Take a look at my weld please.

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Can someone critique my weld below?  I am learning to weld round tube for a roll cage.Below is mild steel .135 welded to a flat plate of .83 using voltage D and wire speed 6 on a Lincoln 175.  I need to know if the weld is too big, small etc..  I am having a problem blending in where I left off and started.  Any help with that is appreciated.The next photo is of the bottom side penetration.  I know it is not 100% complete but for what you can see is it ok?Thanks again! Attached Images
Reply:Malich,Did you mean .183 instead of  .83 ? Any way, focus up on the tubing just a teeny bit more.  Gravity takes over but try to get just a little more of the weldment in the 'V'."The things that will destroy America are prosperity at any price, peace at any price, safety first instead of duty first, the love of soft living and the get rich quick theory of life." -Theodore Roosevelt
Reply:Your weld bead is way too big!   It should form a slightly convex 45 degree line against the side of the pipe.  You have lots of weld metal on the base plate which is a waste and increases distortion.   I hope you do not have any undercut on the side of the pipe.  Locate fingernail at the  joint between the pipe and the weld bead.  If you can catch your nail at that location you have a notch that will be a fatigue site in the future.  Is the weld strong enough?  Yup.
Reply:I thought the bead was a little big.  I am having a problem because the mig setup calls for wire speed 7.5 and it is hard to go around the pipe fast enough with that speed.  I have tried slower speeds and that one was the slowest according to a good sound.Do you think I should not be using mig for pipe?  Should I goto FCAW which is a much slower speed for the same size material?  The problem with FCAW is I can not always see with the smoke.Thanks.Build a Barstool Racer at BarFlyRacers.com!
Reply:I think you'll be alright if you get more of the weld up on the pipe. I am new to Mig myself and have trouble seeing where I'm at, so at my age, I wear my glasses and get real close!Bill W aka AntmanUp on the Mogollon Rim in Arizona. God and 4 Wheelers Country!
Reply:Try dropping your gun until the nozzle almost rides on the plate.  The gun will be pointing in at the pipe at a 30 degree angle .  Yes you have to move fast.  I did some handrail pipe to plate this way using .045 metal core running way over 200 amps.  I had to move fast.  I got a nice small bead.   the person I took over from had wide beads like your.  They were OK but too large for the job.
Reply:i use to have a sp175, i used D, 3.  Worked best for me, i was using .035 wire.