Welding Tips and Tricks

First, A big thanks to everyone at WeldingTipsAndTricks. I have always wanted to learn to weld... but never got around to it.
Thanks, in a large part to Welding Tips and Tricks, I finally bought a decent starter welder and have been trying to learn.

I have enjoyed it so much that I signed up for a couple of night classes at the local technical college next term

My primary goal is to make small vehicle frames out of 1 inch OD round tube with a thickness of 16 gauge. My first frame came out looking pretty rough

To practice I have been cutting up sheets of 16 gauge into strips 6 inches long and 1 in wide. Every day I try to spend 15 minutes running some type of joint. In the easier positions the beads are starting to look pretty consistent.

It is normal to have a little bit of sagging on the back side of a work piece after running a bead or does that mean I am over penetrating.

dfarning,
Welcome to the forum and to welding community.

One thing that I can suggest is to pick up two books, "Metals and how to weld them" and "Welding esentials", the first is from the James Licoln Foundation ($10) and the other I got at B/N ($40) and don't have it handy to give you the author, sorry. These books will give you a pretty good foundation to work from. There's a lot going on while welding that doesn't meet the eye and if you want to build veicle frames you should know some of the more technical aspects of the metals themseves.

This forum can answer most any question you might have provided you can supply our members with the variables. If we don't know the answer, we'll find it because we want to know the answer as much or more than you do. We try to be family freindly and you will never be humiliated for asking even the most elementry questions that most new welders have, so ask away.

As to your question about penetration, yes if you overheat a section of metal the backside will sag. Mostly this comes from slow travel speed as you're learning to weld and will correct itself as you learn, no big deal while practicing. Certain weld joint configurations will lend themselves more to this than others, butt welds with a gap for instance. If you're getting this with a fillet or a lap joint then you're likely overheating the base metal.

Len
P.S. a first name makes it easier to personalize responses.

As to your question about penetration, yes if you overheat a section of metal the backside will sag. Mostly this comes from slow travel speed as you're learning to weld and will correct itself as you learn, no big deal while practicing. Certain weld joint configurations will lend themselves more to this than others, butt welds with a gap for instance. If you're getting this with a fillet or a lap joint then you're likely overheating the base metal.

Len

Ok thanks I just went out and experimented with travel speed. My practice passes were pretty quick. As soon as I pull the trigger and did a real pass I slowed... way... down...

As you suggest, I won't worry too much about it. For now I am using up all of my brain power keeping the gun headed in the right direction at a constant speed while watching how the puddle is acting.

David

Thanks for the book suggestions. I just ordered a copy of "Metals and How to Weld Them."

Hey David,
If you can post pics of your attemps...it really helps us see what results you are getting....sometimes welding terminology gets confusing and when there is a pic, we can stay on the same page when offering advice.

Also posting machine settings and filler metal information off the roll/spool label are a big help too.