[Poland308]

It's an odd picture angle. Those were welded with 3/32 7018 and the bead is about 1/4 wide.

[olek]

It's an odd picture angle. Those were welded with 3/32 7018 and the bead is about 1/4 wide.

I was not far it is almost 3 times no ?

Did you do that by dragging very slowly and straight around, or with a very small weaving ? That is about how much Amp ?

For the short arc I am at it from the start, I think I even had too short an arc with the 6013 sometime Wich make the puddle touch the rid then may be try to pass behind or make inclusions.

I prefer 7018 . Now is it possible to have a too short angle ? Is gas shield insufficient then ? Sorry for the many detailed questions , I weld "in my head ": before going real

[Poland308]

Yes you guessed close on the size, those were made with almost no manipulation. Mostly a drag angle but some changes to a 90 deg angle and then a push as I go around. I've only run about 10 lbs of 6013 but I noticed its possible to get slag inclusions. It's also possible to get that with 7018 but my experience with that is that it was from weaving too far or too fast. The gas shielding with stick happens right at the point that the flux burns off. It only creates a small pocket of gas hence the need to keep your manipulation small or weave at a slower rate. You can make wide weaves over 3/4 of an inch wide even with 3/32 rod you just need to weave slower.

[olek]

Thanks Josh those are great details, they help a lot

I was not expecting you could go 90 and even more to push while keeping the weld free of slag . You still touch the base l'étal when pushing ? (At 90 I guess no)

I will look at the puddle plus the gas shield together I think . You see the gas shield moving the surface of the puddle (7018) or is it only the metal "cooking" as we can see under with 6013 ?.

[Poland308]

What your seeing is probably the slag as it mover across the puddle and starts to form. There's a little bit of an art to seeing the slag and yet seeing what the puddle looks like underneath that.

[olek]

What your seeing is probably the slag as it mover across the puddle and starts to form. There's a little bit of an art to seeing the slag and yet seeing what the puddle looks like underneath that.

I get it ! "A bit of an art " I trust you ..

And
I was not expecting you could go 90 and even more to push while keeping the weld free of slag . You still touch the base metal when pushing ? (At 90 I guess no)

[Poland308]

Maybe I don't touch when the rod angle is 90, I don't pay much attention to it. I'm focused on keeping the arc close while watching the puddle and trying to keep an eye on the edges.

[olek]

Maybe I don't touch when the rod angle is 90, I don't pay much attention to it. I'm focused on keeping the arc close while watching the puddle and trying to keep an eye on the edges.

Anyway, touching/dragging is something when there is no weld , after that the weld you touch tend to melt soon I understand that as you say the priority is to watch and control the puddle ( and seen if trouble occur with the edges at the same time, as you say this is quite of art - you did not say but I am sure you agree )

When I made my exercice this afternoon touching the left and the right side made undercut for the left and not for the right, at some point ( I was weaving smiles)

Could it be that simply the right side had more metal under it so it accepted the 110A without trouble, while the less large left side I should have stay less long on this edge ?
I did not find it too easy to be certain I was oriented on the bissectrice of the angle but I tried to sit well in front, and balanced the whole arm so to keep the same position left and right, so I do not understand.

Plus I did see the undercut, but moving up for the next bead have to be done so quick I was short of reflexes

Regards

[Poland308]

Yes if you have differing thicknesses that will have an effect. You can aim your rod more towards the thicker side to compensate a little.

[olek]

I am doing exercices on a cross shaped block.

Good results, nicer beads, more eveness, slag falling, better straightness, longer but tense arc.

Making again and again the same gesture is good at any point in beginners training I think. I did that yet 2 months ago, doing again show differences that is really helpful

Someone just told me it is unnecessary to make manipulations, that for better learning of reflexes gesture stringers where more useful.

He also tell me to enlarge the arc if I want a 2 electrode size puddle.

I think he may be right for the stringers, but enlarging the arc?

I was just capable lately of enlarging the arc a little and got better beads with 6013 ( I did weld with a buzz box the first month , and took the habit of a very short arc with it ).

But I use very small z to get to the size I want.

I thought that the inclination should allow to manage the puddle size if no z motion is used

What do you think ? MAya be thinner beads but perfection in regularity is first necessity before working out the Z motion ?

May be I should only wait more at the start so to have a larger puddle to move ?

Are you changing electrode inclination "on the go" eventually without noticing, to keep the puddle shape ?

Thanks for your thoughts.

I know theory do not make proper gesture training but at this point it helped me to analyze my beads. Hence all the questions.

[olek]

I could enlarge the arc somehow.

Better heating visibly.
But still I needed small z motion to enlarge the puddle.
I am supposed to do stringers, are they 1.5 electrode side, about that ? ( the size of the puddle I had without manipulation may be simply I should slow..)

https://goo.gl/photos/F8ixQViQfZ3UFxAt7

No more undercut (but 120A, not 110)

[Poland308]

Looks like your on the right track. But just need more practice. One note would be to take a wire wheel on a grinder to the previous passes after you nock off most of the slag. Looks like in a few picks you are getting holes and lack of fusion on the toes in a couple of small areas. Probably because there were still little bits of slag that you welded over.