what to do to make welds better

[richard s]

here are some pics of some tacking i did earlier
could you point me in the right direction to make these better
cheers

 

[the snooper]

looks like you dont have enough gas flow to me or there is a breeze blowing it away

 

[richard s]

i am using 0.8mm flux cored wire and i havnt had much of a practice as i dont have much steel at the minute just a couple of scraps from a wheel arch repair panel

 

[the snooper]

ah thats why it looks like that, gasless does look different.
ive only used it twice the best thing to do is play around with your settings ie wire speed and power settings until you are happy with the results

 

[richard s]

does it look like im getting enough penetration and it seems to burn the edge of the plate away in areas
if i up the amps and wire speed for better penetration is it not going to burn the plate away more often

 

[mike os]

gasless & thin plate are not the best combination....for the reasons you have already discovered.

I would also suggest you prepare the weld area better...ie clean it till its 100% clean & shiny.... also for the earth clamp

 

[richard s]

when i first cut the holes i treated it with kurust as it was going to be a week or so before i got back on it and didnt want it rusting
i have cleaned it all back off around the palte till it was clean metal
and the earth clamp is on the seatbelt bolt if i was to put this on clean metal would this make a difference

 

[mike os]

always worth a try... ime bad earth always gives crap welds

2nd pic looks like still painted on th patch piece?

 

[richard s]

i take it the patch should be clean on both sides before welding in place

 

[mike os]

yes... its not for continuity, but weld contamination that can be an issue in poor quality welds.. also looks loke you have welded both sides?

 

[richard s]

i did place a couple of tacks inside as the plate needed shaping so i did the inside tacks to hold the shape as i was using my hammer to shape and press plate to body of car
does the penetration look ok in the second pic
i did a bit more today and had a couple of ok looking runs a bit off line now and then a couple of small blow throughs and a couple of big blow throughs
i will go and take some pics of the inside in a bit i ground the outside edges and blended them in a bit to make it look neater

 

[richard s]

here are the pics of the plate finished

does the penetration look ok

all ground down the next plate i do i will take some pics before i grind so you can give me some feedback

 

[Chickenjohn]

If you are aiming for a neat repair job you will be far better off repairing the car with butt welds rather than overlaps. When you have made the repair patch and shaped it to suit the car, scribe around the patch and cut the metalwork of the car so the patch fits perfectly. Get the final accurate fit by filling the patch to fit.

Overlap repair patches are water and rust traps and do not last. OK for getting an old banger through the MOT but a bodge for a restoration of a classic vehicle.

 

[richard s]

i dont think im quite up to but welding at the minute as i am really good at blowing holes at the min. i am going to buy one of them cheap halfords bottles and swap the wire to the 0.6 mm and see how i get on with that and if that improves my quality i will do some practicing and look for a small patch to have a go at

 

[mike os]

we were all bad when we started.... & some of us never improve LOL

 

[richard s]

as they say practice makes perfect
but im impatient so often skip the practice and get straight into making a mess

 

[mike os]

a
but im impatient so often skip the practice and get straight into making a mess

PMSL... sounds familiar

 

[the snooper]

i dont think im quite up to but welding at the minute as i am really good at blowing holes at the min. i am going to buy one of them cheap halfords bottles and swap the wire to the 0.6 mm and see how i get on with that and if that improves my quality i will do some practicing and look for a small patch to have a go at

those bottles are expensive to use, they dont last long at all but it will give you the experience of using gas instead of flux cored wire

 

[Chickenjohn]

i dont think im quite up to but welding at the minute as i am really good at blowing holes at the min. i am going to buy one of them cheap halfords bottles and swap the wire to the 0.6 mm and see how i get on with that and if that improves my quality i will do some practicing and look for a small patch to have a go at

It looks like you've blown a hole doing the lap welds as well!
The trouble with lap welding in a repair (as well as the water and rust trap) is that if you grind the weld down flush as you have been doing you will be removing most of the weld, seriously thinning the metal and the repair patch will be quite weak. Sorry to say this, but I think you need to improve your welding technique before further work on the car.

Before having a go again on the car, get lots of thin clean sheet steel (0.8-1mm thick) and practise until you can do a good butt weld without blowing holes. Read Malcolms thin metal pulsing technique http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/thin-metal.htm this shows how to butt weld without blowing holes.

 

[richard s]

i know i need to practice more but not sur on where to get my steel from i went to a body panel shop and they only do a 3x2 foot sheet and thats a bit big for my needs