Welding Tips and Tricks

Kinda new to aluminum. Been playing around for six months now. Think I finally got the t joint down could you please critique.

The consistency looks gold for only 6mo. But looks can be deceiving. Cut it up to look at the joint penetration and to look at the toe angle.

Okay will do. Thanks. I also have another question about filling a crack or a hole. I know your suppose to drill some kind of ventilation. But for what I was doing there was no way to drill. When I was just about to seal the crack my bead started to look like grey snot I couldn't add filler without it getting worse. What caused that to happen. No ventilation? Too much gas? The gas escaping in front of my weld puddle?

The grey ball/snot from what I have noticed is mostly gas related. Not enough gas coverage and I haven't figured out if it's also a combination of dirty metal too.

Ok that's good news sounds like an easy fix..... Maybe!!

Any enclosed container will blow air out the last hole. Figure a way to allow the expanding air to escape. You can get a similar effect any time two flat surfaces lay together as in an edge, or lap joint. Hang back a bit with the arc. Instead of focusing on the leading edge of the puddle, stay back 1/16". On corner joints, use a backer. I have 1.5" copper square stock in a couple lengths, one corner is radiused to give the shape of a nice fillet inside. This traps shielding gas behind the weld.

This is what I was welding when it happened. It's a belt box on a mud motor. I didn't want to drill a hole because otherwise I would just have to fill it when I finished welding the crack and be in the same position with that grey snot haha.