mapitts

It looks to me like your biggest problem is puddle control. It looks to me that you also have an auto darkening helmet. Set it no higher than shade #10, that way you can also see where you are going. Slow down and keep a constant puddle speed and size. Do not "step" the wire gun. Flux core wire has several advantages over gas shielded wire. I have been in this trade now for 25 years. I am a piping and vessel welder in a chemical plant. As far as JD1969 goes, you can TIG in about a 15 mph wind, you just have to use an oxygen regulator to do it. Passed an awful lot of x rays with that set up. Keep up with the practice and you will get a hold of it. All it take is 25,000 miles of practice! You are going to do fine.

Gregski

What is that in inches? LOL, thank you for the advice I will try and follow it.

mapitts

Another piece of advice I would offer you is to get a few pieces of plate. 1/8" will do fine. Just start welding in lines. Watch each weld to see that you are "burning in" your weld. That is that the edge of the weld flows into the plate. No over lap onto the plate (what is called cold lap) or that the edge of the weld has melted away the plate (called undercut). Make sure that your weld are apart from each other so you can see what is going on. Do not over lap your welds. When you get that down, THEN go on to learning how to butt weld or make fillets. A lot of people think they can just pick it up in a couple of days. Remember; practice, practice, practice. What the weld should look like is a nice even bead with no "steps" in it. Like you ran it with a 7018 stick electrode.

Gregski

I've always been under the impression that a good weld should look like a roll of dimes overlapping one another, is that not so. Thank you very much for all the detailed advice I will try it.

Gregski

In this installment of So You Think You Can Weld we began in the classroom. Class today we will be discussin stick out. What is it?

We take a closer look at la Mahina! On/Off button, MIN/MAX setting, and the Wire-Feed Speed dial.

Is steel whool a good cleaner?

What did Abraham Lincoln mean when he said: "Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe." and how does it relate to welding?

Welding metal makes it hot? TRUE or FALSE

To find answers to these and other related questions once again please check out this link:

http://gregandsandy.com/302/welding4.htm

mstngsule68

i noticed you said your welding left to right, i really hope you have the nozzle pointed to the right so you can watch the puddle and travel....your getting better and the best thing you doing, is prepping correctly.

mapitts

It is best to "push" the puddle. With flux core you can drag, but, you cannot see what your puddle is doing. Remember, puddle control is a big part of the welding process. As far as the weld looking like a roll of dimes, yes it does look nice. The problem with it is that you will tend to have slag inclusion behind each ripple. I know you are not doing x ray quality work here, but the thing is you want to do it right. The only weld process with ripples is TIG. Everything else should be a nice even smooth weld. Only very small ripples should be vissible. As far as wire "stick out" goes, get you a set of needle nose pliers and turn them around and snip. That is a good length to start out with and maintain. The longer your wire gets, the more voltage drop you will have. That will lead to spatter and slag inclusion.

mapitts

Oh, and by the way. Excellent weld puddle control in your picture above. Nice and uniform in width. Just remember that once you get your puddle going, just push slowly watching your puddle size. Slow down or speed up to keep it the same width. Do not step out of your puddle and come back in. You are doing fine.

mstngsule68

i beg to differ

mapitts

Please. Go ahead and explain. Been in this trade for 25 years and have seen an awful lot.