Critique my welding please

[mcantar18c]

I didn't go to school or anything for welding. I know some of you have or are otherwise experienced with it.

This is what I felt was a good example of my average for a basic weld, and I'd like some constructive criticism on it (or just tell me it's crap, whatever)...


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[SideShow Bob]

A little fast on your pass, it shouldn't be pointed, the flow should be rounded. How is the penetration ?
Try slowing down just a little and make tiny circles.

[Fentonite]

Better than I can do. My welds are uglier than the First Lady.

[ray1970]

A little fast on your pass, it shouldn't be pointed, the flow should be rounded. How is the penetration ?
Try slowing down just a little and make tiny circles.

The pointy, "v" shape threw me off. Haven't seen that before. I was kind of questioning the penetration but it really is hard to tell from a picture.

I'm not one to criticize though. I can stick metal together but my welds look like a bird crapped on them.

[Hound]

Guessing flux core with all the splatter. Might try half moon movement to get "stack of dimes" instead of what looks like push-pull. No periocity that I can see (which is not much)...... should do the job but I would recommend a class. They are fun and can save both money and your life depending on what you intend to weld for.

PS: the pic does not show the right angle to see penetration or prep work. The 'pointiness' looks like a push-pull method to me, which is common without training.

[mcantar18c]

Penetration and fusion are fine as far as I can tell. I was having some undercut issues with the thinner material, but it was just an issue with my settings. IIRC the vertical piece in this pic is 1/8" and the bottom piece is 1/4".
I'll see if I can't get better pics tomorrow of the penetration.

As for the pattern... I was under the impression that tiny circles or "c" pattern are for short circuit? This is with a pulse/spray MIG. I've been pushing on horizontal welds and pulling on verticals.
So should I be using the same patterns here that I do for short circuit?

[Great-Kazoo]

Penetration and fusion are fine as far as I can tell. I was having some undercut issues with the thinner material, but it was just an issue with my settings. IIRC the vertical piece in this pic is 1/8" and the bottom piece is 1/4".
I'll see if I can't get better pics tomorrow of the penetration.

As for the pattern... I was under the impression that tiny circles or "c" pattern are for short circuit? This is with a pulse/spray MIG. I've been pushing on horizontal welds and pulling on verticals.
So should I be using the same patterns here that I do for short circuit?

Practice, practice, practice. What seems fustrating now will be a slice of pie, later. Stick with one style now, till you feel comfortable. Then move to project #2

[Lars]

It doesn't look terrible. The V is from traveling to fast. Slow your travel speed down until you have a nice crecent shape. Oscillation ( the C pattern) is used to wash the filler medal into both pieces. It helps for undercut and cold roll. Try turning down your wire speed to clean up the excessive spatter as well. Looking at your weld you can see where you started your bead it is thicker then thins out in the first quarter inch, that is where you sped up your travel speed. Also try grinding off the mill scale on your pieces and that will help improve weld quality. If you have any more questions feel free to ask, this is what I do for a living.

[Irving]

If you have any more questions feel free to ask, this is what I do for a living.

Critique other people's welding? Must be an inspector. :p

[Lars]

[QUOTE=Irving;1832461]Critique other people's welding? Must be an inspector. :p[/QUOTE

not an inspector, just a pipe welder that has spent a lot of hours behind my hood constantly trying to improve my own weld appearance and quality to match guys that have spent even more hours then me behind their hood.

[sniper7]

Little fast, will give you a more rounded, deeper penetration and less splatter.

[gta_spec]

Mig weld quality is tough to call from a single picture. there are lots of guys that can make a weld look great on top with little to no penetration.

[Irving]

[QUOTE=Irving;1832461]Critique other people's welding? Must be an inspector. :p[/QUOTE

not an inspector, just a pipe welder that has spent a lot of hours behind my hood constantly trying to improve my own weld appearance and quality to match guys that have spent even more hours then me behind their hood.

Don't mind me, the only thing I know about welding is that you're supposed to make fun of inspectors.

[ray1970]

there are lots of guys that can make a weld look great on top with little to no penetration.

Yep. We are constantly building custom tools at work. We have guys who's welds look OK but wont hold up under use. My welds look like junk but the stuff I've built has held up to hard use and a thousand foot pounds of torque or more.

If you need any small pieces of scrap metal to practice on shoot me a PM and I can probably hook you up.

[brutal]

Mig weld quality is tough to call from a single picture. there are lots of guys that can make a weld look great on top with little to no penetration.

That's what she said.

[Great-Kazoo]

Mig weld quality is tough to call from a single picture. there are lots of guys that can make a weld look great on top with little to no penetration.

Having the OP cut a few welds will tell how good / deep he went. That's what our instructor did, after every 2 - 3 pcs. Looks good now let's see how it really looks. On the bandsaw it went.

[Danimal]

Deleted

[Graves]

Having the OP cut a few welds will tell how good / deep he went. That's what our instructor did, after every 2 - 3 pcs. Looks good now let's see how it really looks. On the bandsaw it went.

Yep. Cross section tells all.

[Bitter Clinger]

Better than I can do!

[68Charger]

When I first tried MIG, I thought I was doing great- then tested my welds to breaking strength and found I had penetration issues (no, not that kind). Once I learned to watch the puddle AND the surrounding metal, I got better.

As others have said it looks like you're going a little fast (based on the V marks, rather than stack of dimes), but can't tell if it penetrated well from that angle- best to test it's strength or cut it apart if you're learning. You also shouldn't have spatter like that on MIG (Flux core would)- was it dirty, or maybe the wire speed is off?

[Mtn.man]

Yup too fast, looks like a layby in spots. also crank up the heat.

It's a gas shielded weld splatter is from lack of penetration and speed. Also can be from wire type.

[redneck122]

Everyone else has said it. Looks decent, a tad cold and fast though.

[OtterbatHellcat]

It doesn't look terrible. The V is from traveling to fast. Slow your travel speed down until you have a nice crecent shape. Oscillation ( the C pattern) is used to wash the filler medal into both pieces. It helps for undercut and cold roll. Try turning down your wire speed to clean up the excessive spatter as well. Looking at your weld you can see where you started your bead it is thicker then thins out in the first quarter inch, that is where you sped up your travel speed. Also try grinding off the mill scale on your pieces and that will help improve weld quality. If you have any more questions feel free to ask, this is what I do for a living.

FWIW, I thought this post best represented an answer to your question, though many answers had really solid info. Welding is not my profession, but I've done a lot of mig. I think the penetration is a little weak. JMO

Keep on creating, learning and have fun while you're doing it.

[Duman]

Aw, hell, it's a crap load better than my Helen-Keller welds.....

[mcantar18c]

Slowed down some, and turned up my parameters. These were done around 29V and and low to mid 400 on the wire, ish.
Few things I want to state before yall look too close...
1. This is spray MIG, not short circuit. There isn't going to be a nice dime stack.
2. The thing that looks like a hole on the right of the first weld, isn't. It's just silicate, I checked... like three times.
3. The second weld does penetrate the top plate as much as the bottom, you just can't see it from the side pic because the plate sticks out past the weld.

So... where can I improve?


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[OtterbatHellcat]

Howdy Mcantar,

(Disclaimer...I'm not a welding professional with certified credentials, or even ones from a box of Cracker Jacks)

Is 1, 2, and 3 mating 1/4 to 1/2 or similar? I would want to use more heat and get into that 1/2 better, and try and draw it down into the smaller plate.

4,5, and 6 look good, and still seem to have more fill than penetration, to me.

Keep messing with stuff and learning, Man. And good job. It also takes some cojones to put it up in front of the world for review, and I respect that as well.

[mcantar18c]

Yeah, the top 3 are 1/4" to 1/2" or so.
How much more would you push into the 1/2"? The joint is only as strong as it's thinnest component... the 1/4" plate will fail before the weld does.

Thanks for the compliments!

[OtterbatHellcat]

IMO...if you had higher heat/ less wire(at least no more wire), and spent more time "into" the 1/2.....you could draw (puddle) it down into the 1/4. Mating mismatched thickness makes it a little more challenging.

I've seen some broken/crashed shit that you'd never thought would be broken, and you'd be surprised what broke, how, and where.

ETA. I know there are much more skilled welders here than I am, and they might not agree with my opinion.

[Big John]

#5 is the pic that's bugging me. I've never used a spray MIG, but the weld looks cold to me. Prep is huge IMO for MIG. Grind the mill scale off to start with. Bevel the end of the piece you're standing up.

Out of curiosity, why did you get a spray MIG? It's not the typical homeowner MIG. I've got miles upon miles of wire behind me doing custom off road fabrication and it's my understanding that the spray setup is for heavy welding.

[COcz]

You said that you were using a spray/pulse welder? Have you tried pulse? That is what I would use on the 1/2 to 1/4 weld.
those welds look much better than most amature welds I see at work, including mine some days. As many others said the prep work is half of a good weld. Try several different motions with the gun and see what works best for you. How to set up the welder often comes down to your style and rate of travel, so experiment.

[Mtn.man]

Dime stacks are created from TIG welding, in order to create a similar weld in MIG you need to move the stinger. Circular motion tying in both pcs of material with the weld. You will not get the same effect as TIG but can imitate the look. But you do need to oscillate the stinger to make sure the weld puddle connects Both pcs being welded. Don't just push through the middle.

[Great-Kazoo]

Yeah, the top 3 are 1/4" to 1/2" or so.
How much more would you push into the 1/2"? The joint is only as strong as it's thinnest component... the 1/4" plate will fail before the weld does.

Thanks for the compliments!

I go from thicker - thin piece. Keeps from burning through the thinner material. Again, Until you cut some of your welds in 1/2, you really don't get a true read.