[semihemi]

do you have a nemesis?...one procedure of type of joint that just gives you fits every single time no matter what? One time in baseball Pedro Martinez admitted (hall of fame pitcher for the Boston red sox) that he could beat any team in the pros .. but the Yankees whip him good every time and he said on TV "tha yankees are my daddy... well today i found mine vertical uphill lap joints on Aluminum. I have spent 4 days in the shop, burned up 5 Tungsten's to a nub, sheared countless pieces of material all to produce one lap joint to be submitted to the CWI for inspection it passed by the hair on my chinny chin chin and im not making another one idc it passed and i hope i never have to do that again .... but i am sure i will ..... whats your kriptonite?

[Otto Nobedder]

308/309 1/8" SMAW 3G gives me headaches... Don't encounter it lately, though.

I'll have to think harder on what gets me these days... I encounter tough welds, but with what I do regularly, I can't immediately think of "kryptonite".

Steve S

[TamJeff]

There certainly is harder welds than others but none that are intimidating by now. I remember when I broke into marine fab. I went for the interview and welded a tee joint. My next one was actually a piece of 1/4" x 4" x 17", overhead, with a continuous weld, while the owner and the shop foreman watched. It came out nicer than even I expected. I'm one of those people who do well with a slight surge of adrenaline. It causes me to concentrate every little detail. It's like playing pool against someone really good. Just enough edginess to run the table.

[weldin mike 27]

Hey,

My current Kryptonite is the lifting lugs we have to weld on the corners of our military vehicles. 20 mm plate welded to 9mm plate in a lap joint.

The lugs have a sort of fish mouth shape to increase the length of the weld. It s 309 fluxcor 8mm fillet.

I always struggle to get the very fluid pool to build up to the upper leg with out going to large on the bottom leg and or overolling the bottom toe. And undercutting the top.

Mick

[Billbong]

My biggest failure is and has always been the 90 deg corner weld or Tee joint.

I get slag inclusions and pockets of no weld....grrrrrrrrrr.

But there was light appearing at the end of the tunnel.......about a year ago I bought another completely different type of welder, purely on the off chance after a hands on demo and now I can weld fillets in corners without any slag or bald spots.....I won't go overboard on the welder specs, as it's already been discussed at great length here, but it made my day big time.
Ian.

[TamJeff]

Hey,

My current Kryptonite is the lifting lugs we have to weld on the corners of our military vehicles. 20 mm plate welded to 9mm plate in a lap joint.

The lugs have a sort of fish mouth shape to increase the length of the weld. It s 309 fluxcor 8mm fillet.

I always struggle to get the very fluid pool to build up to the upper leg with out going to large on the bottom leg and or overolling the bottom toe. And undercutting the top.

Mick

Have you tried cutting your pads with a slight outward bevel, say 22 degrees? It forces a more ideal angle of attack and gets rid of that sharp edge.

[weldin mike 27]

Hey Jeff,

No go mate, The lugs are a supplied part and can never be altered. Its mainly a setting prob. Get a good setting for tje machine and thats half the battle. Im better at them now, bit for a while there i really sucked at them.

Mick

[semihemi]

here is my demon
http://i1305.photobucket.com/albums/s55 ... c73383.jpg
and heres the best i have been able to do
http://i1305.photobucket.com/albums/s55 ... 9dcfea.jpg
with countless amounts of this
http://i1305.photobucket.com/albums/s55 ... b68002.jpg

[TamJeff]

Vertical up on aluminum lap is difficult to make for even the pros if they don't do it every day. Your heat has to be 'just so', that you have enough time to shape the puddle and the amount of penetration. It's an erroneous weld, that is best suited for downhill, reverse travel. The problem is that bad reputation of other structural welding processes have given downhill welding a bad name.

That's another type of weld that feathering ( wa-wa) the pedal really works well. It's really something that anyone who really wants to TIG on aluminum really needs to learn and something more schools ought to include as an important aspect of TIG procedure.

[semihemi]

in the school i am enrolled in it is a part of the advanced classes only. Mild steel is the standard course. Ally is the last of all the courses so needless to say i have but a week to finish it. I had success on my first 2 overhead projects, a padded plate and a lap, now i have to do an outside corner a "T" and a butt. the final project is a "box" that will hold water 4x4 base plate and 4@ 2x4 they can be tacked on the table but then clamped to an arm to remain there in position until your finished simulating all 4 positions. i have pulled it off on mild S and S.S. lets see what Ally has in store for me

[weldin mike 27]

Hey,

Good luck, Fingers crossed. (Tig Fingers, LoL)

Mick

[semihemi]

well...i managed to pull it off .... by god it was the ugliest weld i have ever seen and i blew a hole out at the top of it and that got "overlooked" ... im still puzzled by my ability to run corner joints and butt joints on ally overhead but when it comes to "T"s and laps i fall to pieces i just completely crap out......well just by chance i stopped into a fab shop on my first day out armed with my gear and a resume and dont ya know the man asked me if i had my hood and if i would run him a few beads. come to find out they are short handed in the railing dept. they got plenty of broom pushers and steel movers but not enough welders ow he dont wanna pay much but he wants me to come learn his trade.....i remember Otto telling me "first get the job you can then look for the job you want".... and they just got a huge order for some SS parts that must be GTAW and they only have 2 tiggers hmmmm

[big pete]

Good news , it's always easier getting a better job if your already employed.

[weldin mike 27]

Hey,

Thats great to hear, Congratulations .

Hope It Goes well,

Mick

[semihemi]

lets just hope they dont want me to weld laps on ally overhead on my first day.....

[Otto Nobedder]

Congratulations!

Ain't that nice? First job you try for is a "yes"!

Go right from spending to earning, get a chance to hone at least some of your skills in a practical environment, AND the luxury of time to find the perfect job if this isn't it!

And a good reminder for others, since I don't recall if I've said it here; Don't go knocking on doors unless you have your boots, glasses, sleeves, gloves, and hood. I once went from "We're only taking resume's," to "Can you test right now? in less than five minutes.

Good on ya!

[semihemi]

thats about the way it happened too Steve .... i started out the house that day without my gear and thought "well what if they want me to test on the spot?...what am i gonna do ask for a hood and PPE? oh yea that shows preparation " so i grabbed my gear and tossed it in the truck (where it should always be in the first place).....i am learning alot from yall keep it coming ill do my best to soak it in