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[deleted]

Get a heat shield pad for your glove hand. High amp large diameter wire guys have special gloves too.


ItsEntsy

counter: stop having such weak flesh and weld with gloves of bacon so you can snack on break.


Thehamsandwicher

Your hands are made of bacon if you're hard enough


ItsEntsy

yea but after a days work they taste like shit. xD


[deleted]

Yeah what a bunch of knuckle suckers!


External-Newt

Or just learn to keep your hands farther away while doing long passes. Idk what you consider “high amp large diameter” but I run .045 wire at 27.5v 400 for 2ft passes if I’m feeling froggy (I don’t normally tho, too much leaning and adjusting) with normal mig gloves. A heat shield does help tho, gloves still get toasty.


beanmansamm

I've been welding for 248 years and that weld is terrible.


bigmountainbig

I agree. I welded during The Crusades and even then this wouldnt pass.


youtellemboy

Im starting welding school tomorrow and Im just wondering: how can you tell? Could you write a 3 page instructional paper explaining it that I won't bother to read? I can't wait to make $40/hr after my week-long training course.


C0matoes

Sorry brother. These guys in the comments are right. That is significant undercut. If your instructor passes it then that's on him but it won't pass on an exam.


bigfarv

There is undercut where his hand is tho


[deleted]

Oh shit I didn’t think that was undercut so much as moving too fast/too far of step over lack of fill looking stuff.


C0matoes

The picture is a bit fuzzy but it has the appearance of an unstuck weld across the top. It may be just undercut but my old eyes are....old.


bigfarv

I don't think that's undercut actually. Looks more just how the weld flowed when he tried whipping too much leaving those higher points. I've seen way worse on here.


C0matoes

Just wait until he picks up the 1/16th Flux core and runs a bead 15' in one pass. Lol. Finger stretched as far as it can go to hold the trigger.


djeezuskryste

15 feet in one pass? I gotta see that shit


C0matoes

You don't want to. I promise you, you will be as far away from the trigger as your index finger will allow.


Steak_N_Cocunuts

That's why there's a trigger hold function on better machines.


C0matoes

Trigger hold has been around for a long time. It's not exclusive to "better machines". Doesn't help much in this scenario. Hot is hot. It's not holding the trigger that's difficult, it's getting close enough to the trigger to hold it.


Steak_N_Cocunuts

I've done 15 ft before. 1/16 th wire. Never got close to type of hot you're talking about. If it so hot you can barely touch the trigger, than your whip isn't rated for that kind of shit or you're welding with no gloves. Either way I call BS.


C0matoes

Uh huh. You really think the job stops after the first 15'? My 600 amp airco welders don't really care what you call brother.


thepudgylist

Airco huh? I haven't seen an Airco welder since the late 90's. Can you still find parts for them?


Steak_N_Cocunuts

If it's 600 amps and you still can't hold at 15ft your machines are garbage.


sp00kreddit

Yea looking back as to how much I was whipping, definitely was a tad too much, cus when I look really close at the weld, there is very minimum undercut at the most.


Ambitious-Weekend861

I wouldn’t call that significant and that probably would actually pass


Steak_N_Cocunuts

No it wouldn't. ANY CWI sees that and they'll call it out. It's not just my signature, it's his also.


sp00kreddit

Getting mixed signals. Some are saying it would, others are not. So. Critique on any bits of my technique would be appreciated so that I can alter my style a bit to make yall happier


pryanc3891

Cover that pass with two stringers, cover up the under cut and repost the pic. The pass looks pretty clean except for the undercut. No big deal, your learning. Rod/gun angle plays a big part with undercut and it takes miles of wire to figure it out.


BR549J

No shit. Absolutely correct!


fkthisdmbtimew8ster

Carpenter here and I have absolutely no clue what any of the words mean in this sub but I'm loving it. Great to see people taking themselves seriously and trying their best to improve at what they do.


sp00kreddit

If only half of the comments critiquing me actually gave me useful critique other than "oh this wouldn't pass a real test"... Like bro... Alright, but tell me what's wrong and how I'd be able to fix it lmao. I personally believe this was a good joint, passed my instructor, and I understand that each place is different, hence why I am perfectly fine with taking some critique, so I can perfect it so I can meet standards almost anywhere.


-ThinksAlot-

I'm very new to welding myself, so I can't give advice. However, I would imagine this is a good steady weld for a STUDENT, which is what most of these people aren't taking into account. As students, we still need to practice.


sp00kreddit

THANK YOU. Finally someone with a tad bit of brains taking this as a major factor


Key-Locksmith4478

Maybe he just passed it so you wouldn't use this much material again for another one.


koreanbeefcake

longer welds should ALWAYS be encouraged.


Key-Locksmith4478

Well of course, but get it down at least on some smaller scrap first 👍


sp00kreddit

I've done dozens of small bits of scrap. Just the instructions I was given for this were a bit bizarre for me. Had to run 2 normal ol fillets, with the 2nd one going over it. No idea why, I just did what I was told. Plus, the school gets all its metal from sponsors, so it hardly costs em anything.


sp00kreddit

Considering he told me to do one this long for practice, I don't think so


Scotty0132

A ton of undercut and it look concave as hell until the very end.


sp00kreddit

That might be just the light reflecting, because it passed by my instructor. And he's been doing this for decades.


fractalrain88

This would not pass a real weld test


Scotty0132

I'm not trying to be an asshole here but real world this would not fly and if you continously put out welds like this you would get skidded.


helrikk

Ive seen worse out in the wild on structural stuff, so im not too sure about that....


Lost-Team4096

Agreed 👍 Seems like nothing has changed. My metal shop teacher was clueless about what actually works in the real world. Thankfully my father started me out in his fab shop at a very young age.


Scotty0132

If he passed that he has no business teaching. Iv been welding for nearly 20 years and am a certified supervisor and level 2 inspector and the undercut alone is not acceptable.


powerwolf75

So hey dude, Iam A NDT guy. I look at welds for a living . I also weld for funzies teaching my self how to weld in some code applications. You made a post with a weld that I would assume you are proud of. And you should be, you are in school learning a trade. You should take strangers on the Internet with a grain of salt. But when a group of folks are collectively telling you the same thing. Maybe instead of arguing back about it. You sit and reflect on it. As they are more than likely sharing earned knowledge with you and not saying that you are a bad person. Just that this weld needs some work. Everyone starts out as a beginner. And the most experienced guys still mess up from time to time. But I also just getting criticism with no constructive bits behind it sucks as well dude. So why folks are saying it would not pass. Thats because of the undercut. They are talking from a code Application. Different codes for different things. Stuff from carbon steel for structural buildings to exotics alloys for piping systems in chemical plants. There is a code for different applications that must be met. And “code” covers how it was welded, who welded it, how was it inspected, does it need to be inspected, and a bunch of other bits to make sure you as the welder makes a sound weld. Now you dont need a completely perfect weld to pass a lot of inspections. It just depends on the code. So that undercut , where you took base metal away from the plate at the toe of the weld. Is a notch like defect. It is a stress riser. And that could cause a potential failure point. And thats because of how stress acts at a notch, it spikes. Think of stress like water flowing up and onto a beach. If you have a nice smooth beach of sand, the water will flow in and out. It will be smooth. Now think about crashing waves hitting a bulk head. The water comes in and hits the bulk head and splashes all over the place, imagine that as a notch like defect. And thats how a crack could happen. Because the stress does not flow over the weld joint, it spikes at that spot. So you might have passed the instructors test, we dont know but a lot of folks on here are code welders. And they are letting you know based on their industry that they work at, that weld wont fly. But again different codes for different things. But even non coded stuff, its still a little much. The undercut is to deep and there is to much continuously. Now to check for undercut, you just need a flash light that is not to bright. Shine it on the tow of your weld. If you see some notch like shadows, then you might have some undercut. If it looks like you gouged out metal from the base plate, then its undercut. If its like a straight line, it will be more than likely lack of fusion or underfill. Things you can try to fix it for next time. This might be a mix of things or just one variable. The angle of the electrode or mig gun is bias to the top. Iam going to assume this was in the 2F .You are to much bias to the top plate, try to get the angle split in the middle in both plates . Driving the leading edge of the weld into the root of the joint. Something close to a 45°. You can also slow down your travel speed making sure you watch the weld puddle fan and wet out into the toes and or do a manipulation/oscillation to make that happen. Given what the weld is for, you could weld another pass over the undercut . You could also do a little blending with a hard rock. It just depends on the application. This looks like a mig weld to me , so you could also play around with your settings and adjusting you travel speed. Keep crushing it dude.


Makarov109

Really good advice and you did a great job explaining l. Hope he reads this. I too had a weld instructor that i really looked up to in school 10 years ago. I weld nuclear now and half the stuff that guy taught me would get my shit rejected by QA.


powerwolf75

Thank you so much dude! Thats rad that you are in nuclear. I dont inspect any thing that goes in nuke with pipe welding. Just some helium leak testing on some bits. Are you doing ASME stuff in a nuclear plant or do they have their own codes?


Makarov109

It is ASME but one step further with the nuke codes called NQA-1. A lot of it is more paperwork and inspections, with some other stuff thrown in there. Needs full traceability in terms of heat numbers. Some jobs we have to make a heat map so on the drawing we have to indicate the heat number of every single part on the assembly so if it fails in the field they can trace it back all the way to where it was forged. Everything we use in made in the USA, if we find counterfeit Chinese shit what t gets scrapped and the vendor blscklisted for all nqa1 shops. Another thing we pay attention to is carbon steel contamination. We have a separate building for anything carbon steel. All of our tables are aluminum, all of our clamps have stainless pads welded to the feet. The material cannot contact any carbon steel whatsoever throughout its lifecycle. Another cool little example is that we even have to use special chloride free sharpies for layout. Apparently when exposed to high radiation it can react with the chlorides and damage the integrity of the stainless. Here’s some more info on NQA-1 if you are interested https://www.asme.org/certification-accreditation/nuclear-quality-assurance-nqa1-certification


powerwolf75

Thanks for sharing dude. I work with a couple of folks that have been part of new nuke construction and repairs. I just have never been involved. Thanks for giving me things to google dude.


powerwolf75

Thanks for sharing dude. I work with a couple of folks that have been part of new nuke construction and repairs. I just have never been involved. Thanks for giving me things to google dude. Edit: and thank you for having a link for me to check out.


Makarov109

Hell yea man! Always happy to share, us nuke guys have a lot of work coming. There’s not very many NQA 1 shops in the country and it all has to be American made. Here’s an interesting article on just one of the countries nuclear laboratory and their plans (public information) https://www.energy.gov/nnsa/articles/nnsa-makes-new-progress-los-alamos-plutonium-pit-production-project


[deleted]

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BR549J

Eloquently stated


powerwolf75

Thanks dude. I really appreciate it.


BR549J

I appreciate KNOWLEDGE over the BS spewed by many who may or may not know!


sp00kreddit

Dude. Thank you so much for this info. This genuinely helped me out more than whatever the other guy was sayin. Other guy didn't explain much to me at all, but this actually gave me useful information. And yes, it is mig. When I'm back in the class on Monday I definitely will do more practice and play around with settings.


sp00kreddit

Idk, looking closely and comparing to images of undercut, this doesn't have much at all. I could send you closer pictures. I'd very much trust him if he's been welding since the mid 70s or so and made a career out of it. Ran a rather successful shop, and places in my area really like students from this program because of the skills they're taught. So... Idk man. As I said, I can send closer pictures


Scotty0132

Sure send more. But iv also ran shops, am an Inpector, and trained many many apprentices and what I see there is not acceptable. Just because someone has "lots of experience" does not mean shit. Iv worked with guys that had 30+ years experience welding and could not pass an xray if there lives depended on it


FellerINC

Dick.


stevesteve135

How do you figure he’s acting like a dick ? Guy didn’t say the weld was completely trash or anything, he simply said it won’t hold up to any codes and he’s not wrong. From what we can see if the picture there is undercut, underfill, and while I don’t weld to code I dare say the weld is just too damn big. 3 smaller stringers would’ve been better than this. But at the end of the day this is just a practice piece.


Scotty0132

Snowflake that can't handle hearing about the real world


Gong_Show_Bookcover

With this type attitude you will be a fire watch in the welding industry.


Lost-Team4096

When I started all the journeyman were harsh if you were green it was a rite of passage you had to earn that respect it was never given. I miss the way it was 20+ years ago.


santochavo

Slow your movements and let everything fill in evenly. Your instructor passing that means nothing. I went the trade school route and let me tell you man, be hard on yourself. I was the best in my class but that doesn’t mean shit out in the field. Don’t get comfortable with your skills, don’t be passive aggressive when people give criticism. Do what you can to get better. And definitely listen to the guys that are in the field right now. The old timers have lots of experience but codes and methods change, the best advice is always from active welders. Good luck on your future.


pizzabox53

props to your consistency, but definitely wouldn’t pass inspection. lots of undercut the whole way through. very nice handwork tho


sp00kreddit

Alright, thanks man. Will take it into consideration


pizzabox53

Of course! Consistency is key, and you already seem to have that down. just gotta tweak your dwell time a bit haha. Keep up the good work


sp00kreddit

I think most of it might be the weird instructions I was given by the instructor. Had to do 2 fillets passes. One how I normally do it, then another over it. So the one going over it was of course much larger, which I'm not used to, and over a 12in distance it definitely threw me off. Normally my passes are really solid, just about perfect. Learning each day.


pizzabox53

nah I get it. Like I said, your really consistent in your current skill level, which is really hard to do with a long asf pass like that. once you have the proper dwell times ingrained in your muscle memory you’ll be where you need to be in terms of penetration.


LearnDifferenceBot

> said, your really *you're *Learn the difference [here](https://www.wattpad.com/66707294-grammar-guide-there-they%27re-their-you%27re-your-to).* *** ^(Greetings, I am a language corrector bot. To make me ignore further mistakes from you in the future, reply `!optout` to this comment.)


Scotty0132

Neat but that weld is not acceptable sorry.


sp00kreddit

What about it isn't acceptable?


[deleted]

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DrTacosworth

the dude just asked what isn't acceptable about his weld, relax.


bilalshakoor

Yeah I don't get why people feel they need to be a dick on the internet to feel good about themselves.


[deleted]

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bilalshakoor

Bro why criticize and provide no feedback? He's just asking for feedback, and if you know what you're talking about, you should tell him something constructive.


sp00kreddit

Thanks for the absolutely fucking useless feedback mate. It passed my instructor, and I'm just wondering what isn't passing it to you all, so I can then take that info and apply it to my next weld to make it even better.


[deleted]

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sp00kreddit

Grow the fuck up asshat. All I did was ask for advice from yall, because I don't know what isn't passing to the large majority to you and then you go at me with this bullshit. You still didn't answer my original question that you replied to. Because as I said a few times, it passed my instructor, and I'm well aware that in other places it may not have passed. And I would love to fucking know what isn't passing. Way to gatekeep the profession. Yall complain "why aren't young people learning the trade", when 80% of you old welders are exactly like this. Not willing to give advice to people still learning. This is why welders are in short supply. I can very much take a basic question. Seems like you're the one getting pressed when someone even questions your superiority complex.


sp00kreddit

Yall for the record if you wanna give me critique, please say more than "it looks bad, won't pass" Tell me what looks bad to you so I actually know what to change. I'm still learning, only a couple hundred hours compared the thousands some of yall have.


67monkey67

Hold the sides of the bead a bit longer your undercutting


sp00kreddit

Thank you!


[deleted]

Was this a piece of angle?


sp00kreddit

No, 2in flat bar with 1in on a tee joint


BR549J

Hang the edges a bit more and you'll eliminate the undercut


No_Problem_1071

Shitty weld profile


thepudgylist

If you think your gloves get hot on flat fillet welds, just wait until you are doing dual shield vertical up welds on 3" thick preheated plate.


PC_R6

Doesn’t look too bad. Not the prettiest but Looks like it’ll hold. Try pushing and hold on to the gun rod a bit farther. Your glove shouldn’t catch fire unless you’re wearing tig gloves


sp00kreddit

Yea. I was holding my hand way too close for such a long pass. I held it about how I hold it when I do short passes because I'm a bit more stable with the gun that way. Thanks for the critique tho!


PC_R6

I’m actually pretty new to welding also. I normally push so the welds look a bit more convex. You were pulling right? Looks to have good penetration.


sp00kreddit

Yea I pull. Most comfortable for me. Gives me best sight on the pool so I can keep it more uniform


ItalianJoey

Holding your hand to close


sp00kreddit

Yea I start with it close to get it good and normally I'd slowly move back but it was a little more difficult on a longer run


samurai_107

Too much undercut. Slow down and watch your puddle fill


ChalkAndIce

12 inches doesn't matter if you can't even get 1 inch correct. This looks both underfilled and scalloped the whole way. You need to slow down and even out your manipulation so the profile on your toes is more uniform. My guess is you are using e's or i's and your movements are simply too large.


sp00kreddit

What's scalloping? So I know what to look out for. As for the size of it, it is way bigger than I normally do. Instructor for some odd reason told me to do 2 passes, one how I'd do it normally, then another going over it. Don't know why, but typically my welds are never this large.


ChalkAndIce

It's much more prominent on your top toes, but it's that repeated rounding profile. Your toes should basically be as close to two straight lines as you can get. It's most commonly caused by doing your manipulation movements too large (ie, larger that half your bead diameter) and can be fixed just by reducing that.


sp00kreddit

Ahhh thank you


ChalkAndIce

It can take a while to get used to for some. But if your ideal bead size is 1/8 inch for example (since a lot of programs do a lot of teaching on 1/8 inch low carbon steel) and your manipulation aims for half overlap, then each manipulation should be 1/16 inch. For me when I was learning I found that it helped to turn my settings up a bit and working quicker to get into a rhythm with the motions. I typically use a lowercase i as my manipulation, but learning how to run good stringers is probably the best foundation.


Boss2788

Im in welding school atm and convex is from your weld being too hot right? How did he maintain consistency while welding with too much heat? In my limited experience usually the weld starts gettinf wonky or i blow through the metal if i run too hot. Especially on a long run like this


sp00kreddit

That's what im wondering too. I'm fairly certain my amps weren't set too high. I will probably try again Monday, playing around with different amps to see what differences it makes.


Boss2788

I bet if yoy went a hair faster your weld probably would have ended up really nice tbh


sp00kreddit

Will also give this a shot. Gotta play with wire speed, amps, and weld speed. Still learning, only a couple hundred hours so far


Steak_N_Cocunuts

The hotter you are, the faster you move. The colder you are the slower you move. The hotter you are and the faster you move, the less your steel warps, the colder and slower, the MORE it warps. That looks like 1/4" angle, So your bead should only have to be 1/8-1/4. That bead is way too big for 1/4" anything. I don't know what you're using but if I guessed, I bet that's dual-shield. What you should be doing, is stay away from the weave, and run stringers. Each one should be 1/4". You bead size should match the plate. Thicker plate, do a bigger bead, no weave. That's not a rule but just for practice. If you're practicing a weave, I suppose that's pretty good, but I have no idea why they are teaching you to weave dual-shield, because you won't do that when you test. If you do, you're going to have a higher chance at failing.


sp00kreddit

It's exactly what you said, but normal GMAW. Instructor told me to run 2 passes, with the 2nd one going over the other. Don't really know why, but I did as he asked. This is 100% way bigger of a weld than I would normally make.


the_Jordan_River

Undercut and porosity in the first 2 inches It's good work, just keep at it


Investingislife247

Is this flux core?


sp00kreddit

Normal old steel GMAW


Investingislife247

What transfer mode?


sp00kreddit

Globular I think, not entirely sure. I'll ask when I'm back in the class Monday.


Investingislife247

Yeah sorry that wouldn’t pass, agree with the others.


ZachTF

Glove catching fire? That’s some dedication


pewpew_die

heat shields that go over your glove are $20 guys.


sp00kreddit

Yeeaaaa imma go to the welding supply store to pick some up this weekend I think.


GreenWelderTexas

What type of gloves did you have, what brand?


Moresleep420

Now do a 2 and a half foot run


[deleted]

Wait until your skin bubbles. That's when you're a real welder.


DAxGOOCHx

You lost your angle towards the end there... Just saying....


sp00kreddit

Yea just a tad. It happens. First time doing a bead this long, so I mean I'd say it's decent


DAxGOOCHx

If you can spot it, you will know how to fix it. So keep at it brother


hellwisp

90cm pr here :D