2015 POTD Thread Archive

[caster]

Those welds are a work of art

Caster

 

[zmotorsports]

Those welds are a work of art

Caster

Thank you, I appreciate that. Always trying to improve.

Mike.

 

[tazza]

He is only showing us the pretty ones

Looks good, projects like that always take a little time, best to do so than to rush and make a mistake.

 

[zmotorsports]

He is only showing us the pretty ones

Looks good, projects like that always take a little time, best to do so than to rush and make a mistake.

Hell ya, I'm not going to throw up pictures of the ones where my hand slipped and didn't get a consistant spacing or something like that. Yes it does happen.

That brings up a good point though to all those who get frustrated after looking at weld porn, believe me I know, NOT everyones every weld is perfect. Even those guys on the welding forums that everyone drools over. Believe me, not every one of my welds are perfect, not even close, we all have that weld or two on each project that we wish had turned out better. My philosophy has always been "aim small, miss small". No matter what the task at hand is, if you are trying for perfection in each and every weld and some little thing goes wrong, be it a hand slips, you get a drip of sweat in your eye and have to blink or whatever the issue, if you are always shooting for perfection and miss by a slight amount it still turns out pretty damn good. If you walk up to a joint, stick the gun in there and squeeze without thinking and just haphazardly throw a weld at it and fail to really watch the puddle or what is going on during the fusion process, then don't be surprised if it turns out like a flock of seagulls just flew over and crapped all over your project.

Thanks for the compliment by the way tazza.

Mike.

 

[markknx]

Please take this as advice to help you not as picking on your welds. They are nice looking welds. To improve tighten those spaces or slow down a little. See the slight saw tooth on the bottoms (I can't really see the tops) this isa good indication there is poor fusion there. Looks like you are running your bead in a straight line, no weave and moving and pausing, or back and forth motion. Don't step out as far on each move. this will tighten up the ripples and give better fusion. those welds are plenty strong, but if given a bend test the saw tooth spots will most likely show up as small tears or holes.By the way the trailer is looking good. that is a big project to take on Mark

 

[zmotorsports]

Please take this as advice to help you not as picking on your welds. They are nice looking welds. To improve tighten those spaces or slow down a little. See the slight saw tooth on the bottoms (I can't really see the tops) this isa good indication there is poor fusion there. Looks like you are running your bead in a straight line, no weave and moving and pausing, or back and forth motion. Don't step out as far on each move. this will tighten up the ripples and give better fusion. those welds are plenty strong, but if given a bend test the saw tooth spots will most likely show up as small tears or holes.By the way the trailer is looking good. that is a big project to take on Mark

Thanks for your concern, however, I have destructive tested many, many of my welds over the years to confirm fusion all the way to the root. This is why I encourage people to watch the leading edge of the weld and ensure it is "biting in" at the root vs. just going after pretty welds. These welds are not a straight line weld, they are done by torch manipulation.

Again, this technique of welding is nothing new but frowned upon by many industrial weldors. This technique is highly sought after in the motorsports industry and is just one form or technique. I can do the straight line, no visible variations, perfectly smooth MIG weld bead as well. In my opinion a good weldor needs to have an open mind that there are variations in welding and have the skills and abilities to perform the correct technique for the operation or part/component at hand. I pointed out earlier or in another thread that this technique will more than likely not pass a weld certification if welding nuclear power plants or boiler piping. Actually I played around a few years ago when getting my re-certifications done and I was able to pass a couple off using this technique but it is more difficult than just running a standard smooth MIG bead.


Don't worry, my feelings are not hurt as again this debate has been ongoing for years and trust me, it will go on for decades.

Mike.

 

[Pontiac Freak]

Mike, this isnt you is it? :lmao:

[video=youtube;rLnN-hqgfxY]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLnN-hqgfxY[/video]

 

[mws]

180964[/ATTACH]

I beg to differ on those endcaps. They're to prevent the wasp nests in the Spring. I have to blast my frame tubes around the coupler every year lest I get stung! Sure wish I could weld like that. Nice work.
Mark

 

[chevydyl]

By

The metal is down to shiny metal with a flap disk, it just doesn't look like it in the shadowed pictures.

As far as the cream that is floating, it is not the silicone, it is copper. The silicone in the wire is so very minimal, it just helps to wet out and make a little nicer looking weld bead, has nothing to do with strength. 70k psi wire is still 70 psi wire whether it is a -3 or a -6 suffix.

Solid core wire has a copper coating (as does TIG rod) and people think it is to keep the wire from rusting and merely for corrosion protection, however, it has nothing to do with corrossion protection. The wire will still rust if exposed to moisture. The copper coating is applied so that when the wire is drawn through the dies for sizing it acts as a lubrication against the dies making them last longer. Nothing more, merely to prolong the life of the dies.

Mike.

I said nothing of strength, I only comment on the little cream colored spots at the edges of the weld. It's the Silicon that's in the wire, S6 wire is higher silicon content than S2 wire, when I tig with S6 wire my beads have those same little cream spots, when I tig with S2 wire they are non existent. Prove me wrong with some facts from a welding book or something, maybe the literature I read was just whack facts lol. http://weldingweb.com/showthread.php?49561-TIG-wire-S2-vs-S6 read that like the 3rd post down

 

[zmotorsports]

By
I said nothing of strength, I only comment on the little cream colored spots at the edges of the weld. It's the Silicon that's in the wire, S6 wire is higher silicon content than S2 wire, when I tig with S6 wire my beads have those same little cream spots, when I tig with S2 wire they are non existent. Prove me wrong with some facts from a welding book or something, maybe the literature I read was just whack facts lol. http://weldingweb.com/showthread.php?49561-TIG-wire-S2-vs-S6 read that like the 3rd post down

Here is an excerpt from Welder's Handbook that shows the reasoning behind the copper. Towards the bottom portion of the page on # 145.
https://books.google.com/books?id=G...why do they coat mig wire with copper&f=false

Mike.