Welding Tips and Tricks

I'm new to welding and have only played with a little cheapinese flux machine, but now I'm a proud new owner of a Hobart 210 MVP and hoping to hear some advice on these first welds.

My only constructive comment is to either double tap the trigger or back into the crater to fill it when you stop to make the crater the same size as the rest of your weld.

I would say "only comment" because there is nothing wrong with those, aside from the crater that has been mentioned.

Am I stopping too early? (hence the crater)

Thanks for the advice.

You get extra points for cleaning your steel!

Onekeyskunk wrote:Am I stopping too early? (hence the crater)

Thanks for the advice.

No. It's in the nature of MIG welds.

When you stop, pause for half a second, then squeeze the trigger for half a second.

The pause is that brief because you want the metal to still be hot. The extra squeeze is to fill the shrinkage than always happens when you stop MIG welding.

It's called "buttoning off" a weld.

I saw NOTHING else wrong with those welds. Well done!

Steve S

exnailpounder wrote:You get extra points for cleaning your steel!

Everything seems to work better when it's clean!

Otto Nobedder wrote:
I saw NOTHING else wrong with those welds. Well done!

Steve S

I really appreciate this place and everyone here who so freely shares their knowledge and experience among us all.

Thank you.

Those are good welds. If you want an extra critique, I believe you are in fact stopping the actual weld short. Everyone is correct with the assessment of filling in your crater but I can see the gap at the end that you should have filled in by continuing a little further. Keep up the great work!
-Jonathan

Superiorwelding wrote:Those are good welds. If you want an extra critique, I believe you are in fact stopping the actual weld short. Everyone is correct with the assessment of filling in your crater but I can see the gap at the end that you should have filled in by continuing a little further. Keep up the great work!
-Jonathan

When welding square tube, is it easier/correct to tack the corners and then weld up to/in to the corner and then proceed to next side?

Onekeyskunk wrote:

Superiorwelding wrote:Those are good welds. If you want an extra critique, I believe you are in fact stopping the actual weld short. Everyone is correct with the assessment of filling in your crater but I can see the gap at the end that you should have filled in by continuing a little further. Keep up the great work!
-Jonathan

When welding square tube, is it easier/correct to tack the corners and then weld up to/in to the corner and then proceed to next side?

Technically, you (and I) should wrap the corners. You can tack the corners if you wish and in reality you won't always get to tack on a corner. Sometimes you need to tack a side because of being out of square or you might only be able to reach certain spots.
-Jonathan

I prefer to tack square tube in the center of each side. Then, when welding tack-to-tack, you always wrap the corner, and end in the center of the tube.

Jonathan is quite right.

Steve S

Superiorwelding wrote:

Onekeyskunk wrote:

Superiorwelding wrote:Those are good welds. If you want an extra critique, I believe you are in fact stopping the actual weld short. Everyone is correct with the assessment of filling in your crater but I can see the gap at the end that you should have filled in by continuing a little further. Keep up the great work!
-Jonathan

When welding square tube, is it easier/correct to tack the corners and then weld up to/in to the corner and then proceed to next side?

Technically, you (and I) should wrap the corners. You can tack the corners if you wish and in reality you won't always get to tack on a corner. Sometimes you need to tack a side because of being out of square or you might only be able to reach certain spots.
-Jonathan

Thanks!

Tomorrow I will do some practicing on wrapping the corners and filling craters.

I'll post pictures.

Otto Nobedder wrote:I prefer to tack square tube in the center of each side. Then, when welding tack-to-tack, you always wrap the corner, and end in the center of the tube.

Jonathan is quite right.

Steve S

That makes sense, feed two birds at once type thing.

Onekeyskunk wrote:
That makes sense, feed two birds at once type thing.

Awesome quote....I like that you are feeding two birds at once vs killing two birds with one stone
I like my lil feathered friends and enjoy watching them at the bird feeder when the ground is covered with snow. They need extra calories to burn to stay warm in the winter.

jwright650 wrote:

Onekeyskunk wrote:
That makes sense, feed two birds at once type thing.

Awesome quote....I like that you are feeding two birds at once vs killing two birds with one stone
I like my lil feathered friends and enjoy watching them at the bird feeder when the ground is covered with snow. They need extra calories to burn to stay warm in the winter.

Just trying to change myself and how I think about things.

One more vote for tacking on the flats vs corners.
My thought for saying that is this:
If by chance that you don't melt the tack on the corner when you weld the joint out, you have a place where lack of fusion or possibly a crater crack could result in a weld failure.

jwright650 wrote:One more vote for tacking on the flats vs corners.
My thought for saying that is this:
If by chance that you don't melt the tack on the corner when you weld the joint out, you have a place where lack of fusion or possibly a crater crack could result in a weld failure.

I assume this is not melting the tack?

Nope, that's "tied in" about as good as you can hope for.

weldin mike 27 wrote:Nope, that's "tied in" about as good as you can hope for.

When wrapping around corners and coming back to the tack, is it better to tie in or to melt through into say a already laid weld?

Strength / Cosmetic issues?

You wont melt through a tack like that, it's quite thick. But that's quite acceptable for ordinary work, even some code stuff. As you can see, the weld has melted right into the ends of the tack with no holes. Because it's almost impossible to "burn through " a tack most people grind out, or at least grind down tacks as they are going, as the joint is welded enough to support itself.

Thanks, I appreciate the help.

No problem mate

I agree with Mike...however after placing one weld you can stop short of the tack, grind the tack thin, and also the crater where you stopped, start welding in the crater, and go backwards briefly, just as the puddle forms, and then progress in the regular travel direction, run right over the tack to complete the weld around to the next face of the tubing and rinse & repeat. You have to have your machine set very well so that it is predictable and you know exactly what you are going to get when you squeeze the trigger for this to work. "Feathering" tacks and stops/starts are good fabrication practices to get in the habit of. A few people here in the forum are pretty good and you have to really study the weld to find the stop and starts Feathering helps one weld tie in to the next and can even blend the welds to look like it was one continuous weld.

jwright650 wrote:I agree with Mike...however after placing one weld you can stop short of the tack, grind the tack thin, and also the crater where you stopped, start welding in the crater, and go backwards briefly, just as the puddle forms, and then progress in the regular travel direction, run right over the tack to complete the weld around to the next face of the tubing and rinse & repeat. You have to have your machine set very well so that it is predictable and you know exactly what you are going to get when you squeeze the trigger for this to work. "Feathering" tacks and stops/starts are good fabrication practices to get in the habit of. A few people here in the forum are pretty good and you have to really study the weld to find the stop and starts Feathering helps one weld tie in to the next and can even blend the welds to look like it was one continuous weld.

I'll try getting in some practice today and post progress.

Thanks!