Let’s talk about Welding technique

[steveh]

I've only been welding for a couple of years, so I’ve taught myself with the help of books, watching better Weldors, and doing.

I bet I'm not the only guy on PBB like this!

My Welder is a Hobart 175 w/C25 gas

In a recent conversation with Crash, I asked him just how long of a bead does he run at one time?

Here is what he told me:

A few inches at a time, stopping and waiting, letting the pieces cool to hand touch, and alternating sides if applicable to control distortion. He added that when working with Mild Steel, heat is not as big of an issue on the steel, but when working with hardened materials, it’s critical.

What else can you guys think of that you do, IE, tricks of the trade, that make your welding projects go smoothly, and turn out the way you want them?

I just finished this hanger for my truck last weekend. My welding table is a old cast iron table saw top .... works great with the miter gauge and magnets!

Front:


Back:

[KrebsATM02]

Just little things i've always found to work good with a mig that are probably obvious to most of us, but for new welders it might help: I'll add more as I think of them...

The cleaner the metal, the better

Keep the lead on the gun as straight as possible or in big arcs so the wire can travel through easier

I use soap stone for marking as it doesn't burn off when using a torch or welding

[Brandon]

Take a metallurgy class or something, heat which directly relates to length of bead is dependant on the metal thickness and state. Think of metal like wood - with grains in normal condition and the wafer board to simulate something quinched or cooled quickly. Sometimes you want that, sometimes you don't.

[SeaBass44]

nice lil table

[SCOTTS_4X]

Originally Posted by KrebsATM02

I use soap stone for marking as it doesn't burn off when using a torch or welding

what kinda soap stone do you use and where do you get it? I use it every day at work and it always burns/blows off. I have found that the new metallic sharpies won't though.

-Scott

[socalchef]

first part is a bit ot, but relevant to the above. whiteout marker pens. they work great for me. can see them with the goggles on.

since i'm pretty new to it and still learning, tacking in multiple places to keep the two pieces from shifting too much over a larger space. also, just be patient.

[Foxfab]

Metal scribes don't burn off I swear by them now especially for precision cutting.

[Gwamp]

alot of it depends on what process you are using and the thickness of the materials you are using. You can lay a much longer bead on 3/8 than say 16 guage for the most part. I have run some fairly long beads using dual shield on thick material. I would not do that with thinner stuff as it would warp the heck out of it.

If I am making alot of the same object, I will do one weld on it, put it aside, and do the next one until all that particular weld is done. Then grab the first one again and repeat until all the widgets are done.

[chumly2071]

a good site for welding information from guys with a lot of experience is http://shopfloortalk.com . there was another one that used to be good, but the moderators turned into goderators. there was a mass exodus to the shopfloortalk site.
another site with some good experienced guys is http://www.hobartwelders.com/mboard/index.php? . there was some problems there in the past with some of the board operators decisions regarding a well like moderator, but it seems to be a lot calmer now...