I would love to have a copy of the WPS for short circuit GMAW on structural steel as the AWS does not have any that are pre qualified. I would be using them for instructional purposes only.

The first thing you have to decide is if you want to weld aluminum with GTAW. That will pretty much eliminate GMAW welding all on the same machine. Your combination choices are SMAW,GTAW and PAC on one machine or GMAW, FCAW and Spool Gun for aluminum on another machine. With your budget you will hav...

I prefer a little land and less gap just as you stated. Downhill root passes are a little harder to get reinforcement on the backside.

We use Bernard stainless coolers on our older Lincoln 255's and they are bulletproof and have been used daily for years.

I know a lot of people like a gold lens but I have never cared for them. It is probably just me but I cannot see the edges of the puddle as clearly with gold. That, and they are made out of plastic and are very easy to scratch. I may just be old school, I am definitely old

Jackson Shadow with a #10 green glass lens for practically all of my welding. Jackson Nexgen auto darkening for precision work, especially when I want an accurate start on my bead. The Nexgen also accepts a cheater, and I sometimes need a little extra help. Jackson helmets seem to fit my head better...

Use 3/32" 6011 for practically everything except for very thin sheet metal (14ga. or thinner). Use the 1/16" 6013 for the thin stuff.

Reddish color is usually bronze and yellow is usually brass. I have used oxy-acetylene for braze welding on steel and especially cast iron but have never welded brass. Hopefully someone on the board can shed some more light on this application.

1-weld both rods on DCEP 2- angle should be 75* to 85* 3- your 7018 looks way cold but that may be from DCEN 4-your 6011 is not bad, make sure you are hot enough and keep practicing the whip and pause. Watch Jody's video on 6010's and weld 6011's the same way. 5- adjust your amps up and down when pr...

If you weld a lot of overhead stick you will find that right below the lens is a perfect shelf to catch spatter and I have had students burn through in less than a week of welding. For the hobby welder these helmets work great and you cannot beat the price. There is a reason you will see highly paid...

The test you are taking is structural and GMAW-spray is accepted on structural weldments where as GMAW-short circuit is not accepted as a pre-qualified procedure. This means that you have to weld it in spray transfer mode and that usually starts at around 24 volts depending on the shielding gas used.

Spray transfer is different, especially if you are used to pulling when you weld with short circuit. You should push spray, and it is going to look hot to you. You should not be making any spatter and you should not be getting a bacon frying sound at all. The end of your wire should look like the en...

In your first post you mentioned welding open root in 2g and 3g so I am wondering if you are familiar with spray transfer GMAW. Unless you have pulse capability you are restricted to flat and horizontal fillets only. Spray is going to seem really hot if you are used to short circuit. You need to wel...

Billy Lane built a full size bike several years ago that used a helicopter bearing for the rear axle. You could see right through the rear wheel and axle assembly.

Those would make a very cool desk accessory

I would take the v-groove down to a fairly sharp edge, very little land and use 1.6 mm filler for the root. I would up my amps and use 2.4 mm filler for the 2nd pass.

Will a purge box be provided or will you have to set up your own?

AWS-CWI requires at least 5 years related to welding but you may receive credit for certain types of education or teaching experience. I am sure it would be in your favor to get as much welding experience as possible for the reasons Steve stated.

For sure, buy or borrow a few of all the rods mentioned. These rods will cover you for most of the mild steel welding that you will run into. The one rod you can't use is the 6010 but you can use 6011 and get by just fine. Remember that they all have characteristics that may make one preferred over ...

Are you trying to complete the weld in one pass? If you are beveling and running more than one pass, these are some things to consider. Land and gap should be about the same. 0" land and 0" gap 1.6mm land 1.6mm gap and so forth. I would run this with very little land and gap with a 1.6mm f...

You can stick weld with that machine, just remember to put the stinger in the + slot. When you get ready to tig, just get some 1/16" and 3/32" tungsten and collets and collet bodies and some cups to match, usually 5, 6 or 7's.

What does it say at the bottom of the dial on the right?

Rod angle is not really personal preference. You should be 5* to 15* off of 90*. If you are going to keep 7018's warm and dry then there is really no use to keep 7014's and not much use to keep 7024's unless you need to deposit a large amount of weld metal in the flat or horizontal fillet position. ...

If you are beveling then tack up and measure your groove width before you begin welding. Then you can just nip the outer edge of the groove. That is as small as the weld can be, because if it is any smaller it will not fill the groove.

I would use more amps, especially if you are maxing out your foot pedal. A slight stepping motion may help with the suck-back that is causing the concavity with your root. If you can use a small gap it would really help because then you could see your root pass going in.

When practicing, never hesitate to crank the amps up or down to see what effect it has on the bead. That way if you weld on a different machine, you will know if it is right when you light up. Welding too cold makes everything so much harder and if you are too hot it is very easy to tell.

What gap are you using? Are you doing anything to the edges of the metal other than cleaning? Is a certain size bead specified because a 1/4" wide butt weld bead on 1/8" steel is not too large in most cases.

It really depends on where you take the test. Grinding on 1" plate will be tough but make sure you do not leave it short because if it is too steep it is harder to weld. The most often used method for beveling thick plate is a track-burner. Just make sure to clean it up with a flap disc prior t...