Quik Welding Question

so i got this dvd from my uncle that came with his lincoln 110 and i was watching the basics on welding. They show a guy welding straight down a joint of 2 pieces of metal in the shape of an L. They said this was a good weld, i thought you were supposed to make circles so that the end result looked, as Jesse James would say, 'like a roll of pennys on an angle'. Just need a little clarity, Thanks

 

I was taught to use a (j) motion it seems to work well for me.

 

you are comparing 2 different welding systems and 2 different welding techniques. tig welding is way different in looks than mig welding. jesse does both but his welds will not look like stacked nickles with a mig.

 

so straight across would be okay?, this is a change for me because people always told me how you should never do that

 

the motions you use really depends on what your doing

 

okay thanks, i just needed some type of clarification

 

That applies to more than welding.

 

Concentrate on the technique of what makes the weld strong and the looks will come later. I don't know any welders young or old who always do perfect welds in appearance every time. It's not why you're joining two pieces of metal together.

 

i have never seen people move a mig in small circles. i have seen people do that with arc welder to try to make the bead look better. not the same as zig zaging back and forth to fill in a large v if you don't want to make multiple passes. i have only done a little tig so i'm not that versed in it.

 

??? depends on your technique.

mig weld "roll o' dimes"

 

small circles with a mig

 

Just a note, that long beads aren't going to be done with a 110 welder, as they usually have a low duty cycle (on time versus off time). You can probably do an inch and then you have to let the welder cool down. It's a great welder for body panels and spot weld techniques called "connect the dots."

I'm a zig-zagger, because I get paid by the hour Here's a picture of a typical second pass. Stacked pennies/dimes are for TIG and Torch where you dip the rod into a molten pool of hot metal.



Here's a rainbow pattern for the last pass (pause at the rainbow ends, go quicker through the middle).

 

To get the roll of pennies look with a MIG there is a technique called either 'stitch' or 'penny stitch' and it controls the on-off cycle of the weld. To create it you blast filler at higher than normal heat for very short time (1/2 second or so)then shut off and move ahead an 1/8 inch and repeat.
Your machine probably dosn't have this feature but the higher amp models will. It'll look similiar to a tig weld, the nice feature about this technique is how you can control the heat.
I wouldn't listen to jesse james.

 

If you are welding thin material.(sheet) You should not be weaving. Weaving is used to compensate for width as in a joint or when trying to fill a gap when washing out impurities from the puddle. The sheet metal joint should have a good fit with no or little gap and the weld speed and heat should be adjusted to simply stay in a straight line. The roll of dimes is a result of that perfect combination. The ripple effect of the molten weld causes this effect.

 

Some of these replies are pretty crazy. Wow...

Anyway....you oscillate back and forth in a J pattern. What you don't want to do is backwash the weld puddle your creating. This full power / part power to get a nice looking weld is rediculous.

The above Rainbow weld for say....is actually a Weave Weld and that should be going uphill only....and is very prone for failure, compared to a normal weld just oscillating in a very short motion to place your fillet on both material pieces.

Carl Hagan

 

Motion entirely depends on gun/workpiece angle and where you're trying to direct the puddle/heat. But as noted, go crazy with the motion and suddenly you're moving the puddle back to freshly solidified weld that hasn't been slag brushed yet. Even clean looking MIG beads have slag/oxides. Sometimes though, those crazy beads are all you can do, and in many applications it's good enough.

Good luck!

 

I use a whipping motion with mig. Back and forth I also with do circles just depends on position of weld.

 

I agree...Small circles on a mig done correctly will result in good penetration along with the look of stacked nickles, pennies, quarters, silver dollars, subway tokens....whatever the saying is

 

now i tryed the J and circle with my little Chicago 110, i cant get any real result though. I have solid wire, is that the promblem

 

You might be Running too hot/cold lots of variables. Show a pic

 

it only has 2 settings, max and min i'll get a pic as soon as the camera charges a little

 

another note, it is flux core, my mistake

 

Them's som purdy welds!

 

Everyones opinion is going to be different. Just because it looks good, don't mean it is good. Want to see a strong weld that has nothing to do with a stack of anything? Go over to your air compressor or oxy accetylene tanks and tell me what them welds look like. Smooth, flat and perfect penetration with maximum strength. Otherwise you'd be eating schrapnell from them flying apart. Moving a mig around makes excessive heat at the ends weakening the metal. If it is a tight seam with the proper portion v'ed out. There is no need for any movement from side to side. Just push 'er straight into the gas and let the sparks fly.

JMHO,Zilla!

 

Most bottles that hold compressed gases or air are done on a automatic welder and a positioner. The reason they are flat are for production reasons. They turn the osilator off otherwise it would take twice as long.

 

Just make a good strong weld and let the grinder do the pretty stuff .

 

wow, there are some interesting "answers" on here...I suggest you take a class or get a book before taking some of these answers seriously

 

I had a Chicago 110 mig and could never get it to weld good enough to trust it on something that needed to be strong, bought a Lincoln 110 and could not believe the differance.the Linc is awesome.

 

No. Solid wire with an Argon/CO2 gas mix is what you want. Flux-core is for welding on your fence or wheel-barrow

 

Whoa, this is not a structural welding technique. I would only use that on maybe a customized red wagon at the county fair.

If anything, Jesse is a very good weldor. Subtract all the hollywood crap, and you're left with a man who welds pretty darn good.