I guess so there gary,hows that downhill welding going?Thats the only way to run a bare wire m.i.g. in the vertical postion,no matter who tells you different.As far as what material to wear,wear denim,don't wear flannel,new or old.Wear you leathers when you need them,if you got anymore welding type questions,I would be happy to TRY and answer them for you, your internet buddy in west by god virginia, richard gauthier huh,huh
I'm going to run a couple downhill beads and run the downhill welding deal by my instructor tonight (assuming I remember by then [img]/forums/images/icons/crazy.gif[/img] ). At the very least I'm now curious as to how it'll compare. I talked with a neighbor who knows all three instructors there (he teaches electrical there) and he commented that all three are excellent welders but each is different in his approach and teaching. Maybe one of the other guys even teaches the uphill method.
On another topic, I now have a leather apron and a pair of leather sleeves. I intend to use at least the sleeves every time I use a welder. I still feel some pain on that section of my forearm I burnt. I'll probably use the apron most of the time as well. I've had enough little sparks land in my lap and leave little holes in my jeans already. I don't want a spot on my leg to match my arm. [img]/forums/images/icons/crazy.gif[/img]
I'll probably still go with a flannel shirt just to cover myself where the leathers don't. I don't want to trust these leather sleeves to come up to the bottom of my t-shirt sleeves. A denim shirt might work as well but, while I have denim jeans, I don't have a denim shirt. (BTW, if you come across one in a 20 1/2" neck and a 39" sleeve, let me know where). The good news is that when I looked at my shirt when I had my leather sleeves and apron on I didn't see a single burn spot showing. Every place a spark has hit and burned was covered by the leathers. [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]
GARY,I forgot the fact that you are even larger than me,I'm about 6'3" and 260 and Istill have problems finding wrangler blue denim shirts to fit me,I wear a 19-36,and most of the time I've got to order mine through a store that can do that,but for the size you need I don't know.Now one more thing on that downhill,the reason I said that down hill is the way to go on that shortcircuiting solid wire,is generally speaking,when you use that process you are welding a thinner material,one maybe two passes,your not generally welding anything over 3/8" thick with it,although,if you do it right,you certainly can,On thicker stuff,with a bevel,you would probably use flux core or stick,and up hill is the more accepted method for doing that,Down hill you can carry less metal and travel faster,letting you weld sheet metal without burning a big hole,although you can weld 20" sch. 40 pipe with it as well,and do just as good a job as up hill,as far as making the two sections one if you know what you are doing,but on thinner one pass stuff in the vertical postion,down hill is the way to go.Now you of course start at the top,and point your guntip up a little,then side,slight pause,side,slight pause,if your welding sheet metal,just a fast single bead ,no side to side generally speaking,and of course you got to get your amps and volts right to whatever wire size you are running,about 120 amps,19volts for .035 wire. RICHARD GAUTHIER
One thing I haven't seen metioned here is the type of rod your using also determines the penitration. A 6010,6011,6013 will penitrate more of the base metal with the same heat as compared to a 7014 and a little more than a 7018 all other things being similiar.
What I typically do is to run one (or 2) beads of the 6013 rod, then if the weld still needs filled or "pretty'ed-up" I'll run a pass or 2 with the 7014-7018.
The key to getting a proper weld is to have good penitration into the base metal of both sides of the joint. This creates a solid, no cracks, or occlusions in the joint. Some of the fillet weld will add strength to the joint, but mainly it's the first pass that bonds the two peices together and provides the base for all future passes.
Will a weld hold if not a perfect weld... very possibly, would you want it to hold a nuke reactor together.... maybe not
Too much heat can be as bad as too little heat.
I think what gauthier is trying to say, is that stick welding is as much an art as it is technical procedure. [img]/forums/images/icons/laugh.gif[/img]
You're right, Richard. This is a MIG welding class. Last semester I took arc welding and we worked with 6011, 6013, 7018 and 7024 if my memory serves me correctly. I do know that it was four different rods and our final was to create one piece that had welds on it with each of the four. You could have it almost done, mess up and have to start everything over... kind of like real life. [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]
I didn't really appreciate the reason for taking ARC welding first (it was a prerequisite) until I started this MIG welding class. It was only then that I really appreciated what I had learned there about what actually happens when a weld is being made. Without that background, I doubt I'd have developed the appreciation for a good MIG weld instead of just one that looks good. [img]/forums/images/icons/wink.gif[/img] [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img] [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img]
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote