by jason
(sw florida)
i'm in welding school and my teacher sucks at teaching. i'm doing lap joints on two 1" pieces of 1/4" mild steel. i can't seem to get it to look good. i have good penetration but it looks horrible. should i use a leading angle or trailing angle? should i start from the left or right? is there a specific weave pattern that works well?(i'm using a C or a J weave). should i step it or use a specific weave? please help !!! oh and i'm using all e6010 (1/8") right now. this teacher is horrible and the text book only has like 1 paragraph on 1g lap welds so i would appreciate any help. thank you from a newbie!!!
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here are some tips...
there is a stick welding dvd made by steve bleile that has the best arc shots around and you can get it from northerntool.com for about 25 or 30 bucks ...worth every penny.
read about it here.
steve bleile arc welding video
or paste the text below in your browser address bar
https://www.weldingtipsandtricks.com/arc-welding-video-2.html
for 1/4" you should probably be toward the lower end of the range for 6010 and all 6010 rods are not created equal. look up the manufacturers recommended settings and set the amperage to mid range or lower for starters and work from there.
whip and pause...at the rate of about once per second...whipping ahead about 2 electrode diameters and coming back 1 electrode diameter and pause.
try using very little rod angle..only about 5-10 degrees
hold a fairly tight arc and if the rod sticks turn it up until it doesnt.
get in a ryhthm and try to pause the same length of time every time.
cut your teacher some slack...he's all you got right now.