First Post, First Welds, Feedback Appreciated

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Hi Everyone,This is my first post.  I live in Cape Town, very south in the South of Africa - in fact my house in Noordhoek (for other South Africans who may frequent the site) is situated very close to Cape Point which is the southern most point and the end of the road if you happen to be traveling to the end of the continent.I've been experimenting with different settings on my MIG welder, newly acquired, and I think that I have it dialed in for the steel I was testing with - but since I don't happen to know any welders I would really appreciate some feedback on the results.  I judged the quality of the weld based on the sound - I've picked up a few sound bites on the net of what it should sound like - and also by comparing it to the images of welds that I've seen on the net.I was testing on 2mm steel (about 3/32" sorry I'm metricated).Thanks for the input Ant
Reply:On the plus side, the uniformity looks pretty good but it also looks like you are welding way too cold and I don't think you are getting the penetration you need.  The profile of the bead should be much flatter.  Try turning up the heat a good bit and posting some more pics of the results.
Reply:Pretty smooth, straight, and uniform beads there!The beads look a little high up on top of the base steel.Keep practicing and join some pieces together too.
Reply:join some pieces together then put them in the vise and knock them apart with a large hammer.  this will show you if you are getting good penetration and how strong your welds are. (you will be able to see if the weld is the full thickness of the steel)If the gun is sputtering and being pushed back at you the wire speed is too fast.  If it is just sputtering it is too slow.  If you get a nice zzzzzzzzzz sound it is just right....I up the voltage until I get full penetration and adjust wire speed until it is a smooth zzzzzzzzz.  If you are burning through (i do alot of sheet metal) turn it down a little   Pretty soon you will know where to set your machine for different thicknesses.  It took me a while to get good with the mig but now I am more comfortable with it than any other process.Thermal Arc 185 TigHTP 200 MigCraftsman O/A1942 Bridgeport Mill12 Ton Hyd PressConsew Walking Foot
Reply:Excellent!  Thanks for the replies.  I went out to the workshop and tried a few more welds.  Immediately I realised that it is better to make small, progressive adjustments in the settings.  Earlier when I was trying to find the sweet spot, I think I was jumping around a little too much with the dials.I heard a very different sound now, and I reckon I found a pretty good zzzzzzz :-)  but I'll join some metal tomorrow and break it to check the penetration -  I'll post more pics then and I'm looking forward to the feedback.It definitely softens the self-taught learning curve to hear from experienced people, so thanks again for the input.Ant.
Reply:What are you welding with? Make, Model? These beads are typical of the new migs out their now.You may have to change out your feed roller and go to a thicker wire for more penetration and adjust the way you weld ie: forehand backhand etc.So little splatter indicates very good short circuit transfer, good "slope".Keep everything clean.
Reply:You definately have the hand eye coordination to be a welder! Can't wait to see some more pics once you get the machine dialed in a little better. The welds do look kind of cold/lack of fusion. Maybe a little slow on your travel speed too I think?
Reply:threads risen from the dead
Reply:Oops. I usually pay better attention to the OP date.
Reply:2 post wonder. Wonder where he went...City of L.A. Structural; Manual & Semi-Automatic;"Surely there is a mine for silver, and a place where gold is refined. Iron is taken from the earth, and copper is smelted from ore."Job 28:1,2Lincoln, Miller, Victor & ISV BibleDanny