Problem with spatter

[Donago]

I am an old dog trying to learn new tricks, and need some help. I am making some decorative crosses using annealed wire (1/8th inch dia.) that I twist and form. I carefully wire brush areas to be welded and still get some troublesome spatter. I have tried a couple sprays, but the welds are small and the spray seems to cause craters in the small welds. I am using a Miller Challenger with Argon75% CO2 25%. Any tips on spatter reduction would be greatly appreciated

Don Agostine

[Iron man]

try one without wire brushing it, as when you brush or grind an are before welding it gives the spatter a better surface to stick to. as far as the antispatter sprays I use it at work every day but less is better just put on a mist coat very light. also welder settings can have alot to do with spatter.
hope some of this is a help.

[fun4now]

i agree about the settings being a big player here. i would wind up a nice long string and just try some diferent settings to see if you can find the best burn. a pre-heat might also help but thats just a guess. i have found if the matereal is cold its a lot harder to get a nice consistant bead. as the welds you are making are small you realy dont have a lot of time to play with it. also snipping the wire just befor you start the bead helps get a good clean consistant start and it sonds like all you are doing is a start then you are done so it might help.

[Tex]

Imho

I really think you're using the wrong joining process for what you're doing. Oxyfuel or TIG would be better and you wouldn't have any spatter. You think?

[fun4now]

brazing would be nice, but he may not have that option.??

[Donago]

Thanks for thoughts on spatter

Thanks to the persons who gave me some insight regarding spatter. I am limited to my MIG welding setup, but will try some of the things suggested. I greatly appreciate the opportunity to get advice from people who know. This is a valuable service.

Don Agostine

[youngwelder_154]

I use to ahve trouble with splatter when I was welding at school, but I started to grind the area of welding smooth and clean. Some people say you dont need to clean alot of aread jsut enough for the weld and amybe a little more, I would always do more then enough just so I know the area is completely clean. Also as everyone else was saying about the settings that could be causing the problem as well. You can always try cleaning the tip that will sometimes cause problems.

When I was bord last year I was always jsut making little things and for decorative(sp?) things I would always use oxy/fuel it alwyas made a nice job and you never have to worry much about splatter unless you got the tip to close.

[paulrbrown]

As mentioned before, play with your settings to get one that starts easy with out stubbing [more voltage], but not too much voltage [equals more splatter]. You can also avoid spatter at the beginning of the weld by getting a good start on the arc by cutting the wire at a 45 degree angle. This will give a very small spot to initiate the arc and makes starting much easier. Learned this from experience and some article on NASCAR weldors. Hope this helps, Paul