Can someone answer this ?

[Davek0974]

I have been slowly learning Mig for time now, what I do is good enough for purpose but likely fail in an exam.

Anyway, it seems that whenever some self-learning person mentions weave, zig-zag or other torch motion in a "how's my welds looking" thread, everyone quickly replies "don't weave, it gives weak joints, poor penetration, and so on...."

I was very recently told to just run straight beads and stop wiggling the torch in one of my query threads here.

Now, please do not take this the wrong way, I know there are some damn good weldors on here, BUT why oh why does the Parent site instructional videos feature weave, indeed, one of the menu headings quotes...

"There are a variety of torch movements used in MIG welding. Generally some form of zig-zag or weaving motion is used to ensure the arc acts against both sheets to be welded."

This seems to go against what everyone is advising, I just spent a few hours on youtube and it seems there is no right way to Mig, but also a massive amount of wiggling going on - E's, U's, C's, just about every letter in the alphabet as a weave pattern

So, my question is, is weaving just frowned upon for beginners, or in general, or what?

What is the proper method of the basic horizontal lap, fillet, butt welds?????


As I said, don't read this wrong, I'm just trying to improve here

 

[normspanners]

You shouldn't write like that ---------you SHOULD write like this---------- I suppose its a little like handwriting there are loads of different ways, but it all gets the job done, as long as most understand it, it is good enough.

 

[Chris Stevens]

I have been slowly learning Mig for time now, what I do is good enough for purpose but likely fail in an exam.

Anyway, it seems that whenever some self-learning person mentions weave, zig-zag or other torch motion in a "how's my welds looking" thread, everyone quickly replies "don't weave, it gives weak joints, poor penetration, and so on...."

I was very recently told to just run straight beads and stop wiggling the torch in one of my query threads here.

Now, please do not take this the wrong way, I know there are some damn good weldors on here, BUT why oh why does the Parent site instructional videos feature weave, indeed, one of the menu headings quotes...

"There are a variety of torch movements used in MIG welding. Generally some form of zig-zag or weaving motion is used to ensure the arc acts against both sheets to be welded."

This seems to go against what everyone is advising, I just spent a few hours on youtube and it seems there is no right way to Mig, but also a massive amount of wiggling going on - E's, U's, C's, just about every letter in the alphabet as a weave pattern

So, my question is, is weaving just frowned upon for beginners, or in general, or what?

What is the proper method of the basic horizontal lap, fillet, butt welds?????


As I said, don't read this wrong, I'm just trying to improve here

Unless you are doing critical structural welds, as long as you have good penetration and parts are properly joined, do whatever you feel most comfortable with. Trying to make MIG welds look like TIG, is likely to compromise strength of the finished joint though, and is probably what adverse comments referred to?

 

[pondy]

I watch a lot of Jody's welding tips and tricks videos and he does a lot of weaving in his mig videos

 

[chunkolini]

I have noticed when teaching total beginners on my sculpture courses that when I mention 'move or weave' in connection with welding they tend to wave the torch all over the place with no understanding of what they are meant to be achieving. These days I start off using a simple straight movement until people can see the edges of the weld pool, then work towards moving the edges around to fuse the components together. I think the movement involved is so small that at first it baffles people.

 

[BrokenBiker]

most beginners i have welded with have usually weaved becasue they either have the machine set low and the puddle isnt doing enough itself to fill the joint, or they have the machine set hot and cant control the puddle. this is another reason i like stick welding as its easier to get a good stringer for me and i find it easier to weave with a stick electrode than a mig gun. i used to weave a lot with mig, but a lot of my joints would fail due to LOF on one of the bits of parent metal, usually whichever bit wasnt in flat position if it was a fillet, then i made myself stop weaving and realised my machine was set far too low, turned it up and ran straight beads and it was much better

 

[Richard.]

I have been slowly learning Mig for time now, what I do is good enough for purpose but likely fail in an exam.

Anyway, it seems that whenever some self-learning person mentions weave, zig-zag or other torch motion in a "how's my welds looking" thread, everyone quickly replies "don't weave, it gives weak joints, poor penetration, and so on...."

I was very recently told to just run straight beads and stop wiggling the torch in one of my query threads here.

Now, please do not take this the wrong way, I know there are some damn good weldors on here, BUT why oh why does the Parent site instructional videos feature weave, indeed, one of the menu headings quotes...

"There are a variety of torch movements used in MIG welding. Generally some form of zig-zag or weaving motion is used to ensure the arc acts against both sheets to be welded."

This seems to go against what everyone is advising, I just spent a few hours on youtube and it seems there is no right way to Mig, but also a massive amount of wiggling going on - E's, U's, C's, just about every letter in the alphabet as a weave pattern

So, my question is, is weaving just frowned upon for beginners, or in general, or what?

What is the proper method of the basic horizontal lap, fillet, butt welds?????


As I said, don't read this wrong, I'm just trying to improve here

It's simply about heat input control. Penetration and fusion really are not a factor of whether you should or shouldn't.
The aim of the game is to get the best out of the whole joint (parent and weld metal). To do that you need to keep localised heat input down to a level where the mechanical strength is optimum but obviously it needs to be hot to fuse. Increase the heat input with wide slow welding techniques and you do compromise the toughness/strength in the whole joint. I see people doing it a lot too and in some cases (out of position) it's needed to stabilise the pool. Wherever possible it's best to keep heat travelling and in the form of stringers and multiple runs. Like said above its more important on critical application but my argument is if your welding it then it may as well be welded as strong as you can.

 

[Lemo]

You should have just enough power to melt both parent and filler to create the joint. If you weave you're spreading out the heat and therefore either lacking fusion or you have too much power. That's the textbook answer. Realistically, poor fit up means the only option other than stopping to change your power means at some point you will have to weave. As long as you're keeping the arc tight to the weld pool it should be fine. Across the joint is a no no but along the direction of travel, as long as it's no more than a couple of mm should be fine.

Lee

 

[Davek0974]

Across the joint is a no no but along the direction of travel, as long as it's no more than a couple of mm should be fine.

Lee

Ah, now I would call that a whip not a weave???

 

[BrokenBiker]

a weave is necessary in certain circumstances, but not really required for most joints