Horizontal Fillet Practice

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I tried to start arc welding classes at the community college this semester, but they filled up before my boss would approve the work schedule.  I am now stuck waiting for the fall.  In the mean time, I am working my way through Lanse's youtube series and spending time with a welder friend when he is available. Back to today's reality.  Working on horizontal fillet practice.  3/8" plate, Lincoln 1/8" 7018, 125A, welder is crappy harbor freight 165A inverter until I can afford to replace it.  I think I was moving a little fast on the second and third passes.  Also I know i made that hiccup on the right side.  It was literally a hiccup during the second pass and I got lost for a second.  Any other advise on what to work on is greatly appreciated. Attached Images
Reply:take a look at fieldres videos on youtube. he has some good tips fit welding plate.you ain't gotta eat it
Reply:I have watched almost all of fieldres's videos as well as anyone else that looks interesting. I am looking for some more specific input on my welds if possible.   Thanks.Sent from my SPH-L900 using TapatalkMultimatic 200Ellis 1800Haberle S225 9" cold sawMM 300;  Spoolmate 30A w/ WC-24TB 302GDynasty 280 DX Tigrunner
Reply:From the ripples I'd say you are going a bit too fast. There's something else going on that I can't easily identify from the picts though. The ripples seem to be biased towards the top for some reason, but I can't tell why. I'm not sure if it's due to your motion or some other reason.Last pict your aim wandered all over the place. You are obviously low on the left and high on the right. Middle looks fair.I'm wondering if you are too much on the "upper" plate in the 1st 2 picts and that's why the beads looks strange. I can't get a good overall idea of where exactly those beads were run.Amps seem about right and the toes look fairly decent overall with a few small issues here and there..No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. Government programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this earth! Ronald Reagan
Reply:Hey DSW  Thanks for the input.  I finally got a new wire wheel for the grinder this morning.  I keep getting this red soot over the previous passes that will not come off with a hand brush.  I have to really get after it with the grinder wheel.  I never had that with the excalibur rod, but the home depot stuff seems to give me fits.Below is a pic of the weld after the wire brushing.  In my mind when I am welding, I am probably at about 40 degrees from horizontal on the first pass pass, 45 on the second and 35 on the third.  I am shooting for 20 degrees drag angle.   I know I am not maintaining it perfectly but that is my goal in my head.I will run some more beads today with wire wheeling in between for better pics.  Plates were cleaned to bright shiny metal before the first pass. Attached Images
Reply:It's much easier to see the beads when wire brushed like that. Last night I was thinking that pict was of a single bead when I 1st saw it, but it's much easier to see now.Multiple beads can often get screwed up by the previous beads if you F'd up on them. It takes a lot more skill to correct if the 1st bead wasn't located in the right place and it's fairly common for subsequent beads to get screwed up because the previous errors transferred thru. Some times it can make sense to take the grinder to the bad bead to at least try and even it out some before going over it so you at least have a consistent base to work from. In the real world if this was for critical work, you'd need to grind the bad weld out anyways. Just because you can't see it doesn't mean it's not there any more...The real key to all of this is to learn to read the puddle. When that happens you change rod angle based on what you see happening with the puddle and manipulate it as needed. I tend to like to keep my puddle "concentrated" more on the lower piece and work the puddle up onto the upper one watching the puddle fill as needed.  The lower plate pretty much takes care of itself that way and I just have to make sure I'm getting the upper one filled consistently. That's not the best explanation and it makes more sense when you watch me do it..No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. Government programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this earth! Ronald Reagan