What the welding shop has me doing...

[MikeD74T]

... Uphill it all fell apart. I did several dry runs trying to figure out how to hold the rod and keep my angle during the transition. FAIL. :ashamed:

I think "FAIL" is pretty strong for a first attempt. There's no shortage of people being paid to weld every day that aren't any better. Don't give up, try a little weave or skip ahead & drop back. Watch your arc length & keep it short especially uphill. The whole drill is about finding the right angle/heat while having to change it every inch. The best part is you know what you're doing wrong so it won't take many attempts to get it right. MikeD74T

 

[Haywire]

I think I'm just going to stick to flat welds till I get more consistent. When I can do a good continuous bead flat, I'll add the angle back. On the first pics, I did half the circle and then repositioned it to do the second half. I don't suppose it really matters for my uses since I don't plan on any kind of certification, but it would be nice to be able to do it.

thanks,
Ian

 

[Chilly807]

There's a reason why welding is a two-year course in most tech schools

The more you work at it (practice) the more you'll learn about what works for you. If something just isn't coming together after a while, then it's time to ask questions. I've learned more tricks here just reading threads and asking questions.

Sean

 

[Shield Arc]

I think I'm just going to stick to flat welds till I get more consistent. When I can do a good continuous bead flat, I'll add the angle back. On the first pics, I did half the circle and then repositioned it to do the second half. I don't suppose it really matters for my uses since I don't plan on any kind of certification, but it would be nice to be able to do it.

thanks,
Ian

Most welding schools will have you do flat, horizontal, vertical, and over head plates. Then the same four positions in fillet welds, then groove welds. With the groove welds you'll cut coupons and bend them. Then for the more advanced class you'll move onto pipe. So it all depends on how far you want to go with your welding. Pipe is the ultimate teacher, 5-G, and 6-G pipe, the angles are always changing. If you haven't learned how to control the puddle before you get to pipe it will be all that much harder on you to learn how to weld pipe. But once you conquer pipe, you'll be able to make the puddle do what ever you want it to.:thumbsup:

 

[Transit]

Very good work, but you are limiting yourself to the stock size, type and size of the rod, and joint type.
Try a one side butt weld by V notching and a second pass for a complete fill. 1/16 , 1/8, 3/16 rod,
T-joint with a w/o notching,