First attempts

[simon718]

Hi guys, bought a little stick welder the other day and it arrived thismorning, spent an hour or so thisevening seeing what damage i could do with it, using 6013 3.2mm rods and some 3mm steel

Kinda embarressed posting pics cos the beads are crap but everyones gotta start somewhere

This, in my eyes anyway, was the only semi-decent lookin beads, could well be wrong on that tho

 

[Paul.]

Yea, Getting there,
Put some chalk or scribe lines down so that you have something to follow, the electrode wants to be tilted about 70 deg in the direction of travel, and 90 deg side to side, 3.2 is probably a bit big for 3mm plate, try some 2.5 at about 90 amps. keep a tight arc and look for the bright ring of molten slag in the weld pool you'll know it when you see it, dont let it get in front of the electrode.
Paul

 

[lovelectricity]

TIG paul, as far as i remember the angle is back into the bead, much easier. as the build up is more controlled on a flat run. been doin it far too long too, ex-british steel. i agree with TIG paul though use 2.5 electrodes. it will give ur set an easier time! and you an easier weld, and move slowly everyone who is startin moves to fast. search the silliness with swiss tony.

 

[Wozzaaah]

Hi Simon .
My limited MMA experience won't be much of a help but there's a few things I've learned which may help;

It's very difficult to kep the rod from wobbling due to the fact you're working one-handed, don't be afraid to steady the rod with your free hand, it won't bite you. (unles you're outside, it's damp, welding at a highish ocv etc )

You look like you've travelled way too fast and not at a constant speed, some of the beads vary greatly in width along their length.

As others have said, try a 2.5mm rod, it looks like you may have had the current a bit low for those 3.2's.

Travel angle as TigPaul says, push with mig, pull with stick, i.e the hand always in front of the weld pool.

Arc length is very difficult to keep constant which is another problem I have, as a rule, arc length should be roughly the same as the electrode diameter. Some rods will even work nicely with them gently touching the workpiece, the flux makes a nice 'stand-off', that makes things so much easier

If a rod sticks, a quick twist should free it and you should be able to use it again, if it sticks again, chuck it and start another with maybe a few more amps.

Try some different rods out, you won't believe how different they are to use, you'll soon find some you like.

Take a look here at Miller's site, it's a wealth of interesting and informative stuff.

Keep practising

 

[Sparkey]

Excellent advice guys! Since i'm actually a mig welder and a beginner too in arc welding, the only thing i can add to this is: to slow down my travel speed i really take my time to 'observe' the weldpool...watch it untill it is the size that you want it to be (errrrrr???) and then slowly move on etc...
The more you practise you will soon see how your weldpool reacts to the moves you make(if that does make any sense??) and how you are able to control it!
Happy practiscing!!!!

 

[dutchman]

That makes a lot of sense Sparkey,

When I am welding, I usually forget most guidelines and just watch the (weld) pool, see how it reacts and play with it.

As Swiss Tony says, it’s like making love to a beautiful woman.

 

[Paul.]

TIG paul, as far as i remember the angle is back into the bead, much easier. as the build up is more controlled on a flat run. been doin it far too long too, ex-british steel. i agree with TIG paul though use 2.5 electrodes. it will give ur set an easier time! and you an easier weld, and move slowly everyone who is startin moves to fast. search the silliness with swiss tony.

I think you may have misunderstood what I have said, so I've drawn a picture, should explain the basics, although welding is a practical skill and people all vary their techniques, I was a p/t welding instructor / lecturer for over 10 years, and would try and encourage people to find out what worked for them.
Paul

 

[Sparkey]

That makes a lot of sense Sparkey,

When I am welding, I usually forget most guidelines and just watch the (weld) pool, see how it reacts and play with it.

As Swiss Tony says, it’s like making love to a beautiful woman.

Errrr....nooo! that's not what i'm thinking when i'm holding that rod......

 

[snowcat]

travel speed is inconsistent, thats why your beads look uneven, dont try to weave for start just lay down stringers, (narrow beads), once your confidence comes, you can start putting a weave or figures of 8 into the mix....arc length will sort itself if you have correct Rod angle to face, 6013s are the most forgiveing Rods, lo-his and cell rods need more dissaplin,

Crap cheep rods will give problems, I stick to one or maybe two known brands, your get to know the settings of a paticular rod like this..

concentrate on your technique not the weld pool, you cannot see it anyway, If your speed and movements correct everything else will be...

again yes you can steady with the second hand, personaly I try not to unless Im burning 450s, but a finger on the rod is often enougth..

also many people use cheepo clamp type holders, a decent screw and clamp type one is far better and stops and wobble at the thick end..

also when learning dont be frightend of a few amps, burn hotter than you need too to get your technique right, then start to think about undercut later.

Hope this helps

ohh and keep moveing forward sounds stupid but jerking backwards will cause slag inclustions...

 

[lovelectricity]

tig paul, yes i did misunderstand after seeing that, sorry. i thought it was a bit odd, but still this is here so we can have our 10p worth, are you left handed by any chance? back to the beads. after a while it becomes natural to watch whats happening. ive found if you tell someone first time welding to leave a really big fat slug of a weld, its usually quite close to what your looking for. then the odd one or two leave something you can land light aircraft on. but we all had to learn. anyone who says they never made a mess of anything, have never made anything!
dutchman, swiss tony knows the way forward!!!

 

[Paul.]

tig paul, yes i did misunderstand after seeing that, sorry. i thought it was a bit odd, but still this is here so we can have our 10p worth, are you left handed by any chance? back to the beads. after a while it becomes natural to watch whats happening. ive found if you tell someone first time welding to leave a really big fat slug of a weld, its usually quite close to what your looking for. then the odd one or two leave something you can land light aircraft on. but we all had to learn. anyone who says they never made a mess of anything, have never made anything!
dutchman, swiss tony knows the way forward!!!

Yes all the best welders are left handed .actually I'm fairly ambidextrous when working with tools, Although naturally left handed, I play cricket and golf right handed, summat to do with the brain so I'm told

 

[Sparkey]

concentrate on your technique not the weld pool, you cannot see it anyway, If your speed and movements correct everything else will be...

That was a bit harsh now, wasn't it snowcat?

 

[lovelectricity]

TIGPAUL fair play im quite ambidextrous but naturally right, when i saw it i knew it was leftie. and as for the advice exactly what was needed. there is however a major problem on here. lefties and righties, is there a work around yet? but if you use slope in direction of travel/ face back into bead/ drag the rod. it all helps as every reader is probably new, with only a basic idea of the process. i dont know what is the best, can anyone think up something that works for both
SPARKEY i know what your saying but. he asked for people to judge the welds, so snowcat gave his opinion. when learning you need to know the faults in order to fix them. i have many

 

[Sparkey]

I know what you mean to say, lovelec! I'm far from perfect myself, but i gave my advice to take his time to watch the weldpool! If you really take your time you'll SEE what's happening... and when you see, you can adjust your speed to that! That's why we've got those nice (expensive) welding masks, so that we can actually see what we're doing!

 

[Paul.]

You really can see whats happening, learning to weld is not just about turning up the amps and blasting it in, athough to be fair I guess Snowcat works on heavy plant and that is a justified technique, I used to build Dipper arms for Hymac diggers and being timid with the amps don't get it done, but when learning you really need to recognize whats going on in the pool,
Paul

 

[Sparkey]

Yes you're right Paul! and that,if i can share my humble opinion....is what makes the difference between a "tacker" and a welder... some people just don't seem to really 'observe' what they are doing!
Not only look at your weldpool closely, but look at the end result closely too!
I know timid with the amps doesn't do the trick (i welded quite some steel construction profiles myself) ooohh...
blimey, i only wanted to learn him a little trick to slow down his travel speed....
i'll stop now, before everyone thinks i'm a bi**h...i'm not!! really!!!

 

[Paul.]

i'll stop now, before everyone thinks i'm a bi**h...i'm not!! really!!!

I'm sure your not,
When I used to teach we started people off on oxy acetylene, this was a good way of welding in "slow motion", to see what happens with molten metal before we moved onto MA and MIG, its old fashioned in industry nowadays, but I do miss it.
Paul

 

[snowcat]

I know what you mean to say, lovelec! I'm far from perfect myself, but i gave my advice to take his time to watch the weldpool! If you really take your time you'll SEE what's happening... and when you see, you can adjust your speed to that! That's why we've got those nice (expensive) welding masks, so that we can actually see what we're doing!

I could come all UKW on this, but looking at the weld pool is realtivly pointless(compleatly pointless on verticals/overheads), the things to concentrate on are motion, lead angle, work angle, travel speed, simple.. all your see by looking at the pool is slag forming, A fast fill rod could form a 1/8" slag....Concentrate on the 4 parimiters above and you welds will become flawless....This is Real welding were talking here

 

[Sparkey]

I could come all UKW on this

Oh yes baby! i love it when you talk dirty to me....

I appollogise for misunderstanding your reply, snowcat.... hope i didn't offend you...
a humble

 

[Paul.]

I could come all UKW on this, but looking at the weld pool is realtivly pointless(compleatly pointless on verticals/overheads), the things to concentrate on are motion, lead angle, work angle, travel speed, simple.. all your see by looking at the pool is slag forming, A fast fill rod could form a 1/8" slag....Concentrate on the 4 parimiters above and you welds will become flawless....This is Real welding were talking here

Yea I appreciate what your saying, when your as experienced as us welding is instinctive, I dont even need to look to weld fillets, the crackle alone will tell me whats happening but Simons just starting and on thinnish material as well.not quite real welding yet.