Ugly beads, critics welcome...

[GManBart]

Don't listen to SA he is only a few weeks ahead of you. I say, that's just plain art, GMan!

Abstract art, no doubt!

 

[Shield Arc]

Don't listen to SA he is only a few weeks ahead of you.

Has it been that long already?

It probably is on the high side, and I've gone up and down a little bit so far but not that much. I plan to try a big step colder here soon.

Every 2 to 3, or even 4 welds, dip the plate in a bucket of water to cool it off. As the plate builds up heat, it changes how it welds. A guy can only compensate so much with travel speed.

 

[Gordon Gould]

Great welding course GMan and SA - Thanks.

GMan, I've been doing those practice bead pads a while and right out of the chute you can get your beads straighter than I can. Looks very good to me.

 

[GManBart]

Every 2 to 3, or even 4 welds, dip the plate in a bucket of water to cool it off. As the plate builds up heat, it changes how it welds. A guy can only compensate so much with travel speed.

Yep, I started doing that after seeing it mentioned on weldingtipsandtricks.com (after you mentioned that site in another thread).

 

[GManBart]

GMan, I've been doing those practice bead pads a while and right out of the chute you can get your beads straighter than I can. Looks very good to me.

After some of my first beads wandered, I started drawing a line with a soapstone pencil. I don't know if that's cheating or not, but it helped.

When I started on the full pad I just used the edge to get the first bead reasonably straight.

It's funny, but I had a small rectangular piece of scrap and decided to weld it to a flat plate just for fun, and it actually seemed easier to keep the bead where I wanted it....sort of like having a guide.

I don't know if I'm strange (okay, I know I'm a bit strange) but I find this a fun challenge. I find myself thinking "just one more stick" when I really should stop to do something else (like get cleaned up for dinner before my wife yells at me!). I figure that's a good sign

 

[ovrszd]

Start welding two pieces together with a 1-2" bead. Then break them apart and study where the joint failed.

 

[GManBart]

Start welding two pieces together with a 1-2" bead. Then break them apart and study where the joint failed.

I definitely plan on doing some bend testing. Are you saying a bead that's 1-2" long, or 1-2" wide (multiple passes)?

 

[ovrszd]

1-2" long. Any more and it's hard to break apart.

SA can specify some good examples.

For me, ideally, if I weld two pieces of 2"flatbar together and then break them I'd want the metal to break rather than my weld.

 

[Shield Arc]

When you start doing fillet welds, you can clamp the plate down, and hit it with a hammer on the opposite side of the weld. Beat the top plate over the weld. 7018, and Lincoln's L-56 Mig wire, I beat the tops plates down onto the bottom plate, then had to beat the top plate back the other direction to break it off.
7018 that never seen the inside of a rod oven broke with 18-blows of a 4-pound hammer.
7018 right out of the rod oven broke with 23-blows of a 4-pound hammer.
L-56 Mig wire broke with 29-blows of a 4-pound hammer.

 

[GManBart]

So I had a few minutes and ran ten more beads...tried to get the overlap better, and I think most were (although not all). I didn't get any great ends to the beads, but I go them so they were at least level, or a bit above, so I need to clean that up. You can sort of see a chalk line I made where I started tonight. If not, you can count ten up from the bottom.