Anybody want to grade my weld?

[johnstra Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close johnstra]

Have a look and tell me how it looks. What do I need to do differently? The top piece is about 3/16", the bottom is about 3/8".

Thanks,
-john

[Pangea Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Pangea]

Picture number one has a great big WTF on the corner and is inconsistent on the left side weld.

Picture number two looks alright but to be truthful, with no inspection criteria mentioned, both welds could be good or bad.

Practice more.

[johnstra Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close johnstra]

Yeah, I don't have much of a clue on corners.

Help me out with the inspection criteria. What is it you need to know? I'm just practicing on scrap. I'm an absolutely newbie with wire feed, so I want to know what jumps out at anyone with a trained eye that is obviously wrong, bad, etc.. Suggestions for how to correct the flaws would help too.

Oh, this is FCAW btw. I'm using the .030 roll that came with the welder.

Thanks,
-john

[Zrexxer Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Zrexxer]

John, on the end of the angle for example, slow down a little and get your speed consistent. You need to watch the puddle and make sure it forms completely and fills to both pieces of the work. You're on the right track, but you need consistency and steadiness. Your bead is a bit too wide for the thickness material (3/16), it appears that you've got a too-fast, too wide, weave going on. Tighten it up some.

[johnstra Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close johnstra]

Thanks Zrexxer. That's great feedback.
-john

[Pangea Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Pangea]

What Zrexxer said about manipulation. The inspection criteria will be defined by the engineering department of the job you work on. With no do's and don'ts you can't say if a weld is bad or good. I have made seal welds on flight hardware that had an unlimited porosity allowance as long as it didn't have any linear indications. Crazy!

Bottom line, keep your hand consistant and your weld will show it. Wrap those corners and gring your starts/stops before you run over them.

[MIKIEweld Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close MIKIEweld]

You could warm up the arc a bit. Try a bit more voltage, or a couple of less amps/wire....
What size wire have you got on in mm... 0.8mm?-1.0mm?-1.2mm ?
(We don't use gauge over here it's all metric...LOL) And what gas have you got on?

[johnstra Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close johnstra]

No gas... i'm doing FCAW. .030" works out to .75mm wire, so i'm already using pretty small stuff. I'll try turning up the voltage.

Btw... after I posted this, i watched some of Tony Welds taped courses. For flat FCAW lap welds, he recommends a tight scribbling type action. I was using big circular motions, so that's probably why my weld was too big.

Thanks,
-john

[Jonesy70 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Jonesy70]

depending on the machine that you have will determine what type of adjustment you have with youe voltage and wire speed. if you have a economy machine...with just click adjustment...try increasing your arc length some. about half an inch off the base metal. Try to adjust your travel speed so that you can better control your uniformaty...And again, work on those tie ins...regardless of what is exceptable...Ungly welds are ugly welds...try to practice your stops and starts!! Good luck and Practice, practice, practice!!!!