[sportster]

Inexperienced welder here. That said, my butt joint / outside corner joints aren't great but I'd like to think --> passible.

So now I've started practicing T joints & am failing miserably. My self diagnosis is drawing a blank (with respect to what I am doing wrong & what needs to change) on this T joint.

Setup:

• 1/8" carbon steel - T joint
• 115 AMPs on the foot pedal (I normally use 100 AMPs on a butt joint, which seems plenty good enough)
• 3/32" - 2% lanthanated tungsten
• #8 cup
• 1/16" filler wire - ER70S-2
• approx 20 CFM argon

Wire Feed by hand is still a struggle for me, so thought I would try lay wire technique. Laid the wire in the joint at about 20-30% angle and hit the pedal. Results are the piece pictured. Concentrate on the area outlined in yellow. Areas outside the yellow outline, I was trying other stuff after the fact.

Generally, my past problems (on other welds) are not enough AMPs or moving torch too fast and losing control of the weld puddle. Is that my problem(s) here ?

Regardless, are there any "tells" in this picture ?

[cj737]

Travel speed and distance is way too fast for the amount of filler. Another thing to pay attention to is the angle of your torch. If you are leaning too far back, the arc melts the wire before it reaches the puddle. Try to keep as close to 90* with torch, stuff the rod into the puddle and move purposefully a small amount like “steps” equal in distance to the diameter of the filler.

[sportster]

Thx for the comments / direction, cj737.

One of my flaws is not having a good grasp of the welding nomenclature. For example, "torch angle" + "leaning too far back". There's so many angles / orientations at play, I'm probably missing something. Bear with me while I attempt to de-confuse myself:

I assume one wants to keep the torch cup at the mid point or 45* angle between the two work pieces on a T joint. Basically, have the arc directed equally onto both work pieces. Correct ?

The angle / relationship of the torch handle to the work piece, is (I assume) whatever is comfortable. 90* works but so might 20*. As long as you can see what you're doing, this angle is irrelevant. Correct ?

After thinking some, I took a couple of pics. I believe you're telling me the 90* torch angle refers to this angle in the 1st pic. Keep as close to that as I can.

And finally, avoid the torch angle shown in the 2nd pic, as this is what is meant by "leaning too far back".

BTW, I'm left handed so my natural instinct is to hold the torch in my left hand & direction of torch travel would be left to right.

Am I getting on the correct page ? or am I still confused ?

[Simclardy]

The torch should be pointing towards the middle of the weld and pivot on that 45° plane. If your speed square was at a 45° angle in line with the weld this would be the plane. Then you want to be 10 off of perpendicular (this would be 80° on the speed square). Watch some more videos from Jody, and i think it will make more sense than my sad attempt at explaining! Lol

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

[cj737]

I assume one wants to keep the torch cup at the mid point or 45* angle between the two work pieces on a T joint. Basically, have the arc directed equally onto both work pieces. Correct ? Correct

The angle / relationship of the torch handle to the work piece, is (I assume) whatever is comfortable. 90* works but so might 20*. As long as you can see what you're doing, this angle is irrelevant. Correct ? Correct

After thinking some, I took a couple of pics. I believe you're telling me the 90* torch angle refers to this angle in the 1st pic. Keep as close to that as I can. Correct

And finally, avoid the torch angle shown in the 2nd pic, as this is what is meant by "leaning too far back". Correct

BTW, I'm left handed so my natural instinct is to hold the torch in my left hand & direction of torch travel would be left to right. Me too. And how I grasp a torch often requires me to completely reposition the work to accommodate the torch angle, sight lines of my eyes-to-work, and the clearance of the torch body to travel.
It is always a very good habit to take some "practice" runs of your intended movement and travel. Check for obstructions, cord tangles, etc. A poor habit is to move the torch with your fingers. You want to slide your hand on a surface so your using the big muscles, not the small muscles. This makes for a more consistent travel distance. It is often necessary to roll your wrist around a work piece to maintain good torch angle and distance. But don't pivot your forearm from the elbow, slide your whole arm along the table surface. No weight on your arm, just let it glide. Same is true for the torch, hold it like you would a baby's finger- just enough control without leaving a bruise. This helps eliminate tension in your hand and arm making everything much easier. And breathe for Pete's Sake! Its just metal

[sportster]

Understood. I think !

Seriously, thx for the direction. Now, time to get back to practicing.

[bap_]

I would recommend practicing on lap joints first if you are having trouble on the T joint. A lap joint and a T joint are basically the same joint, except for lap joints have a little easier access for you to get your torch hand comfortable. Once you get the lap joint move over to the T joint and pretend its the same joint. You'll get it just keep at it.

I would also mention that lay wire is a more difficult technique than the dip dip technique (for me at least). I would get your dip technique down in the flat position until you are bored.

Then practice this weldment: https://a360.co/2UNo3XC

It contains an outside corner, butt, 2 lap, and 2 tee joints. Its a great warm up and you can change position etc how you want.