Welding Tips and Tricks

Mucking round with some dirty 1/8" angle just running beads with run of the mill 6013. Breaking all the rules around cleaning as it only gets a hit with a wire brush on a drill in between runs. Amps are about 80-90 and I just want to practice getting consistency.

I've noticed that the last few beads have this v shape to them and pretty sure it's bad technique such as too much stick angle and / or travel speed. Another issue is amps as run after run means what started as 1/8" could now be more like 1/4" so maybe amps are a bit low? The pics don't really show the sharpness but you can at least see there's a real ridgeline there.

So what am I doing wrong?

Probably just peaked where you are running a little cold. Crank up the heat and they will flatten out some.

Vs mean you are traveling too fast

Seems like a little unsteadiness to me, as in your hand is making sudden jerky movements. Make sure you are not resting your weight on your forearms; you need to keep them relatively free from constraint so you can focus on consistency like you said.

Louie1961 wrote:Vs mean you are traveling too fast

Looks like your doing a version of whip and pause, but not enough pause. Your edges are wetted in so it’s not heat. Just travel speed/ motion. Drag slower with a little side to side wiggle and less front to back motion.

Slow down your travel speed a
bit.

Thanks for the replies. All these tips sorted it - slowing down and concentrating on a smooth travel got a much better bead.