first attempt at stick

[Engineer1964]

heres a good PDF which i had on my site, which will help you understand arc welding a bit more, Its worth printing out and reading

http://www.millerwelds.com/pdf/guidelines_smaw.pdf

 

[wheresmejumper]

heres a good PDF which i had on my site, which will help you understand arc welding a bit more, Its worth printing out and reading

http://www.millerwelds.com/pdf/guidelines_smaw.pdf

thanks for that!

 

[wheresmejumper]

need to keep feeding more consistent,and steady the rod a little better

 

[shirazman]

Judging arc length really comes down to practice and assessing your own welds.

I would suggest that you run a few beads gradually increasing the arc length as you go, this should give you a better idea of the effect it has.

For most things it wants to be quite short but not so much that it's touching the weld puddle. Too short an arc tends to cause a weld that has adequate penetration but is lumpy and uneven. Too long and the weld will tend to be cold, sitting quite high on the metal and not penetrating well, especially at the edges. A long arc will also tend to cause a lot of spatter.

From your pictures it looks like your arc may be a bit too long.

other way round. Short arc cools weld, long arc runs hotter and flattens the weld

 

[wheresmejumper]

have just enrolled for an introduction to arc welding course,starting in a months time.
60 hours over 2 weeks,cant wait

 

[aidank]

friend came round to give me a few tips,i have been keeping the arc length too short in his view(pipe welder)
showed me a few different ways of holding the electrode holder,have even been squeezing it tight without realising it,tensing up.havent been watching the pool as closely as i should be either.basically back to square one.
showed me then how to do a fillet weld in 3 passes,so have enough info to keep me going for a while yet

get him come back again in a months time when you have had some practice

what amps you using these times?

 

[wheresmejumper]

between 110 and 115.
he said the rods are 'okay,but not great'
theyre only a tenner per 2.5kg box,but good enough to learn with

 

[wheresmejumper]

tried a bit more today

slag nearly off in one piece

 

[rich r]

It's nice when you get peelers isn't it

Your welds are looking better each time you post - as you've found out: practice, practice, practice, and it gets easier to get better results each time.

One thing you might want to do though (I'm guilty of this too) - when you get to the end of a run, just pause a little or go round in a small circle before moving the rod away from the weld. Means you don't end up with a flat crater at the end, but a nice rounded end like the start of the run.

 

[wheresmejumper]

thanks!

ive been just pulling the rod away quickly at the end of a run-didnt know what to do!

 

[aidank]

It's nice when you get peelers isn't it

Your welds are looking better each time you post - as you've found out: practice, practice, practice, and it gets easier to get better results each time.

One thing you might want to do though (I'm guilty of this too) - when you get to the end of a run, just pause a little or go round in a small circle before moving the rod away from the weld. Means you don't end up with a flat crater at the end, but a nice rounded end like the start of the run.

often find when doing a run when you come to an end metal starts burning espically when you pause, whats the right solution in that case?

lift rod and get an unperfect end or some trick I don't know?

 

[wheresmejumper]

tried a bit of uphill,f'in hard

 

[rich r]

That's not bad if it's your first attempt at vertical up.

Try it with the workpiece at 45 degrees first until you get the hang of the left-pause-whip-right-pause-whip-left action. The weld won't try to run down as fast so the amount of time you pause isn't as critical. But once you get the timing right, you'll see the new weld pool on each side solidifies supported by the previous one, and the middle takes care of itself. Also try experimenting with a little lower current that you'd use for flat welding, it'll reduce the heat a bit making it less likely to run.

Aiden - practice I tend to do a little circle on the end whilst lifting the rod slightly, which builds a bit of weld on top of the thinner weld that's there, then quickly lift the rod off.

 

[wheresmejumper]

that was my second rod at vertical up.i tried 4 altogether but if i lose concentration even for a second i lose control of the pool and it ends up a bit pedigree chum

the way i had that piece clamped was about 10 degrees from vertical,with the top closest to me,not on purpose though.ill lean the next one away from me a little

i turned it down 5 amps to 105,could i go a bit more?

 

[rich r]

You've got to find a compromise between control and not enough heat to melt the base metal and get good penetration. So maybe try it at 100A, but go back up again if it doesn't seem to be penetrating well. It depends on the metal and the rod to some extent too, as well as your technique.

My vertical ups are either great, or shockingly poor. I'm not doing as much practice as I once was, and haven't needed to do vertical welds for a little while - every time I decided to have another go, it takes me about two rods to get the technique and current right...

 

[wheresmejumper]

got more rods and steel today

im still experimenting with how long to pause at the sides,sometimes it works out,more often it doesnt