straight,or weave.

[hillbilly234]

im no way a qualified welder,ive been welding things together for about 35 years,never took any tests or owt.but the things stay were I weld them,mainly car chassis/bodywork.now of late,ive been thinking of getting a coding,so I can maybe change career,so I asked a mate of mine, that has his own welding business making plant buckets,heavy duty stuff.for any tips so I can practice properly.this is for mma/stick.i just prefer it,he told me not to weave or zigzag,just do it straight,well it don't feel right to me,is he taking the **** or what.

 

[BrokenBiker]

depends on the application for me. for fillet welds or lap joints I don't really weave that much. downhill I don't weave at all, but uphill requires a weave to stop the slag running down.

if I have already put a few runs down on a fillet I will tend to weave the final run to cover it all, or will weave on the second run, to completely cover the first run and tie the edges in if it only needs 2 runs.

 

[wheresmejumper]

you dont have to weave uphill either,straight beads or stringers will have less restarts and are a requirement for some codes

 

[BrokenBiker]

ah, for my nvq I was told to always weave uphill, although it was only an nvq and only for maintenance welding

 

[hillbilly234]

cheers lads for them replys.

 

[migman2014]

It was s long time ago but I'm sure I had to weave for my nvq2 also uphill.

 

[BrokenBiker]

bottom line is, if your not a pro, and your only welding up frames for tables, or gates and so on, do what ever you feel comfortable with. if it has to have a certain structural strength then consult a pro that can tell you how it should be done by the book.

as you are looking into being a pro then I would try and spend some time with your mate watching how his guys work and how they weld different applications and go form there

 

[Lawnmowerboy]

I very rarely weave as it takes away heat and penetration from the root of the weld. With MMA and tig is different for me. Doing any vert up I weave with MMA and and multipass TIG corner fillets especially on round stuff I usually walk the cup. Finished my lv.2 C&G in the three processes.

 

[hillbilly234]

as you are looking into being a pro then I would try and spend some time with your mate watching how his guys work and how they weld different applications and go form there

the thing is,he only uses mig/tig welders,as the metal he welds is from about half inch,to inch and a half,cheers all the same.

 

[madkayaker]

If its a Landy you going to keep and lovely restore then I would look at new galvanised chassis. You can always put up with rubbish body work for a bit to save costs but at least its on a solid chassis.

 

[BrokenBiker]

If its a Landy you going to keep and lovely restore then I would look at new galvanised chassis. You can always put up with rubbish body work for a bit to save costs but at least its on a solid chassis.

think you may be on the wrong post with that one, but yes it is one im going to keep, but looking at the prices of a new chassis so I may just end up welding and reinforcing where I can. I am plenty confident I can get the required penetration and can get hold of the metal a lot cheaper than buying a chassis

 

[madkayaker]

I am in wrong place!

 

[Drains]

It depends what you're doing. A weave can be ok for capping a weld and would be common enough on pipe welding (have a look here), but on the whole weaving is frowned upon for structural work, I think because there is more strain on the joint when you put in a wide band of cooling metal - you get more shrinkage, more chance of distortion and more chance of cracking. As mentioned above there are fewer stops and starts too. If you look at large welds built up on joints on structures like bridges etc, you'll see multiple stringers, no weaves.
I believe the rule of thumb is (was?) to weave no more than 2.5x the diameter of the rod. Even that may be out-of-date.

 

[arceyered]

It depends what you're doing. A weave can be ok for capping a weld and would be common enough on pipe welding (have a look here), but on the whole weaving is frowned upon for structural work, I think because there is more strain on the joint when you put in a wide band of cooling metal - you get more shrinkage, more chance of distortion and more chance of cracking. As mentioned above there are fewer stops and starts too. If you look at large welds built up on joints on structures like bridges etc, you'll see multiple stringers, no weaves.
I believe the rule of thumb is (was?) to weave no more than 2.5x the diameter of the rod. Even that may be out-of-date.

When I was at babcocks it was 1.5 x Dia of rod .Mind you every weld was to a weld proceedure any deviation and you were given the boot. And definately no blocking out
It is all according to what you are welding ?