rate my welding day 2

[bobrick]

hi folks

cheers for all your advice yesterday, as advised i ditched the gasless wire and fitted 0.6 solid core and used pure CO2 gas.

i upped the settings to max i theink it was max, 2. wire feed was at 5

i immediately saw and felt the the difference

i think they are better than my previous post although any advice will be greatly appreciated

also had a go on my mates speedglas helmet, (i want one), they are awsome and i think that might have hepled me along as well.

cheers for looking and i look forward to reding your posts

cheers

will

 

[malcolm]

Are you using the Clarke 105? That runs at a maximum of 100 amps which is the setting I would use for 2 sheets of 2.5mm sheet butt welded end to end. When welding inside a corner, or welding box the effective thickness of the metal is increased so you'd need a few more amps.

Wall thickness of the bits and pieces you are welding looks like 3mm which explains the high build of the welds (representing lack of penetration and strength).

A way to increase the penetration without changing the welder is to leave a gap and prep the metal by grinding the edges to a V shape. Not sure how this would work on box. Or practice on thinner stuff.

Other than that the welds are looking really good. Possibly slightly low on gas (brown mist over some of the welds and a few holes at the ends where you've maybe taken the torch away too quickly).

 

[Iain Westland]

what do you think we should say? day two you say?

going in the right direction (and if you like co2 you'll love light or cougar)

what does the backside of the weld look like, do you feel your getting lots of penetration? (worried about falling foul of the family freindly rule so will stop here)

likey so far

Iain

 

[Sparkey]

Yep,definately lack of gas...How far do you keep your torch from your workpiece?
Speedglass is great! i use mine 8 hours a day!

 

[shenion]

Moving up to 0.8mm wire will also help add more heat.

 

[Sparkey]

what do you think we should say? day two you say?

going in the right direction (and if you like co2 you'll love light or cougar)

what does the backside of the weld look like, do you feel your getting lots of penetration? (worried about falling foul of the family freindly rule so will stop here)

likey so far

Iain

Blimey, Ian(or Iain) are you always that direct? or do you know Bobrick personally?

 

[Iain Westland]

i have found that being able to fit my foot into my mouth has always been an advantage .... also 1% chance that the Bob is short for Roberta .... i'll get me coat


Iain

 

[Sparkey]

i have found that being able to fit my foot into my mouth has always been an advantage .... also 1% chance that the Bob is short for Roberta .... i'll get me coat


Iain

Yes, well unfortunately stuffing your foot in your mouth won't work on a forum eh?

ps: what's wrong with Roberta???

 

[bobrick]

cheers guys

yea im using the clarke 105en its max current is 100A ideally i probably wouldnt use it for this sixe steel however ive just been practicing on what ever scrap metal i can get my hands on

i have got some thinner sheet metal so if i get a chance i will have a go on that tomorrow

how do i get more gas, the regulator was open fully (i think the gauge might be a bit knackered) as i could hear the gas coming out. only other thing is although i was indoors its a barn and it was quite drafty

i think my torch was quite close to the workpiece but doing the inside corner i think i might have let it get about an inch from the weld pool at times

cheers for all you advice just trying to get as much criticism as i can so i can find out where im going wrong and stop bad habits before i get them (if that makes sense)

will

 

[Iain Westland]

if you can hear the gas it should be ok, but i havent ever got the hang of co2. if you can, try 0.8 (I use it on everything) and just keep going the way you are, to be honest i wish my second day of welding was that successful.

and try to shield yourself from drafts, it does make a hell of a difference.



Iain

 

[Ultrachop]

Your welds look way to cold! I would suggest that to confirm you weld an fillet and then break it you will see for yourself the lack of penetration. You should know that with mig you get no penetration in the puddle, so you need to always dig on the front edge of the puddle and then fill with the motion back and around the puddle. On a steady single bead you can get the most penetration by welding backhand, however it is often more difficult to see the front edge of the puddle.

Hope this helps,

Tim

 

[ian of fev]

one other thing try to give that metal a good clean that will help