Critiques on these welds? What do you think?

[vtcruiser60]

Posted below are some of my welds on a frame FJ40 frame repair and tire carrier build up. I am using a Hobart 187 mig, 220V...using .30 wire with 75/25 co2/argon gas. The metal is generally 3/16ths to 1/4 of an inch. I am cleaning all surfaces with a grinder, beveling the edges and generally using SEM Copperweld through primer.

I feel like I am getting good penetration as judging by the heat discoloration on the sides of the weld areas and what I can see on the backsides. I am also pushing the mig rather than drawing it towards the beads....trying to make little c-cups.

What do you see? Any thoughts on weld quality based on the pictures? Any thoughts on doing it better?

 

[-Spike-]

Looks good to my untrained eye, from that distance. The only proof is to cut or break them. Curious, does the bearing still move freely, and did you take any precautions so as not to warp the sleeve? My only suggestion would be to hit the welds with a wire brush while they're still somewhat hot, that'll clean 'em up easier than if you wait for them to cool.

-Spike

 

[vtcruiser60]

Spike....I gave some thought to that bearing sleeve issue. I figured that the tube would warp, and probably more so with the race uninstalled. I installed first, then welded. The bearings move quite freely. There is no sound or anything. Also, these bearings get very little use as compared to trunion or wheel bearings. So..I figure a bit of warpage probably is not that bad.

I had not thought to try some weld passes on scrap then cut it in half to inspect penetration. I'll try that.

 

[fj40charles]

I see some porosity in the last picture of the hinge. Also, it looks like you're starting and stopping your welds frequently. It is better to maintain a consistent bead. Are you trying to get the "stack of dimes look?" I see some spot welds on there.

What setting are you using on the HH187. I'm thinking you should be using tap 5 or 6. The welds look kind of cold to me.
I don't see a good wet out on the edge of the toes.

 

[vtcruiser60]

On the thicker runs, I generally run a stringer first, a deep weaving solid bead. Then I overlay a "stack of dimes" on top. I thought that was the only way to get the dimes look and was technically correct. I am asking??

As far as settings I am generally burning at 5 with a line speed of 55. I seem to have the most control at those settings. When burning the 1/4 inch metal I made my initial stringer beads using a setting of 7/60.

I do appreciate the comments from folks...Keep em coming.

 

[Mace]

Honestly, the stack of dimes thing is kinda silly.

There is no reason you can't do that metal in a single pass without weaving.

 

[denis]

just give up on the multi pass and weave crap and focus on getting a consistent bead with as much amps as you can use while not blowing through.
spray transfer looks tons better than stacked dimes

 

[RHINO]

same as above,,, i think trying the stack of dimes with a mig compromises quality over looks. i really loathe the guy who made the stack of dimes with a mig popular.

your welds look good enough that i bet if you give up the foo foo bead you'll have great quality.

 

[vtcruiser60]

Ok, ok, ok...I get it now...the stack of dimes look is bogus and not technically right. I had a great email reply from FJ40charles and am headed down the right road now.

My plan is to grind down these welds a fair amount, turn up my heat to a tap 6-7 and run some solid beads. Afterwords I'll post up some pics.

Thanks for all the replies.

 

[Wile E Coyote]

Glad you see the light. Proper MIG welds are not tap..tap..tap. It's easy to get pulled into that technique, when you see pro fab shops doing it. (That guy Rhino mentioned likely=Toby L.) I'm faaaar from expert on this, but what little I did learn I'd like to think was from the old-timers that know proper techniques.
For any others that may later read this: Multi-pass welds are not wrong as a whole, and frankly are required in majority of pipefitting applications. In this use, one hot pass should suffice. When welding to code, standards can just get brutally specific, that's all.

Your plan to grind down to a solid root pass sounds like a fine idea. If you continue to see inclusions, porosity, etc, then def. keep going.

Denis, do you think a Hoby 187 is capable of true spray-trans amperage on 3/16-1/4" material as pictured?

 

[denis]

Denis, do you think a Hoby 187 is capable of true spray-trans amperage on 3/16-1/4" material as pictured?

Honestly, I never used one. I just read the specs and I'm not sure, maybe with 0.023 ?
Then again I'm spoiled with 260 amps

 

[Pin_Head]

I see some porosity in the last picture of the hinge. Also, it looks like you're starting and stopping your welds frequently. It is better to maintain a consistent bead. Are you trying to get the "stack of dimes look?" I see some spot welds on there.

What setting are you using on the HH187. I'm thinking you should be using tap 5 or 6. The welds look kind of cold to me.
I don't see a good wet out on the edge of the toes.

X2

Plus the throat of the weld in the last picture is too thin because the face appears to be concave (assuming that this is a fillet weld).

 

[vtcruiser60]

I am going to post up some new welds momentarily.

I ground down a lot of these welds, particularly in critical areas. While grinding I noticed some porosity in the welds. The original weld areas were clean, and ground down to new metal. I suspect that my shielding gas was set too high, around 35 lbs...which forced some gas into the weld and didn't allow for it to escape before the welds cooled. In all though, there were no major or sizable holes/pockets in the original welds. Some of the comments above make mention of porosity...Honestly, I think you guys are looking at shadows or simply slag on the top of the welds. There were no cavities in those original photos.

That said as I took another pass at improving these welds I took several steps. First, I ground down the welds and created some concave grooves. My settings changed a fair amount. I am running .30 Hobart wire, 75/25 gas, 7 setting at 70 wire speed. I also turned down my shielding gas to about 25lbs. I also adjusted my mig tip, such that the tip was slightly recessed in the end cap. I also tried to position myself in a stable position for each weld.

Pictures 1: Vertical down
Pictures 2. Flat, overlapping welds.
Pictures 3. tire swingout gusset.

 

[vtcruiser60]

Pictures 1

The picture on the left shows a new weld, and an area to its right where I ground it out after the weld for a second pass. The picture on the right shows that second pass. There I was trying a bit of the c-cup action while moving down the weld area. Kinda hard to control the puddle in this direction, but I was happy with the results.

 

[vtcruiser60]

Pictures 2

 

[vtcruiser60]

pictures 2..again...final shot showing the welds after a wire wheel clean up.

 

[vtcruiser60]

and the swing out...you can compare this new picture with the one posted originally on this thread...up above.

 

[Mace]

I would have welded a bit hotter with less wire speed on that last pic.

 

[vtcruiser60]

I would have welded a bit hotter with less wire speed on that last pic.

I was at the hottest setting. I suppose I could have increased the wire speed for more current. Any faster I and I am not confident of my puddle control.

 

[fj40charles]

I was at the hottest setting. I suppose I could have increased the wire speed for more current. Any faster I and I am not confident of my puddle control.

I think you could have slowed down a little. That would have allowed the sides (toes) of the weld bead to fill in a little more. The welds are looking much better.

On the vertical welds, it is generally better to weld up.