Hey Fred...have you had a chance to try your key hole again?...just wondering

Since we are on the subject of undercut...(just for the benefit of the OP and anyone else that is interested) As a structural weld inspector, here is how I would visually check for undercut without the use of a v-wac gage that is used to measure undercut. It is a quick visual that I use to see if I ...

^^Good job Otto

It is for an AWS cert through a career center, not for a job. Call the "career center" and talk to the CWI. He'll tell you what's allowed and what isn't for this test. Ditto...I could sit and guess all day and still not give you the correct answer. I'm going to make another assumption: th...

Anyone have any resources for doing a 3G 1" test plate with flux core. I have bent 5 3/8" plate coupons that were all nearly flawless. I am far better at weaving than running stringers and am not sure I can weave a large gap. Could I weave a covering pass on 1" plate. I guess it woul...

shucks...

Try some new batteries and look up at a bright lightbulb....those were great hoods even though it may have some miles on it.

Hah!...interesting that I was looking at new hoods right when you posted this. Is that hood a solar powered hood or does it have batteries? I had a Jackson back around that time period and it had 4 AAA batteries that powered the lens. Amazing how those auto-hoods have come down in price and have be...

Welcome

The flashing I'm referring to is that the arc was so bright that even with my helmet set at 13 it was too intense for my eyes OK I'm with Mike on this on...something is up with your auto-shield helmet. Are the sensors not seeing the welding light? Blocked by something? Some of the hoods have fewer ...

Thank's for the welcome. I will give any and all hints and tips a try. Let me see: Long Arc Hot, short Arc Cool. <--for a given setting This seems counterintuitive to me, but will give it a whirl this evening. Thx's, Fred. I know it sounds odd but shortening the arc cools off the puddle. Keep this ...

I see undercut in those last pics. Also,what are you doing to the weld heat to get them 100% silver? I see absolutely no heat tint what so ever. Could you explain what you mean by undercut? I am taking a stainless steel brush to the welds after they are completed. There is some contaminants on the ...

Can you post a pic of your project? I think that I understand what you are doing but I'm not sure what you are referring to as "flash". Is the rod and puddle sinking when you make a puddle to tack it and you want it to be flush? How are you establishing the ground/work lead from the welder...

The keyhole just keeps growing Hi Fred, Quick question....are you striking the rod off and then quickly shortening up your arc as short as possible? If not, the longer the arc, the hotter it burns for the same amperage. Remember it is a constant current machine(CC) so it will vary the voltage accor...

Nice cutting!...Super job

Have you replaced that welder with another machine since that weak moment?

Welcome...hoping you will participate instead of just lurking.

77° huh? Not going to get that warm here in Central Virginia(right coast) today.

Article in this month's AWS Welding Journal about Lo-Hy rods..

http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aws/wj_201501/#/30

Nice cutting...Did you build that track torch setup? I've used worn out old Bug-O equipment before and it did a pretty good job with Oxy/fuel long cuts and preps for full pen welding.

Someone else may have brought this up but I couldn't find anything. On one of Jody's videos he talked about using novis ( I think that was the name) paste or polish to make his cover shields last longer. Well where I live is pretty rural and we have no welding stores, just a couple of places that h...

We used to use a short piece of 4x4 angle turned with the legs " ┌ " facing towards the column web when backgouging the inside flanges of the column. Otherwise the shower of yellow jackets eat you up when bouncing off the web and back at you. Can you deflect the shower vs trying to contain...

Adding a flashlight or other ambient light source helps too with seeing the area around where you are welding...helps me follow the joint a bit better when welding on thin material that is just butted up tight and you are trying to keep an eye on the seam and not wander off.

I got a cam type welding gauge (welding scale?) off of amazon, which is engraved stainless. pretty, looks like it will work well, except it's very hard to actually read. Is there a particular brand or supplier of such gauges that is easier to read? (Printed black, or white on black background, or s...

The carbon steel coupons are also cheaper to administer performance testing on....the welder is still placing filler in a groove, just like the production work will be. The codes usually allow this as a cost savings for the fabricator/contractor/manufacturer.

John Wright, Our company just went through a similar audit (precautionary, not due to a complaint), and I've not yet seen the results. I'm hoping our exposures are low enough to allow us to go to "voluntary" on the respirators. We are, after all, a repair facility. We don't have people we...

I'll add this... I commented on the P-100 respirator, but omitted that OSHA considers a NIOSH N-95 dust mask adequate for hex-chrome fumes, for those members not wanting to buy and use a half-face respirator. And, in Erin Brockovitch, these folks were drinking and swimming in hex-chrome, more than ...