Welding Tips and Tricks

Hi.
I need to get good at walking the cup, I have 5 years with aluminum, but thats another ball game. Im really good free handing the pipe in 5g, but walking the cup is where its at. Is it just like all other welding ( practice ) or do any of you other pipeliners have a good trick or 2, that could help me out ??

PS. how do you guys like your stick out, and big rod or small rod, run the rod left and right or straight drag ?

Thanks for your time mike.

mike,

here is my two cents...

for the root, i dont like a lot of angle so stickout is just enough to lean back about 5 or 10 degrees

second pass can use a lot more angle because you don't want to penetrate and suck back

all the passes all the way out to flush, the stickout will be something in between...you kind of wiggle and slide the cup against the bevel

once you get the joint filled, the walking the cup technique changes from sliding and wiggling, to walking it like you would walk a 55 gal drum across the floor. back and forth, you roll it on the rim one way, change the angle and then roll it the other way.

its kind of hard to explain, but if you get a glass out of the cupboard, and imagine its a barrel, and walk it across the kitchen table, i think you will get my drift.

anyone else out there got any tips for walking the cup???


jody

I am a NOOB please don't laugh. All I can say is practice. The best advice I can give is GO SLOW. Trying to go too fast has been my biggest prob at school.

Jody,
The one video on your site really does a great job of explaining, or at least showing, walking the cup. The only thing I couldn't tell is if he was dragging his torch or pushing. Which would it have been? On the video he is doing some ss pipe if I remember right.
Tom