Welding round tube to plate etc

[harvey]

I experimented today with welding a piece of tube to a larger piece of flat material. The results were not good. The problem is I that although I have reasonable torch control when moving in a straight line, when trying to do a tight curve I just can't seem to keep a good angle and distance

Any advice, or do I
a) keep trying
b) give up

 

[Wozzaaah]

Keep trying!!!
It's just down to practise really, it's not an easy technique to master but keep at it and you'll soon get the hang of it.

 

[Sparkey]

Yeah!! keep trying!!
It took me a while to master it (and i was doing it almost every day!) but once you get the trick it's easy!
To keep my torch straight i let the shroud touch the flat material(or in my case the tube) it keeps you from wobbling...but you need to be concentrated tho!
keep practiscing!

 

[malcolm]

A further option -
c: post some piccies so we can see where you've got so far.

It's tricky to get into inside corners. No problem for the shroud to touch the metal. Will probably still be too far away from the corner. Increasing wire speed might help adjust for that.

 

[Sparkey]

yes malc, my welder's settings are quite high also because my travelspeed has to be fast...(production!!!!!)
My Oerlikon citowave is set at 7.8 wirespeed...(dunno what that is on another welder???)

 

[peterd51]

Hi,

have you got an auto darkening mask as that'd leave your 'other' hand free to steady the torch.

Then you just need to practice moving your hands in an arc while still keeping as close to the same tip - work distance as you can. You'll find your hands move further and faster while the tip moves at it's normal speed compared with a straight line where hand and tip stay at the same speed.

It might help to imagine you had a piece of chalk in your fingers and needed to draw an arc around a centre. I'm sure you'd get pretty close to an even distance first time.

'swing your hands'...

Regards
Peter

 

[harvey]

Hi,

have you got an auto darkening mask as that'd leave your 'other' hand free to steady the torch.

I certainly have, it was the first purchase I made after getting the welder

Then you just need to practice moving your hands in an arc while still keeping as close to the same tip - work distance as you can. You'll find your hands move further and faster while the tip moves at it's normal speed compared with a straight line where hand and tip stay at the same speed.

It might help to imagine you had a piece of chalk in your fingers and needed to draw an arc around a centre. I'm sure you'd get pretty close to an even distance first time.

'swing your hands'...

Regards
Peter

I'll try that, it sounds like a good plan

 

[peterd51]

Hi,

good luck...

then when you get that sorted and after a bit of practice you can try holding your hands in basically the same place while you move the tip in an arc and alter the angle of the torch from sloping left, through sloping forward to sloping right (or vice-versa). A nice gracefull turn... :-)

It's not as hard as it sounds once you've played around with it for a while.

Regards
Peter

 

[Mr peepers]

Sometimes building yourself a workstation that you can slowy walk around while welding the pipe makes it easier also. Practice makes perfect though, repetition is the key when it comes to stuff like this, just keep at it and when you make it look nice just repeat it over and over again.