[Scott Young94]

Jody, I posted this over on Welding Web and thought I would copy and paste it here. Thank you for the hard work you put into making these videos.

This is a video of Jody showing his torch movement when welding mig. It is the same as I was taught as well as many other's over the years.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4RrDeUKcH4

I posted this on another thread that had mentioned ZTFab's welding. Here is what Paul had to say:

"Funny...the technique he shows in that video is the exact same motion that I do and is exactly how I've described it to people for years.

The main differences being that I run a slower hand speed and slightly lower settings to allow a little more puddle freeze. I am not in a rush just looking for the end of the weld.

In the video Jody mentions that he is looking for a faster way to get the parts done...and in a production setting that is exactly what you need to do. I am not a production shop looking to lay down as many IPM as humanly possible. I am a custom fabricator and am always trying to make each part/job the best that I can."

From all the posts that Paul has put up describing his method, I can summarize in this list:

1. PREP, Prep, prep. No mill scale. No rust. No paint. Clean white metal.
2. Fit up. He is meticulous about his fit ups. There is care and attention to the joint so that there doesn't need additional filler over what is required for an effective joint.
3. Welder set up. He has his wire feed match his volts so he isn't throwing splatter the size of golf balls. He likes S6 wire with Ar75C25 shielding gas.
4. Parameters. With all welding there are upper and lower limits of what is acceptable. When Paul says he is welding cooler, he simply is welding within the acceptable limit for material thickness. It is important to remember that too often people are caught up with the mentality of the macho phrase, "I turned it up hot as hell and really burned it in there." Most people can't weld well running hot and fast. Get over trying to prove....(I'll get off my soap box)
5. Welding. He likes to pull his weld. This would offset welding cooler somewhat as pulling changes the underlying bead profile. He also is a careful student of electrode stick out. He is also consistent with torch angle.
6. Time under the Hood. There is nothing that will make a welder better than time under the Hood. You can know everything, but if you haven't developed an eye for the weld pool and haven't developed the muscle memory for the welding, you will never have anything but bird poo.

6 things that are the basis of what makes Paul at the top of class for welding. The same thing can be said of Zap or anyone else that welds well. This method is just one method to get the job done. The type of machine you have and the filler metal and shielding gas you choose will effect your outcome. Dan and others have a lot of knowledge as far as slope and inductance that will effect the outcome of the weld appearance.

Paul, I hope I haven't overstepped. I just thought that it would be nice to put a summary out there for those that are interested in knowing how you do what you do.

[Otto Nobedder]

That's an excellent summary.

After reading Pauls's posts (and that summary), I find we use almost exactly the same technique, with the exception of the fact that I'm not doing custom work that needs to look it's absolute best, and can afford to weld hotter and less precisely. The customer wouldn't care if I did a constant-speed weld with no ripple, but I make a point of having my welds look better than any other within sight of mine. (I don't always succeed. There's always someone better out there. )

I have about a day of 308 & 309 MIG work, some of it right next to some of my TIG work, coming up in a few days. I'll have to post up a pic or two.