O/A welding 1/8 inch steel plate

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Hello everyone!!!I found some 1/8 inch steel plate collecting dust/rust in the garage and decided to practice my O/A welding skills. I encountered A LOT of warpage during the process and wondered if there was any practical way to control and/or alleviate some of the warpage???I will try and post some photos of the "carnage" so some of the more experienced guys here can tell me what I'm doing wrong.Thanks!!-Tony
Reply:I'm no expert, but i'd say it would be the same problem/remedy with any type of welding..too much heat, for too long...Try tacking it in place across the steel, then slowly filling in the spaces between the tacks..
Reply:Yeah thats definitely good advice...I tacked only at the ends about an inch in from the edge and only one of the tacks held...ie: not enough penetration. There was also distortion or i guess "bowing" in the perpendicular direction that the tacks would not have prevented. That bowing is really throwing me for a loop. Not sure how to manage it.Thanks for the help!-Tony
Reply:more heat and move faster. You need to limit the amount of heat that moves away from the welded area so you turn it up and move along the seam faster
Reply:Yeah I was wondering about the heat/travel speed. I was using a Harris # 3 tip...with an orifice diameter of, umm, 0.054" diameter. I was also using a slightly carbeurizing flame...ever so slight "feather". Being 1/8" thickness steel and roughly 20" long and 4" wide, I'm sure after a few moments puddle pushing, its pretty much heat-soaked as slow as I was traveling. Perhaps I should run a couple inches and let it cool to ambient and then proceed?So, more heat and faster travel?Get in...go...and get out. Makes sense, I'll have to try that on the next one.Thanks fellas!-Tony
Reply:the tip must be big enough that you can get a puddle froma cold strart in 2 seconds or so. if not you are gonna sit too long and overheat the plate. do not creep up on the puddle, nail it and move on. i learned this tigging but the two processes have more in common than they have different...