Learning how to fabricate / weld?

[tworley]

I bought some welding coupons for fairly cheap, just 2x4" 1/8" pieces to play around with. Practice makes perfect. I was starting to feel pretty good and my welds looked really good with a simple whip and pause technique. Stopped for about a month and started again and had to relearn everything. The coupons are fun cause you can practice outside corner, butt, lap, edge and T's. The problem though is they all come in one size so its easy to get complacent and then struggle on a thinner or thicker piece. Whenever you find scrap metal, take it and put it in your pile to practice on.

A couple of other things that I found really helped me was good lighting and a swiveling stool so I can see the weld and move my entire upper body when running a bead

 

[P man]

I dont have much to add except you really don't need classes to learn what you need is practice. I would say most fabricators didn't go to school they bought the needed items and started practicing. You can teach yourself a lot

 

[Bowhunter]

Tried my hand at welding some tubing together. Most of it was 1/16” (the 2x3” tubing) and a few pieces of 1/8” (the 1” square tubing).

Boy was this tricky. First off I had a big issue with blowing holes through the 1/16”. Ended up turning it to setting A and B and learning to move faster. 1/8” stuff I ran on setting B (settings go up to D on my Lincoln 140).

But when going fast I struggle to keep a clean puddle and they don’t turn out looking very well (see pictures). But they do seem to be strong, I have a 5lb hammer and would hit the metal hard enough to bend it but no visible cracks or breaks of my welds.

Anyone know what I’m doing wrong? The welder says I should be on setting C/D for the 1/16” and D for the 1/8” but at that much heat I blow right through the metal. Especially if there is a gap between the pieces

 

[steelhd]

There are a few good ways to learn how to know a good weld from a bad one. First do a little study on weld inspection criteria to learn what words like undercut, porosity, lack of penetration, lack of reinforcement, etc mean and what those things look like. Then you can bend some weld coupons and cut some other coupons in half to see if they perform and what they look like in profile.

 

[P man]

I must have missed but tell us about what machine you are using please

Your welds are always going to look crappy because you are learning. I used to be scared of blow through but then realized I could change my technique slightly and still weld hot and not blow through. I see a lot of people starting out and the welds are almost always cold looking so don't be afraid of welding hot.

Others will chime in with more experience than i and help you along.

 

[Bowhunter]

I must have missed but tell us about what machine you are using please

Your welds are always going to look crappy because you are learning. I used to be scared of blow through but then realized I could change my technique slightly and still weld hot and not blow through. I see a lot of people starting out and the welds are almost always cold looking so don't be afraid of welding hot.

Others will chime in with more experience than i and help you along.

Lincoln 140 flux core .035 wire

 

[P man]

Lincoln 140 flux core .035 wire

I use gas and .023 wire but I weld some thin stuff. The Flux core will help with thicker metal so just depends on what you are welding. I have found the gas and smaller wire will help with burn through

 

[TNHEADDUCK]

What are you looking at when you are welding? If you are trying to use some bob and weave technique stop that and just drag your stinger in a straight line concentrating on keeping your nozzle at a constant height and a consistent speed. JMHO.

 

[Bowhunter]

What are you looking at when you are welding? If you are trying to use some bob and weave technique stop that and just drag your stinger in a straight line concentrating on keeping your nozzle at a constant height and a consistent speed. JMHO.

I tried that initially and was blowing through the metal pretty quickly (when trying to wed 1/16” tubbing together).

When I started to bounce back and forth between the different pieces of tubbing, I was able to keep it from blowing through

Both situations was with the welder 1 to 2 letters colder on the dial than what the welder recommends

 

[mrblaine]

I tried that initially and was blowing through the metal pretty quickly (when trying to wed 1/16” tubbing together).

When I started to bounce back and forth between the different pieces of tubbing, I was able to keep it from blowing through

Both situations was with the welder 1 to 2 letters colder on the dial than what the welder recommends

You need to be practicing on 1/8" material. Get out of the bob and weave until you learn to control the puddle with a straight line pull. Only do fillets for now and forego the flat stuff until we can help you dial those in better.

You will run into lots of stuff where a fillet is all you can do. You need to learn how to start slightly around the corner, move as soon as you pull the trigger and then a slight wrap and hesitate to fill the last bit of puddle at the end of the weld. Those things would normally come with time and practice but you can get a head start this way.

Trying to learn on too thin of material is going to start you down a road of bad habits that will be hard to unlearn.

 

[TNHEADDUCK]

I tried that initially and was blowing through the metal pretty quickly (when trying to wed 1/16” tubbing together).

When I started to bounce back and forth between the different pieces of tubbing, I was able to keep it from blowing through

Both situations was with the welder 1 to 2 letters colder on the dial than what the welder recommends

Wire speed plays a bigger part in welding than most people think, stinger orientation and height off of the welding surface are big factors as well. Play with all three of these until you hear the sound of bacon frying and you will be getting close, I tend to weld on the hot side and just adjust my hand speed and angle accordingly. Practice is your friend !!!!!!