Welding Tips and Tricks

Oscar wrote:350A is still a lot of beef though! I was throwing down 350A on 1/2" plate, just as a test run, and man that arc and weld pool are something else! If you hold a tight arc, you can actually see the weld pool liquid currents circulate as it starts to rotate down & around! Punched through 1/2" like nobody's business! Can't wait for another 50A to get the full 400A!

Dang it! I just used the last bit of 1/2"+ material I had to make a turn table. I'll have to visit the scrap yard to rescue some thick bits to hopefully see this in action.

Just double up on some ¼" so you don't blast through it.

Spartan,

Look at these pics. It's a ¼" T-joint flipped upside down. Ran a quick bead down the middle right where the other ¼" plate was welded. Look at those divots left behind. They are nearly ¼" deep!









Like I said, it's definitely a sight to see. Had the other ¼" plate not been there as part of the T-joint, I think it would have blown through and ran a key-hole TIG, ala K-TIG!

Wow! Definitely something I will be experimenting with!

Unfortunately, Everlast was quite delayed on their initially noted delivery date (tomorrow), and it now won't arrive until this Thursday, but at least UPS does now have it and it is in transit. I gave them some flack over it since I have a VIP customer waiting with 3/4" thick AL that needs welding to some sizeable plate. Those Russian girls answering the phones over there are just so nice, though, so I didn't give them too much of a hard time

lol. Yup, get yourself some 5/32" tungsten; 75° tip grind, with just a small flat on it, and crank it up! Just make sure to be moving because if you stay in the same spot, not only will you obliterate the steel, you'll cook your hand through the gloves, fast! I got my 5/32" consumables from weldingcity except for the tungsten. I got a good deal on Amazon for 2% ceriated and it holds up really well.

Oscar wrote:lol. Yup, get yourself some 5/32" tungsten; 75° tip grind, with just a small flat on it, and crank it up! Just make sure to be moving because if you stay in the same spot, not only will you obliterate the steel, you'll cook your hand through the gloves, fast! I got my 5/32" consumables from weldingcity except for the tungsten. I got a good deal on Amazon for 2% ceriated and it holds up really well.

I got some 5/32" on order a few days ago. Unfortunately, my preferred brand was only offering the 5/32", 2% lanthanted in 3" preground tungstens, so I had to pay for an unwanted premium. Oh well. I keep meaning to try out Weldingcity tungstens. They are certainly among the cheapest, and I haven't heard anything bad about them.