Please Critique these welds

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I am trying to improve my Mig skills and would like your help.Welds were done with  .035  70s6 solid wire, 75/25 Argon Co2 gas @ 17-20 cfh, on 1/8 mild steel that actually measured  0 .115Welds are numbered top to bottom. #1    18.5 V.     140A     Push#2    18.5 V.     140A     Pull    #3    19v         140A     Push#4    19v         140A     Pull#5    19v         150A     Push#6    19 v        150A     PullI am looking for input on travel speed. gun control, stick-out etc. Really anything you see that I need to work on.Thanks Ray Attached ImagesLast edited by Ram48; 08-18-2011 at 04:38 PM.
Reply:Usually with mig and gas you tend to want to push rather than pull. To me #3 doesn't look too bad, but the bead could be a bit flatter. #5 on the left looks side better, but your travel speed looks to have been irrecgular on that one unfortunately. The toes of the weld are less sharp and look tied in better than the other welds and you have a flatter bead.Overall it looks pretty good. I'd have you move on to flat laps at this point at the tech school, and see how you do with that. Followed by T's, outside corners and but joints. Then repeat the whole thing over with horizontal, vertical and overhead in that order. Keep your stick out short and try to get your movement as consistant as possible. You want to watch the puddle and learn to read what it is doing as you move along and react to what you see. Learning to see that will make a huge difference when you go to do vertical and overhead. MOst guys cabn do "timing patterens" with flat/ and horrizontal and get decent looking welds with repetitive motions. They fail horribly when they try that usually with vertical however. They just don't react to whats happening because they can't "see" the puddle. It's one of those "ah ha" moments when you finally "see" it. Try and look "around" the arc and pay attention to the puddle.You probably also want to do longer welds. Those look to be maybe 2-3" long at max. Work on about 6" beads when you try and do joints. It's easy to run 2" beads and not move your hands. It's harder to do this with 6" beads. There you will have to shift your hands as you weld, and most suddenly find they have a harder time keeping there travel speed consistant when they do so..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:Originally Posted by DSWUsually with mig and gas you tend to want to push rather than pull.
Reply:I worked in a plant once that required "pulling" all welds. We ran .035 ER70S2 and 98/2 argon O2. I generally push unless I'm trying to weave a large (3/8) pass on heavy stock.To the OP welds look good. I agree with DSW that #3 looks about the best. Try some fillets on maybe some 1/4 inch material. I think your on the right track. Rule of thumb I was taught for stick out on MIG was keep the nozzle a finger tips thickness from the weld. So far a finger tip thickness has worked for me.Ranger 250 GXTSmith Gas Axe
Reply:Running "Beads" on a flat plate don't amount to a pisshole in the snow..Join some metal together and then we will see what's up.....zap!I am not completely insane..Some parts are missing Professional Driver on a closed course....Do not attempt.Just because I'm a  dumbass don't mean that you can be too.So DON'T try any of this **** l do at home.
Reply:Originally Posted by TSORCare to elaborate on this?
Reply:Originally Posted by zapsterRunning "Beads" on a flat plate don't amount to a pisshole in the snow..Join some metal together and then we will see what's up.....zap!
Reply:Originally Posted by TSORCare to elaborate on this?
Reply:Originally Posted by slow6iI make AWESOME pissholes in the snow, thank you very much!Not helpful at all. I have nothing to add. Ive done little to no serious mig welding.
Reply:I did a lap weld and also a butt weld and beat the latter with a BFH it held so please feel free to let me know what I need to look for and improve on, I know I need to get my bead more uniform and better control the speed I also know there are a lot more things I don't know Which is why I am posting here.Thanks to all for their help with the beads.Zap I enjoyed your analogy of the yellow snow. I'm a retired construction Electrician (IBEW) and enjoy that sort of good natured ball breaking   I am looking forward to your advice and guidance to better my admittedly basic welding skills.Thanks Ray Attached Images
Reply:It looks like your just holding the torch still and moving real slow?  Miller Dynasty 350Twenty Six HammersThree Crow BarsBig Rock
Reply:Your movement looks jerky.  What I asssume is the but weld looks better than the lap as far as movement is concerned, but you still have a long way to go. You need to get comfortable and learn to move smoothly thru the weld. It's all about practice. At the tech school guys will burn up literally dozens and dozens of 3"x6" 1/8" coupons in the 2 hours of class.  Even with all of that, often they won't pass a single joint in one class. Sometimes they can. sometimes they can't. You need to do a lot of repetitive practice to get the basic motions down.Oh and the BFH test don't mean squat for the most part..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:In order for you to learn to make good passes, you first MUST be comfortable. If you are crouching or bending over and putting yourself in an awkward position from the start, the weld will reflect it. Putting too much weight on both of your hands is a no no also. This makes it harder to move smoothly and will create a jerk in the weld.When I was in school, we had to run beads flat, then 6 beads overlapping by 50% perfectly, then butt, lap, T, outside corner, V groove bend test. Then horizontal, vertical, overhead.By running 6 overlapping beads, you learned about consistency. Each bead had to be good or it would be hard to make the next bead consistent.
Reply:Thanks DSW.ɹǝʌo ǝɯ lloɹ 'sıɥʇ pɐǝɹ uɐɔ noʎ ɟı
Reply:Originally Posted by DSWYour movement looks jerky.  What I asssume is the but weld looks better than the lap as far as movement is concerned, but you still have a long way to go. You need to get comfortable and learn to move smoothly thru the weld. It's all about practice. At the tech school guys will burn up literally dozens and dozens of 3"x6" 1/8" coupons in the 2 hours of class.  Even with all of that, often they won't pass a single joint in one class. Sometimes they can. sometimes they can't. You need to do a lot of repetitive practice to get the basic motions down.Oh and the BFH test don't mean squat for the most part.
Reply:There are several threads in the past on bend tests. Many use a jig that fits in a hydraulic press to do these. For just helping guys learn, I use my compact bender and bend around an 1 1/2" mandrel. If you have a smaller machine that's not capable of doing 1/4" like the small 110v migs, you will probably need to use a smaller mandrel to test say 1/8". I'd try a 3/4" mandrel instead and see how that works. You need the tight radius to really stress the weld and not simply bend the plate.Get a couple  lengths of 3" wide 1/4" or preferably 3/8" thick steel at least 6" long. Bevel one side to 37 deg or so. ( for simplicity I take an 8" wide piece of plate and cut the bevel on the bandsaw, then reset the saw and cut off the piece 3" from the bevel.) Grind an 1/8" flat land on the edge and then gap the joint 3/32" and tack at each end. Weld it up with multiple passes if needed. Then grind and polish the welds on both sides flat with the plate. Cut 2" wide strips from the test piece across the weld, dumping the 1st and last inch. Bend one towards the face, and one towards the root.Take a look at my post in reply #3 of this thread, It shows the compact bender and some of the defects in one coupon.http://weldingweb.com/vbb/showthread.php?t=59256This is very similar to the way the one tech school I went to used to pass students on bevel but joints before moving them on to the next position.Rick V's posts on sectioning and etching are also good for helping to eveluate T welds. See post 38 IIRC.http://weldingweb.com/vbb/showthread.php?t=44005&page=2.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