Welding Tips and Tricks

Hello. I did a search and couldn't find anything on this problem. This may not have a solution, but I'm throwing it out here in case I'm missing something.

Let's say I'm doing a butt weld of thin material with no bevel, no gap, or for an example, I'm attempting to follow a design on a flat plate drawn with a welding pencil. If I'm running 6011, for example, there's enough light ahead of my path that I can see where I'm going. But with 6013 or 7018, the rod is dragging or almost dragging, the light from the arc is mostly trapped, and the rod casts a shadow in the direction of travel. I can't see where I'm going. The path ahead is completely black.

If there's a bevel or edge, I can feel it with the electrode. But on a flat plate, there's nothing, and my path wanders off in a nice straight line away from the joint or line.

Maybe I need a super bright light to shine on the workpiece. I don't know. Any ideas?

Any possibility of clamping a straight edge along side to act as a guide? I have a 1/2"x2" piece of brass bar stock that I use for this and Oxy/Ac cutting.

cj737 wrote:Any possibility of clamping a straight edge along side to act as a guide? I have a 1/2"x2" piece of brass bar stock that I use for this and Oxy/Ac cutting.

That idea occurred to me, although I haven't thought through exactly how to do it. The last time this happened I considered placing a nice straight red brick alongside the joint. I should have tried it.

But, the straightedge idea doesn't work for following random patterns, like Jody's video on a Valentine's Day heart. I don't have the artist gene and can't freehand stuff like that.

Try using a scribe and tracing your drawn out design to get a sharp edge. I always found that helped get a reflection to follow designs in low light situations.

Demented wrote:Try using a scribe and tracing your drawn out design to get a sharp edge. I always found that helped get a reflection to follow designs in low light situations.

Hmm, that's an idea. I'll try that. It might be more visible than a silver pencil. I have a nice tungsten carbide scribe that cuts a line in steel easily. Thanks for the idea.

Maybe I could mount a halogen floodlight to the stinger to serve as headlights.

My problem seems so silly because I have a ridiculously bright light source in my hand but it doesn't help me.

shuttersparks wrote: Maybe I could mount a halogen floodlight to the stinger to serve as headlights.

thats not a bad idea. i did that today. welding at 45 amp and not being able to see much due to me shadowing the part.
rigged up a light and that helped a lot.

The halogen light definitely does work too. I used to do that when I started out on stick and only had an overhead 40w bulb in the garage.

Thanks, everyone, for your ideas and experiences.

I have a 6,000 lumen lamp on order. We'll see how that works, literally.