system.  I've been using 1/4'' round cold rolled , I've been rolling them into circles w/ a little overlap so I can cut them cleanly round (no stubby ends) Which brings me to my first question I've heard that I should grind a v channel into the butt joint , but I've also been told that w/ 1/4" rod that that is unnecessary.  So anyway I've been grinding the V into both sides , one shallow and one deep, is that a good idea? redundant? bad idea? OK moving on to the welding... I'm working w/ a HF 90amp wire welder sku#44567 and as I occasionally weld right through the rings I figured it's got enough juice..right?..OK so I'm welding outside but as It's gassless I wasn't sure if wind would affect porosity, technique I got very little I've heard I should make little wiggly half moons and draw a puddle from that across my V groove...so I do.  I've been wondering since it's such a small area to weld and most my broken rings have large pockets in the middle w/ no penetration, if I shouldn't just start in the middle and make one little pool and be done?...Also if I set my welder correctly will it stop spitting slag everywhere?  W/ only max -min power settings and 1-10 speed how should I set it? It's set to 5 for speed and max power am I way off w/ that for 1/4 round?  So post weld should I stick the hot rings into a bucket of water or let them cool on the ground?....and finally to check the quality of my welds I throw the rings on the ground and also hammer them on concrete at the weld point and occasionally if they pass those tests and I still don't trust them I put the weld on my trailer hitch and my foot through the bottom of the ring and put all my weight on it till the van is shaking.  These seems pretty lame as far as stress tests go any suggestions , there ends up being allot of stress on the rings throughout a drums life and I really want to know for sure my welds will hold forever.  Answers to questions or observations on my welding lameness any any capacity would be greatly appreciated ,check out my drums if you like at www.slaphappydrums.com and THANKS!Last edited by SlapHappyDrums; 06-22-2007 at 01:10 AM.
Reply:Welcome to Weldingweb! Wow, that is a filled first post. Post some pics of your welds. It sounds like your testing them okay. If they don't break, that is good. Zap is a big drummer, he'll chime in with some tips.John -  fabricator extraordinaire, car nut!-  bleeding Miller blue! http://www.weldfabzone.com
Reply:I just finished taking an intro welding course and the local community college and I can't recommended it highly enough.  For $250, its a bargain.  They start you out with torch welding, which is great because everything happens more slowly and you learn about heat control, torch angle, etc, all of which apply to arc welding as well.  Arc welding happens so fast that you don't have a very good feedback mechanism when you are trying to figure it out on your own.  It's just "BZZZZZZZZ hmm, where did I go wrong?".
Reply:yeah Arc is still way beyond me , my Arc welds are  almost pretty but also almost always break. (hot steel vs water?) Slow welding does sound nice , I was wondering if min power and speed set to 1-3 would do the job for me but I've never really tried.  I probably should seek some kind of class , anyway here's my work
Reply:Excellent questions.   I would grind the 1/4" round to almost a point on about a 45* bevel.  Then weld beads from before the taper on one side to after the taper on the other side.  In the same direction as the ring goes.  For example start on the outside of the ring and continue on the outside until you are past the joint.  Weld in the direction of the line under this O. Do this all the way around the ring.  Next CLEAN off the slag and make a shorter bead just where the weld is not out to the full diamater of the rod.  This should avoid your hole in the middle.  For settings, you are close.  Maybe turn the wire speed down a little.  You could take one ring and just cut it into 6" pieces, weld them together and try to break the welds.  No sense practicing on a whole ring.I hope I make sense.DavidLast edited by David R; 06-22-2007 at 06:55 AM.Real world weldin.  When I grow up I want to be a tig weldor.
Reply:Like David says, start on the round stock, run across the gap then wick back across. Repeat as needed. Puts your cold starts outside the parameter of the welded joint. Altho it's 1/4 we're talking about here, round stock is small looking to the weld overall. A lot of heat in a small area so it should work fine. Real pain time wise, but be sure to clean the bead up in between passes. No welding over the slag.
Reply:I see very little stress on this completed joint.  I'd probably make a 3/32" (or so) gap and weld around.  You don't need full penetration anyway.  If I insisted on a bevel, it wouldn't be very deep, certainly not all the way to a point; that would just melt away anyway.
Reply:So I should just bevel one side instead of both?  I should still weld on both sides though right?  When you guys are talking about cleaning up the bead between passes , you mean I should grind it clean after every single pass? Or might this be the job for the funny hammer/wire brush that came w/ my welder...? Well here's to it I'm off to do some welding.
Reply:So I should just bevel one side instead of both?
Reply:welcome, dave has a good idea with cutting the ring into 6 pcs. the more trigger time the better63' Lincoln SA200 2008 miller trailblazer 302fibre-metal pipelinermiller camo BWEand all the guns and ammo a growin boy needs
Reply:Quote:So I should just bevel one side instead of both?  Bolt cutters make the right bevel for me  . Do something similar to that shape. Sorry but I'm still not getting it... let me try again.  Right now I bevel both ends on one side about a fat 1/8" deep , I then turn the ring over and bevel both ends on that side about a slim 1/16" deep.  Am I on track w/ this method?
Reply:Sorry but I'm still not getting it... let me try again. Right now I bevel both ends on one side about a fat 1/8" deep , I then turn the ring over and bevel both ends on that side about a slim 1/16" deep. Am I on track w/ this method?
Reply:Ahhh bolt cutters double taper...I'm an idiot.  Cool thanks for the clarification , I'm of to weld.
Reply:Those are some very nice drums dude. I bet they are pricey as well. Recently I've been bringing my 15 year old on some gigs playing bongos/congas on my drum machine. It sounds great but....I'd like to get him some REAL congas. Do you make these? Are they pricey? What would you recommend as a good brand? He's far from a beginner so no toys please. As fopr the welding, all of the above have pretty much covered it.ELVIS
Reply:we don't make congas but we can hook you up w/ one of our ashikos the little one go for 80.00 and the pro model goes for 175.00 there's a size inbetween for 140.00 and the big one go for 200 and up depending on size.Congas are als cool but you have to buy them used (or you will PAY) and they're really heavy.