Anything welding

I want to know how fools are laying mig welds like this. I have yet to find a video of this but knew one guy at the shop I used to work at that laid single shield like this. He was gone two days after that so I never got to ask him what he did to produce this kind of weld. I assume it is all in how you manipulate the puddle.

 

Thanks, would you want to do the back side instead of the front ever, or just depends? I plan to do some trials on scrap first, just wondering if there was a general accepted practice.

 

Did the picture not link? It shows on my end

I lay a decent weld 90% of the time so I would just do the front. Especially if it is fillets on a butt joint. Like what's his nuts said though, you could lay some 1 on 12's or 2 on 12's if you wanted to beef it up even more.

 

that's what we do.

Is the inside necessary? probably not, but it's better safe than sorry IMO! I run stitches about 2" long with a 3-4" space between beads, and all corners always get a bead on both sides

 

Thanks all!

 

In that case then my bumper will be a BEAST since I have been full welding on the inside, and will obviously full weld the outside. lmao. It's getting better. Only thing I see as any kind of error that will be a LITTLE tough to correct is the lower plate on the "wing". I think I had it positioned wrong by a small amount because when I look at bolting the bracket into place, it does not look like it will be parallel to the truck frame 100%. I am guessing maybe 2 degrees or so off? I will see if I can get a picture.

 

Just make sure you dont get too much heat in it at once and warp it. Stitch weld skipping around, allow to cool, then come back for another pass at it and repeat until finished.

 

not just quarter inch, you can warp axle housing when doing axle trusses. All about patience and thinking the process through.

THIS^

 

Yep. Already noticed a tiny amount. She will have SOME slight warping, but I mean VERY slight. What I did was tack both ends, then a couple spots in the middle, then filled it in. I know on the driver's side I will be taking a little more time and stop more often. The front face of the bumper on the passenger's side looks much better. I even took a spot and used my grinder to smooth it out and see what the final edge will look like. Not too bad. I can see I got good penetration.

Right now the biggest problem I have is I think the fault of a cheap helmet. My auto-darkening helmet even on it's lowest setting seems to be too dark. I have a hard time actually SEEING the joint. Twice so far I actually got off line and have an area where I just have this nice weld..... in a bare open area of the metal. Gonna suck grinding THAT down. lmao.

 

Bill, what hood are you using? I bought a cheap prax auto darken with the larger view screen and I can see rather well with it, actually impressed with how long it has lasted.

 

Yeah, that's why I use a high-end autodark hood for the amount I weld. The cheaper ones never seem to work great, among other gripes too(heavy, small viewing area, not enough sensors, etc etc). My Optrel e680 hood goes for around $350-400 and my Miller Digital elite around $300-325.
On that note, send in that free helmet rebate from your welder! The Tweco hood they send out isnt too bad. I tried it out a couple times and for a weekend welder/hobbyist it's certainly sufficient. Plenty of shade adjustment, not too heavy, and sufficient view size.

Rebate


This is the hood they sent with the rebate

Thermadyne Tweco 41001002 Tweco WeldSkill Auto-Darkening Helmet USA

http://www.amazon.com/Thermadyne-41001002-WeldSkill-Auto-Darkening-Helmet/dp/B0042LL1NS

 

1" armor plate warps too

 

Pipeliner with a dark #9 for tig, stick, mig, spray arc(w/tinted safety glasses). Huntsman with # 11 for flux. I don't trust any auto darken anymore

 

I've been thinking about going this route.

 

IMO, it can't be beat. Fried my eye balls twice with Speedglass hoods and a few times with some other brands.

 

I like gold fixed shades, I keep 6-13 around. I have the free one from the rebate on the thermal arch for tacking.

 

It is a cheaper helmet. I just got one that was inexpensive and available so that I could get started. I found out part of the problem was that I missed removing the little protective cover on the INSIDE of the helmet screen. I can see a lot better now, but I would like to see more.

Yeah, I will have to send in the rebate. Nothing beats a free $100 helmet!

 

Do they make any auto darkening gold shaded hoods? Any brand

 

It's actually more like a $25 helmet, I thought the same thing until I saw one at the hardware store under a different brand name, but free is free Gold will help you see much better, though I don't think it will help as much for mig as it does for tig.

Not that I know of.

 

Grind down with a flapper disk. Its so much nicer then a grinding wheel