Welding Tips and Tricks

This is 6010, 2 and 3 position done on an old school miller 250 @ 90-100amps.

This was all on scrap found in the bin, so I wasn't focused on 50/50 overlap. Struggling with the 6010.

Please rate and critique.

All done on 1/4"

different angles of the same weld would help see what you're doing. Also, get some clear close-up's. At first glance they look quite ropey, but that could simply be perspective.

Oscar wrote:different angles of the same weld would help see what you're doing. Also, get some clear close-up's. At first glance they look quite ropey, but that could simply be perspective.

Heard that. Unfortunately I don't have the same pieces anymore. I also am not sure what you mean by ropey. I'll attach some new bead pics below.

Beads at 3 position, 90amp down to 75amp on the last bead. 1/4"carbon steel on a Miller Dialarc 250.

"ropey" is a highly technical welding term

It means that the weld looks like a small diameter rope laying on the part. That means that the weld looks cold, in that not enough amperage was used AND/OR too long of an arc length was used, AND/OR improper electrode angle. A good weld will look like "half a rope", where it looks like the bottom-half of the rope is down underneath the surface of the steel, and you can only see the top 1/3 "hemisphere". This usually implies that the toes (edges of the weld bead) are "wetted in" (smoothly transition) into the base metal, and don't fall off like a sharp cliff.

This is from today:

75 Amps on Miller dialarc 250
6010 3/32"
3 position
3/8" carbon steel.

My friend, you need an angle grinder with a wire-wheel.

Look at the difference between your practice piece and this:

The two things that stand out to me is that you're cold and look like your whip is too exaggerated. To be clear, you're not too cold for your rod diameter, but rather the material. Yes 6010 is high penetration, but you're still only running 75 amps on 3/8 plate It's going to be cold and crowned. I'd drop down to 3/16 material for 3/32 rods and bump your amperage up to 110 if you want it to "wet in" better. You'll chase your tail forever if you don't practice on an appropriate thickness and configuration with 6010.

6010 is a fickle beast that while it is very easy to get a reasonably sound weld with, it has a very narrow sweet spot for getting a great one, and it'll NEVER compare to a decent 7018 weld.