Hi i just got my new mig welder, i have been practicing on some scrap metal.I have looked at some of the pictures about penetration in the tutorial section, but i carnt seem to get my welds to go rite through like in the example photos. I have attached some photos showing both sides of my weld using 1.5mm metal. any advice?
- Thread starter Elsie
- Start date
Drains
Yeah, nah.
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- 7,721
- Location
- Sefton, South Island, NZ
Your welds look fine Elsie, great for a starter!
Forget penetrating right through sheet - it's irrelevant. It's penetration through a welded joint that matters. Do a butt joint -leave a gap of about 2mm between the pieces, tack up, then weld, The weld bead should be just sticking out through the other side, and should completely fill the gap. If your blowing through, change your settings until you get correct penetration and a convex bead over the top, but not too high.
For a fillet, as you've done, try the same settings for the same thickness material, and see how it goes. You don't need to put a gap between the steel sheets, and don't expect the weld to go right through that either.
Forget penetrating right through sheet - it's irrelevant. It's penetration through a welded joint that matters. Do a butt joint -leave a gap of about 2mm between the pieces, tack up, then weld, The weld bead should be just sticking out through the other side, and should completely fill the gap. If your blowing through, change your settings until you get correct penetration and a convex bead over the top, but not too high.
For a fillet, as you've done, try the same settings for the same thickness material, and see how it goes. You don't need to put a gap between the steel sheets, and don't expect the weld to go right through that either.
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Stops those unsightly beads of spatter sticking to the job... and you get lots with gas-less.
marknotgeorge
Doing sums for a living since 2009.
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- 473
Thankyou so much for the feedback much appreciated...well all except the Ann Summers comment 
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I have a clarke 135TE and the setting i had it on was wire feed 5.5, setting 2 and on min. i tryed your suggestions today and they worked great, also i changed the gass from CO2 to Argon/CO2 which seems to make it hotter.
Thanks for the encouragement Simon i will try your tip on butt welding tomorrow.
Elsie.
.I have a clarke 135TE and the setting i had it on was wire feed 5.5, setting 2 and on min. i tryed your suggestions today and they worked great, also i changed the gass from CO2 to Argon/CO2 which seems to make it hotter.
Thanks for the encouragement Simon i will try your tip on butt welding tomorrow.
Elsie.
