- Thread starter Oldbanger
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Hello.
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Fillet weld - two pieces at right angles, weld into the vee
Outside corner weld -again, two pieces at right angles but edge to edge so a small vee is formed between the two ends, fill that in with weld (very nice, easy, neat welds
)
That's probably the main four you'll use most.
Outside corner weld -again, two pieces at right angles but edge to edge so a small vee is formed between the two ends, fill that in with weld (very nice, easy, neat welds
)
That's probably the main four you'll use most.
smoggyrich
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plug welds
smoggyrich
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sorry. here's some pics......
sorry. here's some pics......
Cheers Rich.... Ill get a practice on those tonight. Looks like the plug weld could come in handy for overlapping body panels.
smoggyrich
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Looks like the plug weld could come in handy for overlapping body panels.
yes a lot of people use this method when replacing panels on cars etc.
Along the bottom of sills where they would have been spot welded in the factory etc.
Here some i've done on my van recently....
smoggyrich
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I cut the whole area of rot out so i could see from under the wheel arch....
Will be slightly more difficult with gasless but looks like you have tried to spot weld instead of a continuous run.You should be able to start and run a weld all the way along without releasing the trigger.
Put a glove on rest the torch on the glove close to the work piece and try that way.
Put a glove on rest the torch on the glove close to the work piece and try that way.
OB, that metal looks a bit thin for fillet welding, especially if you are using gasless wire. What thickness is it?
Looks like you have let the upright plate rise on the spots, instead of keeping it dead flat on the base plate. Any gap between the two makes welding difficult, and the thinner the metal the worse it becomes, and will blow through.
Next time, try tacking it at the ends first, and if you have to use thin metal tack it about every three inches, as well. That should hold it tight when you try short runs, joining tack to tack.
But having said that, welding fillets on thin metal isn't done much with flux-cored, it's easier to make a fold and then plug or lap the joint together.
Welding on thicker metal - 2mm plus - with flux-cored is a breeze, once you get the settings right.
Looks like you have let the upright plate rise on the spots, instead of keeping it dead flat on the base plate. Any gap between the two makes welding difficult, and the thinner the metal the worse it becomes, and will blow through.
Next time, try tacking it at the ends first, and if you have to use thin metal tack it about every three inches, as well. That should hold it tight when you try short runs, joining tack to tack.
But having said that, welding fillets on thin metal isn't done much with flux-cored, it's easier to make a fold and then plug or lap the joint together.
Welding on thicker metal - 2mm plus - with flux-cored is a breeze, once you get the settings right.
chunkolini
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Another good technique to practice is filling holes in.
We have all done loads of this.
Cant find any photo's.
But this is how I do it.
Lay a line of spot welds around the hole to build up a lip around the edge, then spiral in to the middle doing this. It can be done surprisingly quickly but does take practice. It can help to make the initial spots opposite each other like when you torque up a cyclider head, the heat is being spread around the hole.
If you are working on a butt or filet weld with gaps along it try spot welding lengths of gas welding rods or whatever is lying around into the gaps then welding over them, use lots of tacks to bridge the gaps; a bit of a bodge but works well and can look really good.
Here is a piece I am currently working on.
The whole thing is basically a hole filled in like this.
I made a structure of 3m welding rods with 3mm or slightly smaller gaps between them then welded over the top in a series of straight runs with the welder turned up fairly high as I like the surface to melt into itself.
Tis the head of a chameleon skeleton, this lot took a whole afternoon.
My sceptical mate was see doing this welding the bodywork on his tragic Riley Elf with great success.
I have also managed to add filler rod manually like tig welding to Mig welds.
Oldbanger, on your fillet welds remember that an edge melts faster than a surface as all the heat is conducted in one direction, so focus the arc on the bottom piece and make a very slight weaving motion getting the weld pool to 'lick' at the edge of the other piece, eventually you will be able to make the weave in respnse to the melting going on. If you look closely you can just see the extreme edge of the pool start to 'shine' for want of a better word in a crescent as the metal melts. You might well go mad first though.
Hope that helps.
Chunko'.
We have all done loads of this.
Cant find any photo's.
But this is how I do it.
Lay a line of spot welds around the hole to build up a lip around the edge, then spiral in to the middle doing this. It can be done surprisingly quickly but does take practice. It can help to make the initial spots opposite each other like when you torque up a cyclider head, the heat is being spread around the hole.
If you are working on a butt or filet weld with gaps along it try spot welding lengths of gas welding rods or whatever is lying around into the gaps then welding over them, use lots of tacks to bridge the gaps; a bit of a bodge but works well and can look really good.
Here is a piece I am currently working on.
The whole thing is basically a hole filled in like this.
I made a structure of 3m welding rods with 3mm or slightly smaller gaps between them then welded over the top in a series of straight runs with the welder turned up fairly high as I like the surface to melt into itself.
Tis the head of a chameleon skeleton, this lot took a whole afternoon.
My sceptical mate was see doing this welding the bodywork on his tragic Riley Elf with great success.
I have also managed to add filler rod manually like tig welding to Mig welds.
Oldbanger, on your fillet welds remember that an edge melts faster than a surface as all the heat is conducted in one direction, so focus the arc on the bottom piece and make a very slight weaving motion getting the weld pool to 'lick' at the edge of the other piece, eventually you will be able to make the weave in respnse to the melting going on. If you look closely you can just see the extreme edge of the pool start to 'shine' for want of a better word in a crescent as the metal melts. You might well go mad first though.
Hope that helps.
Chunko'.
The metal Im using is 0.6mm thick - Ive been advised to get thicker - just been too busy to stop and get some so far 
Next time Ill tac every few inches and try actually running a bead.... been having a bit of a problem seeing exactly where the wire will arc just now ??? makes all my welding look VERY sloppy
Ill report back once Ive tried all your suggestions..... Cheers lads!
btw chunkolini.... that looks sweet as!!!the welds almost look like scales!
Next time Ill tac every few inches and try actually running a bead.... been having a bit of a problem seeing exactly where the wire will arc just now ??? makes all my welding look VERY sloppy
Ill report back once Ive tried all your suggestions..... Cheers lads!
btw chunkolini.... that looks sweet as!!!the welds almost look like scales!
chunkolini
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Try and get hold of some 2mm sheet and 3mm strip, makes life a lot easier when starting out, also easy enough to cut and manpulate.
A great help I had to do without is to have somebody who can Mig weld give you a few pointers. I have people come on my sculpture workshops who have never seen a welder making recognisable welds within 10 minutes.
One guy was fillet welding 1.2mm sheet onto 3mm within 10 minutes and doing it almost perfectly.
Good luck
Chunko'.
A great help I had to do without is to have somebody who can Mig weld give you a few pointers. I have people come on my sculpture workshops who have never seen a welder making recognisable welds within 10 minutes.
One guy was fillet welding 1.2mm sheet onto 3mm within 10 minutes and doing it almost perfectly.
Good luck
Chunko'.
tombardier
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I think a good you could do is to get a wafer thin cutting disc on your grinder, and then cut a load of lines in to some 2mm or 3mm plate. You then weld up that line, filling the gap. I think that's really good practice, and you can try it in different positions 
I've been practicing vertical-up-push fillets today on 3mm plate in preparation for replacing the rear cross member on my landy (see the first picture of the fillet from Wozzaaah, and just do that going vertical ). I'm getting a bit better at that. You need to be going from one side to the other, hesitating slightly on one side, then following the pool over to the other side, hesitating, then back etc etc. If you just run a bead straight up, you find it builds up too much as gravity pulls on the pool.
You really need to get some thicker metal, and then just practice running beads, watch how the pool grows, and follow the leading edge of the pool and try and keep moving at a consistent pace, with consistent torch angle etc. You're just going to be frustrated by trying to learn on the 0.6mm stuff.
I've been practicing vertical-up-push fillets today on 3mm plate in preparation for replacing the rear cross member on my landy (see the first picture of the fillet from Wozzaaah, and just do that going vertical
). I'm getting a bit better at that. You need to be going from one side to the other, hesitating slightly on one side, then following the pool over to the other side, hesitating, then back etc etc. If you just run a bead straight up, you find it builds up too much as gravity pulls on the pool. You really need to get some thicker metal, and then just practice running beads, watch how the pool grows, and follow the leading edge of the pool and try and keep moving at a consistent pace, with consistent torch angle etc. You're just going to be frustrated by trying to learn on the 0.6mm stuff.
Cheers for the advice mate.... I managed to get a bit of practice on a mates uncles 151 te setup with gas. He had some 1mm galvanised steel ( only found that out when it started snowing silly string) was practicing doing a fillet that he had tacked in place .
I found it much easier , prob due to the combination of gas and thicker material. Actually managed to run a good bead without blowing through
Soon as I got home I setup my gas and wire etc.., couldnt get any flow through the regulator so I gave it one fairly forceful turn only for the nut to come unstuck from the bottom of the regulator...
It had only been glued together!!! 
I found it much easier , prob due to the combination of gas and thicker material. Actually managed to run a good bead without blowing through
Soon as I got home I setup my gas and wire etc.., couldnt get any flow through the regulator so I gave it one fairly forceful turn only for the nut to come unstuck from the bottom of the regulator...
It had only been glued together!!! tombardier
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I can't recommend welding galvanised stuff either Make sure to get rid of all the zinc from it with your flap disc Just get down to a local fabricating shop and ask them for a few scraps to practice on. They're usually quite happy to help
Make sure to get rid of all the zinc from it with your flap disc Just get down to a local fabricating shop and ask them for a few scraps to practice on. They're usually quite happy to help 