OP
RookieWelder
New member
I hear you about getting proficient just as the job ends! It's the story of my life...
I increased the amps to 120 yesterday, and got some marginally better results. I dropped the amps down to 115 and got about the same results as at 120. After burning about 10 or 15 rods, I started using up the 3 or 4 inch bits of rods I had left over for re-strike practice, and inadvertently raised up my drag angle (to maybe about 15 degrees down from vertical to the plate). Suddenly, I wasn't getting the sharp peaks on my welds - I started getting nice, round curves instead! I guess I had a combination of errors going on originally - too cold and too much drag angle (originally about 30 or 40 degrees from vertical).
My welds look kind of wide, though. They end up being about 1/2" wide. Is this too wide?
Another question - when I end a weld, I get a big old crater that seems to be about 1/8" deep (I'm practicing on 1/4" plate). Is there a technique that I can use to reduce the size of the crater?
I'm using 1/8" 6013 because I had come to understand that it's a pretty easy rod for a beginner to use for getting used to striking and maintaining an arc. I also have some 1/8" 7018, but I figured I'd try to get a bit more proficient with 6013 before I crack open the 7018.
Dwight
I increased the amps to 120 yesterday, and got some marginally better results. I dropped the amps down to 115 and got about the same results as at 120. After burning about 10 or 15 rods, I started using up the 3 or 4 inch bits of rods I had left over for re-strike practice, and inadvertently raised up my drag angle (to maybe about 15 degrees down from vertical to the plate). Suddenly, I wasn't getting the sharp peaks on my welds - I started getting nice, round curves instead! I guess I had a combination of errors going on originally - too cold and too much drag angle (originally about 30 or 40 degrees from vertical).
My welds look kind of wide, though. They end up being about 1/2" wide. Is this too wide?
Another question - when I end a weld, I get a big old crater that seems to be about 1/8" deep (I'm practicing on 1/4" plate). Is there a technique that I can use to reduce the size of the crater?
I'm using 1/8" 6013 because I had come to understand that it's a pretty easy rod for a beginner to use for getting used to striking and maintaining an arc. I also have some 1/8" 7018, but I figured I'd try to get a bit more proficient with 6013 before I crack open the 7018.
Dwight
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