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Does this welding look ok

Jesus-Ninja - 14/9/08 at 08:07 AM

I've done some test pieces and beaten hell out of them with a lump hammer, and they seem to hold up (metal gives before the weld). Because of the odd angles that I have three pieces of steel coming together, the pieces can be difficult to make up, so are not a perfect fit:

But once welded, the weld looks tidy and as far as I can tell "right"

Would the small gap make any difference to the strength of the weld, or simply aid penetration?

speedyxjs - 14/9/08 at 08:17 AM

Looks good to me

NigeEss - 14/9/08 at 08:27 AM

What he ^ said.

Jesus-Ninja - 14/9/08 at 08:29 AM

quote:
Originally posted by NigeEss
"It's weird and pissed off, whatever it is"

Is that a quote from "The Thing?"

The Baron - 14/9/08 at 08:38 AM

That look's fine...

mr henderson - 14/9/08 at 08:59 AM

Looks good to me too, especially if you did it all in one pass

John

Jesus-Ninja - 14/9/08 at 09:27 AM

quote:
Originally posted by mr henderson
Looks good to me too, especially if you did it all in one pass

John

Not quite one pass, as I did the horizontal weld, and then stopped to knock the wire speed down a touch, and then continued.

big_wasa - 14/9/08 at 10:48 AM

There will be many a chassis on the road that arn't as good as that

edit but I would try and keep the gaps as small as pos

[Edited on 14/9/08 by big_wasa]

blakep82 - 14/9/08 at 12:08 PM

wish mine looked as good as that

i think for years i used a cheap crap SIP gasless MIG, with 2 options, high or low. no wire speed or anything, so when i got a better machine, i kept setting it up to what i was used to, which was crap. its only now i've realised what a good weld sounds like, and realised for years my wire speed's been too high

[Edited on 14/9/08 by blakep82]

mackei23b - 14/9/08 at 12:09 PM

Yes looks goosd to me to!

Jesus-Ninja - 14/9/08 at 12:19 PM

quote:
Originally posted by blakep82
wish mine looked as good as that

i think for years i used a cheap crap SIP gasless MIG, with 2 options, high or low. no wire speed or anything, so when i got a better machine, i kept setting it up to what i was used to, which was crap. its only now i've realised what a good weld sounds like, and realised for years my wire speed's been too high

[Edited on 14/9/08 by blakep82]

I use a SIP

Although it's not gasless. I have a HUGE bottle of argoshield plumbed into it.

Yes, the penny dropped with me over the last week or two with my practicing, as to what a good weld should sound like. The thing that really did it for me was an explanation in a book of how the wire should melt at the correct rate, such that there is a stream of droplets of weld. Once I had that in my head, setting speed feels very natural.

blakep82 - 14/9/08 at 12:24 PM

yeah, same with me too! only really happened last weekend. plus i realised i had to turn the gas flow down a little, and reduce the wire speed, and it sounded right. a good steady buzz,

but your weld looks fantastic to me! i wish mine was like that

Mark G - 14/9/08 at 02:45 PM

When I was learning to weld my tutor (College) described the correct noise should be just like frying bacon!

Danozeman - 14/9/08 at 04:45 PM

That weld looks good to me.. I have seen much bigger gaps than that welded. The weld will fill the gap to a certain extent.

Some of the chassis iv seen have had alot worse welds than that even the proper built ones.

As for the welder, iv got an sip turbo mig which started welding really poor so i changed the original plastic liner for a metal one, fitted a new swan neck and redid the earth lead conection on the welder and it welds better than it did when it was new.

Jesus-Ninja - 14/9/08 at 08:14 PM

quote:
Originally posted by Danozeman
That weld looks good to me.. I have seen much bigger gaps than that welded. The weld will fill the gap to a certain extent.

Some of the chassis iv seen have had alot worse welds than that even the proper built ones.

As for the welder, iv got an sip turbo mig which started welding really poor so i changed the original plastic liner for a metal one, fitted a new swan neck and redid the earth lead conection on the welder and it welds better than it did when it was new.

yeah, my Turbo has a metal liner too. Still the original neck, and it complains a little bit if you pull tight corners with the umbilical.

hellbent345 - 15/9/08 at 07:45 AM

that weld looks really good what wire speed, amps, wire diameter were you using? i think i need to get a better welder, mine stops feeding wire full stop if you bend the cord much!

edit: and what technique is this you mention? how do you know what the optimum wire feed is other than the sound? did you zig zag or just do a straight run?

[Edited on 15/9/08 by hellbent345]

Jesus-Ninja - 15/9/08 at 12:03 PM

quote:
Originally posted by hellbent345
that weld looks really good what wire speed, amps, wire diameter were you using? i think i need to get a better welder, mine stops feeding wire full stop if you bend the cord much!

edit: and what technique is this you mention? how do you know what the optimum wire feed is other than the sound? did you zig zag or just do a straight run?

[Edited on 15/9/08 by hellbent345]

I use a sip mig mate 105 Turbo (or something like that) with a steel liner. I use 0.6mm mild steel wire. I work across the weld in a curved zigzig (if that makes sense)

It's difficult to explain it, but I now just kinda "know" when it's right. It should be a nice sizzling stream of droplets.

If the wire is just running off the tip and not crackling or hitting the puddle, then the wirespeed is too low (especially if you are welding the side of something or upside down)

The big part of the technique is to work the puddle where you want it, and to ensure that you work both pieces. Dwell if you need to to melt the pices a bit more, move away before it drops through!

It took me a while to get away from the idea that the stuff goes on like silicon sealant or glue. It doesn't! You are working the pieces your are welding as much as the wire.

Practice lots

MakeEverything - 12/10/08 at 01:51 AM

I never did get the hang of my SIP turbo mig, and now it sits in the garage collecting dust, screaming out for that metail liner and new feed roller.

I switched to TIG, and although the filler wire can be a pain in the arris sometines, i find it soooo much easier than MIG. Not always as practical as MIG tho.

Both have uses i find. I think im going to recommission the MIG before the end of the build, and give it another audition. I think ill run it on CO2 (much like my TIG!!) which seems to work fine as well. Ive battered some of the welds with a safeblow mallet, and theyre still holding on! - Must be ok.....right!?