Critique my welding

[jaywood]

I honestly don't think my city college has a welding class. I've looked. I was really excited about it, but they don't offer it

Hehe, pikachu...that's a new one!! Thanks ;)

[slammin.e28]

I took a welding class at a local vo-tech school. Started out one day with oxyacetylene and went to TIG for the rest of the class. First stainless, then up to aluminium.

Didn't do any MIG in class as it's easy enough. I do MIG all the time now at home, until I can finally get my hands on a TIG. TIG is by far my favorite though.

Vo-tech class was the best thing I could do. Money very well spent, IMO.

[pantelones]

If I can I'll get some pics of the back tomorrow. Definitely Wednesday I'll have some pics.

Yes, I do all of the steel welding with the MIG. Thanks man! If formal schooling is considered Youtube, then yes I have ;) All of my welding has been self-taught and Youtube taught.

Good luck with that man! I would love to be certified.

Thank you! You don't actually have to take classes to get certified if I remember correctly (you can take the test locally). Just look up the joints and positions you want to get certified in, and practice the shit out of them. Though you will NEED to test them like MrSleeve said to do.

Personally though, I would take some sort of class at your local community college. If you want to learn TIG, take an Oxyacetylene (Gas) class. That was probably the best class I have taken as far as retaining what I learned, and learning to control the puddle/heat.

Pante: I didn't want to bust his chops too bad with a look a the back side. That and you can't really see cold lap with eye all that well, allthough with the lack of heat speed he was moving at to get that rippel spaceing I would be willing to bet there is some out on the edges hidden uncer the filler metal

Nah man, my welding teacher was a very nice and upfront asshole, and that is exactly why I learned so much from him. If someone is not doing something right, and you can teach the person how to look for, and fix there own mistakes then they will grow as a welder. I bite my tongue when I see a lot of the welding on this site, but pickachu seems like he knows what he is doing for the most part. :)

[mrsleeve]

Pante: I didn't want to bust his chops too bad with a look a the back side. That and you can't really see cold lap with eye all that well, allthough with the lack of heat speed he was moving at to get that rippel spaceing I would be willing to bet there is some out on the edges hidden uncer the filler metal

[jaywood]

I haven't really played with aluminum yet so I can't comment with any specific tips. The one thing that I always do when I want to practice is lay out my plate. Take a soap stone and a square to lay out lines evenly spaced on you plate (after you prep it of course). Start with lower amps, and run the entire bead. Take a piece of paper and make a table to record your settings. Progressively work your way up to where you are clearly running too hot. Then go back and work on bead uniformity with your optimal setting. Like MrSleeve said, you need to tighten up the beads, and it looks like you have some cold lap on the edges of your bead. I can't really tell from the photo, but the beads look to high and not enough heat was going into the base metal. Also, I am surprised that he didn't ask for a picture of the back side of the plate. If you could, take a picture of it, I am interested to see how it looks.

I have seen some of your other work and it looked really good (MIG stuff I think), and you seem to know what you are doing. Have you taken any formal schooling? (I am working on my TIG certificate, and I will be transferring to Ferris State to take their welding engineering program.)

If I can I'll get some pics of the back tomorrow. Definitely Wednesday I'll have some pics.

Yes, I do all of the steel welding with the MIG. Thanks man! If formal schooling is considered Youtube, then yes I have ;) All of my welding has been self-taught and Youtube taught.

Good luck with that man! I would love to be certified.

[pantelones]

I haven't really played with aluminum yet so I can't comment with any specific tips. The one thing that I always do when I want to practice is lay out my plate. Take a soap stone and a square to lay out lines evenly spaced on you plate (after you prep it of course). Start with lower amps, and run the entire bead. Take a piece of paper and make a table to record your settings. Progressively work your way up to where you are clearly running too hot. Then go back and work on bead uniformity with your optimal setting. Like MrSleeve said, you need to tighten up the beads, and it looks like you have some cold lap on the edges of your bead. I can't really tell from the photo, but the beads look to high and not enough heat was going into the base metal. Also, I am surprised that he didn't ask for a picture of the back side of the plate. If you could, take a picture of it, I am interested to see how it looks.

I have seen some of your other work and it looked really good (MIG stuff I think), and you seem to know what you are doing. Have you taken any formal schooling? (I am working on my TIG certificate, and I will be transferring to Ferris State to take their welding engineering program.)

[Blackangusinc]

Not too bad for just getting started. Are you "dipping" your tungsten to get arc or swiping your filler rod??? If your dipping while common practice for hobbyists and structural welders, its a big no no, in many types of production, as that dipping can leave an inclusion in the weld, or cause arc burns/star cracking in the preceding pass or parent material. Only thing I really see is a big heat affected zone when you arc up, and very little though the rest of the weld. You really should have a little wider heat affected zone along the bulk of the weld, you might not be getting 100% penetration at the edges due to lack of heat.


Laying a cap pass on a hunk of plate is one thing, you need to be working on joining a couple of pieces then cutting it into straps and doing a destructive test to see if your getting proper penetration. You can build a simple deal at home with a bottle jack to do a root and face bend for this. If you have access to a press then its all the easier.

Personally I would like to see a little closer space on your ripples and less peak/valley height differential, the left 1/4 of the 2ed one form the top is what I like too see on my welders caps. Yes I stare at and through welds for a living

This is probably the most helpful post yet. I will say though, that Jody's advise at weldingtipsandtricks.com is rock solid. Practicing by building up on a piece of plate is a great introduction to the peculiarities of aluminum. Once you're comfortable doing that, you can move to butt-welds, then tackle fillet welds.

[maniacmatt]

If you have the foot pedal I would set the amperage on your machine to the max. Use a heavy foot to get the puddle started and then slowly back out of it as the piece heats up.

You want to be paying close attention to the edges of your puddle as you are welding to make sure they are melting into the base metal and that you are maintaining a consistent width puddle.

[jaywood]

I'll do some more joint work this week and post some more pics. I am using a foot pedal so I'll give it some extra throttle and hopefully get some more penetration.

That intake mani looks really nice!

Thanks guys for the help!

[emerson.]

Yes foot pedal is absolutely necessary for aluminum.. if you keep you the practice is really awesome laying nice beads. I personally like to run hot for my Tig projects.


Heres a intake manifold I've been working on recently. Jus practice practice practice

[maniacmatt]

Agree with pretty much all that has been said above. Looks to me like you need more heat all through those welds.

Are you using a foot pedal? I find it a must for aluminum, because aluminum has very high heat conductivity it can take a lot of heat to get the puddle started on aluminum. However on long passes once the part is hot it requires a lot less heat to maintain that puddle. That is why having the ability to remotely adjust your amperage is very important with aluminum.

[emerson.]

Good beads. But like said above work on joints. I personally think t joints are easier.. And I most situations you will be welding t joint type things

[jaywood]

I got the filler rods from a local welding store.

I have yet to use the plasma cutter, I might be sending you a PM soon.

mrsleeve, thanks for the suggestions! I'll try giving more heat throughout the weld.

[mrsleeve]

Not too bad for just getting started. Are you "dipping" your tungsten to get arc or swiping your filler rod??? If your dipping while common practice for hobbyists and structural welders, its a big no no, in many types of production, as that dipping can leave an inclusion in the weld, or cause arc burns/star cracking in the preceding pass or parent material. Only thing I really see is a big heat affected zone when you arc up, and very little though the rest of the weld. You really should have a little wider heat affected zone along the bulk of the weld, you might not be getting 100% penetration at the edges due to lack of heat.


Laying a cap pass on a hunk of plate is one thing, you need to be working on joining a couple of pieces then cutting it into straps and doing a destructive test to see if your getting proper penetration. You can build a simple deal at home with a bottle jack to do a root and face bend for this. If you have access to a press then its all the easier.

Personally I would like to see a little closer space on your ripples and less peak/valley height differential, the left 1/4 of the 2ed one form the top is what I like too see on my welders caps. Yes I stare at and through welds for a living

[Exodus_2pt0]

Where did you get your filler rods?

We just got our Tig welder and plasma cutter in the other day, have the tungsten rods, but having trouble finding the proper filler. The plasma cutter is a blast, but I need to start practicing with the TIG.