MIG Weld Beads ?

[Sberry]

Rocky, I drove by where they was doing that one day and seen how they was doin it.

[Kelly Aitken]

It looks like to me that Dan layed his out with a ruler. They look perfect to me. Wish I could get somewhere close to that.

Kelly

[Trap Doctor]

What is the rule of thumb for torch angle. Drag on thin and Push on thick??

thanks
jim

[Rocky D]

What is the rule of thumb for torch angle. Drag on thin and Push on thick??

thanks
jim

Jim in almost all types of welding 15° is the rule....it can vary. Too much angle will cause the weld to undercut on the low side and overlap on the high side. Cary brings out an excellent point...once you can see it being done properly, then you can do it.
Where I worked, we had 30 or so weldors...some good, some mediocre...but quite often I would go and stand behind one of the good guys, and see how he did it. Most guys don't mind. Some do, so ask, first.

[ASKANDY]

Drag will give you more root penetration therfore the possibility of burn through on thin stuff is greater. You can push for anything really and I prefer this as it gives you a better view of the joint in the direction of travel.

A-

[storts]

Rocky!!!!!!!

This question comes up quite often...which is better single pass or weave?

My technique is a circular motion which produces a stack of dimes, when you look at it. It must be undrstood that a MIG weld only penetrates where the arc sweeps over new base metal...therefore the circular technique starts with a sweep forward to catch new metal, and then back to fill. The straight line method while looks nice, is easy to have the weld metal pile up on you and get no penetration. You have to really know what you are looking at to be sure in that technique. The arc must be at the very front of the puddle.

Hope this helps

VERY, VERY,NICE, Except my shop says "WATCH THE PRETTY BLUE LIGHT" Jack

[Sundown]

Dan I oscillate just because my hands shake too bad to call it straight stringer beads. In other words my hand shakes so I call it oscillation!!! You should see me tig{hilarious}, I hold on to the table to stop the world from moving so much, just kiddin.

I am relieved that I am not the only one , I sometimes try to use a big, honkin, C-clamp so I have a guide to rest my hand on , is that cheatin? And speaking of Tig, I just tried some last night after laying off for about 3-4 weeks, you guessed it, forgot everything I learned already

[Sberry]

Andy pushes, I tend to pull and its primarily because my background is stick welding. I bet most TIG guys would push.