Thin sheet welding

[Craig-S]

I dont think i have changed that much to be honest, im fine with 2.5mm sheet, 3mm angle, 2.5mm box, fillets, butts, laps etc. (in the flat position)

the 1.5mm sheet is where im having problems, the only reason I have tried 1mm filler and 1.6mm tungsten is because that seems to be recommended for this thickness, and although i'm not 100% convinced on the tungsten size, no harm in trying it out.

I can get nice beads on flat plate quite happily, however it will be full penetration, my aim was to get nice beads with only a shadow on the back side. laps seem to be ok at 70 amps, fillets on the other hand is where i get the scale, so might be worth clamping something to the back to suck out some of the heat.

 

[tigdlo]

Can you produce 10 100mm long welds on 2.5mm that all look the same? Usually once that is mastered making the slight changes needed to move to different material thicknesses and joints is relatively easy as most things like arc length, torch angle, travel speed, amps if using a pedal, etc is already second nature.

 

[Craig-S]

ill give that a go tomorrow but i think that would be ok....until it isnt i suppose. The pedal i havent got to grips with yet, im mainly just flooring it like a 2t switch.

I did run a filltet with a bit of 3mm angle tacked to the back and it didnt blow through so theres that.

 

[Craig-S]

This was going to be my warm up coupon,150mm x 100mm x 2.5mm then the gas was running low. I didnt let the plat cool much between little beads hence theres a bit bleed on the back in places, but mostly fine. The spot in the middle left is a good example that i was going to start, but the plate was a bit too wamr.

 

[tigdlo]

Individually most are perfectly acceptable with some very nice looking welds but IMO there is still too much variation to make me think all the basics skills are second nature, which they need to be, there is just too much to think about keeping all the small things constantly adjusted while welding. Allowing the plate to heat up too much will hake it harder, switch between 2 plates to allow them to cool. When welding things for real you need to manage the heat input so you shouldn't be welding things that are already too hot.

Why so short? Is your hand getting a bit hot? Do you struggle feed the rod between your fingers? 100mm long welds preferably with 1.6mm filler for 2.5mm plate so you have to feed the rod, if you are using 2.4mm as a crutch to prevent you from having to feed the rod between your fingers it will hinder your progress long term.

 

[Craig-S]

Actually theres no real reason they arent that long, i prepped 2 plates, and i was using this to warm up as i have spent a few weeks on thinner sheet. Then i just kinda carried on before running out of gas. now i have to wait until monday afternoon to get more. it is indeed 1.6mm filler.

In the meantime ill prep some more plates for longer beads.