Just landed my first job welding. 1 problem though!

[addjunkie]

My advice, listen, question the reason why to change with out being confrontational occasionally but dont argue.
Most trainers like to share their knowlege if asked for help, male egos and all that.

A question and answer type discussion is a very good learning tool.

Also remember he may not be a natural trainer and has been voulenteerd, another one to train.

 

[Afoster61520]

They’re done wrong

I assumed so
In all seriousness though, i do sound ungratefull but im actually not. Just like to question everything still a young buck though so plenty to learn. Thanks for all your help gents

 

[Afoster61520]

My advice, listen, question the reason why to change with out being confrontational occasionally but dont argue.
Most trainers like to share their knowlege if asked for help, male egos and all that.

A question and answer type discussion is a very good learning tool.

Also remember he may not be a natural trainer and has been voulenteerd, another one to train.

Yep i agree with you. Exactly the way i approach things when dealing with work. As it can get nasty quick if picked up wrong.
And your right, i was sprung into him with no choice on his behalf. hes not a trainer and only been welding 3 years, an by any means hes not teaching me how to weld, hes just helping me find my feet in the company.

 

[armalites]

As you've got the job without blagging then they must like you/your attitude, one day you won't be the new bloke and it will all be fine

 

[Afoster61520]

As you've got the job without blagging then they must like you/your attitude, one day you won't be the new bloke and it will all be fine

You must be right in saying so young eager to learn, plenty of supervisory and farming experience. Get you a job anywhere. And also most companys over here hardly have a choice now, huge shortage of welders at the minute.
And tomorrow i wont be the new bloke

 

[Stingray]

Best advice for a newbie is do all the usual stuff to impress before you even start Welding, be punctual with timekeeping, respect your fellow colleagues and try and get a sense of who is willing to give advice and help you, keep your work area clean and tidy, from a Welding point of view, have a look at what other welders are doing in a respectful way, don’t be like a Moth attracted to the blue light and sneaking up behind guys, it can **** some people off, don’t try and rush to impress in the first few days, speed works hand in hand with experience, if something is going wrong stop and try and fix the problem for example replacing a weld tip, the only advice I can give about Welding without giving you a one to one tutorial is always make sure your comfortable, it’s easier to start awkward-finish easy if you know what I mean, make sure you’ve got a good earth and material to be welded is free of rust and millscale, make sure your Welding lenses are clean.
As for weaving or putting stringers down there are no set rules, as long as your not working to a WPS I would just go with what you’re guy that is showing you until you have some more experience behind you.

 

[Richard.]

as the e technique isnt strong enough.

As for not strong enough I couldn’t tell you because I don’t know what it’s got to do but your man is absolutely correct in the respect a straight down run is far more superior and a stronger joint done properly than the wiggling waving around nonsense. Wrongly of him he probably didn’t explain why.
It’s all about heat input. When we talk about any welding limitations heat input should be number 1.
Your e method cannot be performed at any where close to the travel speed as a spray arc bombing down a joint. Your current in the e method will be lower too because at slower travel rates you’ll need less wire going in to compensate.
The straight down run will have a lower local heat input due to the high travel speed which decreases grain size and increases weld strength.
He will also from the higher current settings be getting deeper and more consistent fusion levels. A sounder method of welding all round and one you should adopt straight away. Ditch the e weave thing it’s not giving you anything but extra work and decrease in productivity.

 

[Lordspectre]

Straight run is less likely to have discontinuities and is faster. Increase amperage and travel speed.

Hi brad and anyone else wants to advise.going off topic a bit, I prefer doing a straight weld rather than weaving.... Easy enough for me to weld up to say 10-12mm with a straight run but if doing say 15-25mm is it possible to do a straight run when I need to lay down a Big ass weld by just bumping up heat and wire speed? Welding just over a year in a job.

 

[Richard.]

Hi brad and anyone else wants to advise.going off topic a bit, I prefer doing a straight weld rather than weaving.... Easy enough for me to weld up to say 10-12mm with a straight run but if doing say 15-25mm is it possible to do a straight run when I need to lay down a Big ass weld by just bumping up heat and wire speed? Welding just over a year in a job.

Multiple runs mate.
Big bad ass weld as you put it is probably the worst thing you can do.
A 15mm fillet joint for example would require a 13-15mm leg length. This is best done in the form of a 3 run fillet joint.

 

[Lordspectre]

Multiple runs mate.
Big bad ass weld as you put it is probably the worst thing you can do.
A 15mm fillet joint for example would require a 13-15mm leg length. This is best done in the form of a 3 run fillet joint.

The recurring contract we have doesn't allow multiple passes as "takes up to much time"...lads here just weave it as I do BUT I prefer to just lay down 1 nice stringer and move on if it possible but upping the settings

 

[Richard.]

The recurring contract we have doesn't allow multiple passes as "takes up to much time"...lads here just weave it as I do BUT I prefer to just lay down 1 nice stringer and move on if it possible but upping the settings

If the boss says no it’s no.
In that case you’ll have to weave.

 

[Lordspectre]

If the boss says no it’s no.
In that case you’ll have to weave.

Thanks for the advice anyways lad

 

[MattF]

All the American videos I watch
There always weaving with mig.

That's one problem with American videos, info etc. A lot of the time, it seems almost as if they go out of the way to do things differently, just for the sake of being different. I notice little things no end of times in that regard. The rest of the world could settle on one common thing, and they'll purposefully be the odd ones out. They have some very knowledgeable, experienced blokes, but you always need to remember to never class them as an only source of info.

 

[Liquid Metal]

Not sure its to do with production speed, or use of wire. Running welds in straight lines, using stringers, rather than weaving (especially when mig welding) means that
1, youll be using the right ranges of wire speed and voltage therefore giving much better chance of adequate penetration, rather than weaving all over the place to get the weld thickness and width wanted, which really is asking for problems.
2, it actually lowers heat input, due to travel speed along the joint.
Take for example, a 300mm long fillet weld, between 2 pieces of 6mm plate, 6mm fillet needed one side of a T.
For example,
1mm wire, 18v and wire speed to suit, weaving your way along to give a 6mm leg length on the fillet, the weld will probably be concave amd not a 6mm fillet. Also by the time you get to the end, the plates will be glowing red hot.
On the other hand, use 27-29v 18l/min of gas, and wire speed giving an amperage of over 200 amps spray transfer. Yes it will be welded quicker. But also, will be pentrated sufficiently, the heat input into the plate will be lower, fillet size will be more proportional due to the upped level of steel deposited.

 

[Kent]

Only weave if there is no other option. Listen to what your told or you likely won't make it through your trial. Period.

Let me say this
There is no qualification to post a u tube video and as a result there is plenty rubbish on u tube .

 

[Richard.]

That's one problem with American videos, info etc. A lot of the time, it seems almost as if they go out of the way to do things differently, just for the sake of being different. I notice little things no end of times in that regard. The rest of the world could settle on one common thing, and they'll purposefully be the odd ones out. They have some very knowledgeable, experienced blokes, but you always need to remember to never class them as an only source of info.

Quite right Matt.
Remember they’ve only been knocking about 2 1/2 centuries and got a bit of catching up to do. Blacksmiths in the UK have been working with metal long before medieval times. And long long before the USA was tapping hammers on hot metal. We might be a tiny little dot on the map but we got some years of experience with engineering and metal work behind us. There will be some medieval blacksmith blood among us here I’m sure. Difference is we just crack on and not make a show about it.

 

[Stingray]

Quite right Matt.
Remember they’ve only been knocking about 2 1/2 centuries and got a bit of catching up to do. Blacksmiths in the UK have been working with metal long before medieval times. And long long before the USA was tapping hammers on hot metal. We might be a tiny little dot on the map but we got some years of experience with engineering and metal work behind us. There will be some medieval blacksmith blood among us here I’m sure. Difference is we just crack on and not make a show about it.

It’s like the programmes on discovery blood, sweat and rigs or something, safety out the window, and next there’s a butt to weld, America’s allegedly top welder comes on the scene to weld a butt and costing about $100,000 an hour in downtime and he’s got the cowboy boots on and the carhartt gear on and those hard hats that they wear with about 600 stickers on them, anyway it ends up it fails the bomb about three times...

 

[R Kraft]

All the American videos I watch
There always weaving with mig.

Theres a thread up recently titled mig like tig.
Probably worth a read.

The MIG like TIG thing is a cosmetic thing for the uninformed.
People who buy welded products been conditioned to believe that only a weld that looks like it was TIGGED is a real weld.
My instructor would have failed someone for wasting time, making an defective weld.
His idea of a good weld was, hot,straight and smooth with no surface imperfections to concentrate stresses.
Time is money.

 

[Bill Edwards]

Forgot YouTube. There are very knowledgeable people on there but also some morons who have no idea what they’re talking about. Until you know enough to work out what’s wrong and right you’re at risk of taking in rubbish and that’ll really hinder you, maybe even result in dangerous work.

Like others have said forget about weaving, silly e’s etc and go for straight runs. The only time I am happy to do (or see) a weave is to cap a vertical weld, for anything else forget it unless a weld procedure forces it.