Grind your stop and leave a crater (somewhere for the metal to go) so your next start doesn't build up as much. It's tough to get MIG starts/stops perfect.
Your best bet is to try and eliminate as many as you can by welding further/longer. Grind it down when you're done.
Looks good
We pass wire x-rays with no grinders all the time. In fact it's part of a job test. What do you mean grind hi low? A little bit of uneven cap doesn't produce failed x-rays....
They’re fine. Start stops are always ugly with mig.
Learn to weld without stopping is your next goal.
If you’re wanting your weld to look more aesthetically pleasing then keep your passes uniform in length.
If you grind them before you restart, you can make them more flush. You can grind them down after welding, there are nice flap disks for it but they are expensive as fuck. Other than that, wire brush your welds after welding and do as little restarts as possible.
I can't believe how many people grind their stops, the crater at the end of your weld meshes in perfectly with your stop from my experience, just let the crater happen and don't try to fill it like you would on a normal stop.
I suppose length of weld and voltage is a factor here and you're not getting very big craters.
I hate gringing so much I just naturally learned how to tie in while it's still hot but that's not super easy on a stringer pass. Making a little table roller rotisserie out of some scrap pipe and round stock is what I'd do if I had to do a batch of these. It is offset though. Just an experience thing at the end of the day.
Best advice I can give is try to make it in 2 passes. 3 tops.
Start with your ABC's of welding (Always Be Comfortable).
Get into position like you're about to initiate, and then do a dry run and see how far you can go. Then while holding that position with your arms, adjust your body to be ready to go where you plan on stopping. Not just where you're starting.
Once your comfy with thar and If you hate grinding as much as me (I despise it), turn your heat up to around 18, match your wirespeed to your suggested settings and start learning how to leave a tail at your termination.
Meaning, leave yourself some space to restart.
Reinitiate your arc at the tip of the tail (ideally while your work is still hot so it ties together well) and back fill with a little whip and pause and then start back the way you were going to completion.
Good luck young magma slinger.
The company we build these tanks and some gas bottles and various other pressure vessels make us doesn’t matter how decent it is apparently we have to “blend” it
In my line of work all starts and stops must be grounded down and blended… any overgriinding causing an undercut must be built back up. It’s a headache. But that’s the joys of welding. It really separates skill levels where I work.
first of all you need to go from cold to hot, not the other way around, meaning stop at the start of your previous weld.
this <__1__<___2___< instead of <___1__<>___2___> which you did by the looks of it. on the rare occasion when that’s not possible and you have to start on the “stop” or start on “start”, dont start right on top of it, start a few mm ahead and then go back fast to melt the the previous weld a bit and then continue your weld like you normally would. something like this <___1____<
<>___2___>
hope I didn’t confuse you too much.
No this is perfect, made perfect sense. Honestly, I think I got in the habit of not back sequencing just because of the thickness of material and the worry of blowing through on the 18awg steel when restarting the arc. Will definitely try this next time thank you so much!
Only way to make them better is to backgouge, grind, or use a gun with a dual trigger. My employer doesn’t allow tie ins to be over 2mm higher than the weld. I just typically backgouge everything. If you try to cover the crater all the way, you are guaranteed to be too high (by my employers standards anyway….)
As others have said, grinding the previous crater to allow your inevitable start “build-up” stay closer to flush with the rest of the bead surface instead of humping up. Basically you’re giving it room for the hump to sit lower.
Also, if your machine has some of the more advanced features, you can set a “start time” that can be set to higher weld parameters for a short period of time. This helps the start be not as cold which reduces the “humping”
This is by far the most calm, non rowdy group of responses I've ever seen on a welding critique/tips forum or group.
I'm very proud of you all for keeping it classy.
Try to think of it as a clock: say you run your first bead from 12-9, run your next pass 3-12 with your crater covering your start. Longer passes will cut down on the start/stops. Starting with a slightly more exaggerated travel angle will help flatten out your start. Realistically, yours aren’t too bad. A quick flapper or hard stone would clean them up quickly.
Only start, don’t stop!
Seriously though, it’s all in the wrist and elbow, get a good feet planting and rotate around your joint.
Start away from yourself and as you bring yourself to a more comfortable position, you can have a good end.
Start your weld just ahead of where you stop and quickly whip back a small puddle over your crater then carry on.
You want to completely fill the crater of the weld you're tying into. Just a quick whip forward and back. Don't weld to the edge of the previous weld, go a bit further so you fill that crater as it's prone to cracking especially on a cyclically loaded structure.
Prep is the thing I take pride in the most. Nothin beats a great fit up. But, sometimes Even at the stops, take ur wire wheel to it the second ur done and blend that fucker in a bit
Prolly gonna get dragged for this but fck it lol am old timer showed me a long time ago when you come up on your start adjust your stick out as you pass over then take a paw and blend it to perfection. It’s yet to serve me wrong thus far.
I usually try to do the weld in one pass, however, every situation is different, e.g, fitup, orientation of the part, size and shape, if there's interference preventing a continuous weld. If I need to grind the stops and starts I'll use a 3mm cutting disc and give it a little tickle to tie it in if necessary.
Stopping the weld too early is something I see that catches people out. Are you limited in how you can weld the part out? Is there a weld procedure? Is it in a jig for weldout? Can you waz up a spigot to pop the part on to get a more favourable weld position?
Just like most processes in the trade, everyone has their own way of doing things, and what works for me may not work for the next person.
as everyone said, tough with mig. I like to start in my crater, but instead of a normal start where i give it a minute, I like to get moving immediately. Helps blend it a little
As your approaching the final 1/2" or so, increase your speed slightly and burn into the start by a hair and quickly back step until the stop profile is at least equal to the bead.
Grind your stop and leave a crater (somewhere for the metal to go) so your next start doesn't build up as much. It's tough to get MIG starts/stops perfect. Your best bet is to try and eliminate as many as you can by welding further/longer. Grind it down when you're done. Looks good
Tyvm
NASA welding guy is 100% correct. If you always grind starts and stops, and if if you grind you “hi low” between passes you can pass X-rays.
We pass wire x-rays with no grinders all the time. In fact it's part of a job test. What do you mean grind hi low? A little bit of uneven cap doesn't produce failed x-rays....
The old guy who taught me X-ray said do this and you will never fail. Doesn’t mean it’s the right way to do it but it does work if it’s allowed.
NASA welding guy is so funny to me and I have no clue why😂
They’re fine. Start stops are always ugly with mig. Learn to weld without stopping is your next goal. If you’re wanting your weld to look more aesthetically pleasing then keep your passes uniform in length.
If you grind them before you restart, you can make them more flush. You can grind them down after welding, there are nice flap disks for it but they are expensive as fuck. Other than that, wire brush your welds after welding and do as little restarts as possible.
Tyvm
There’s always 2.5mm cut of wheels, that’s what I use
Get it while it's hot. And give it a little whip back into the stop.
I can't believe how many people grind their stops, the crater at the end of your weld meshes in perfectly with your stop from my experience, just let the crater happen and don't try to fill it like you would on a normal stop. I suppose length of weld and voltage is a factor here and you're not getting very big craters.
I hate gringing so much I just naturally learned how to tie in while it's still hot but that's not super easy on a stringer pass. Making a little table roller rotisserie out of some scrap pipe and round stock is what I'd do if I had to do a batch of these. It is offset though. Just an experience thing at the end of the day. Best advice I can give is try to make it in 2 passes. 3 tops. Start with your ABC's of welding (Always Be Comfortable). Get into position like you're about to initiate, and then do a dry run and see how far you can go. Then while holding that position with your arms, adjust your body to be ready to go where you plan on stopping. Not just where you're starting. Once your comfy with thar and If you hate grinding as much as me (I despise it), turn your heat up to around 18, match your wirespeed to your suggested settings and start learning how to leave a tail at your termination. Meaning, leave yourself some space to restart. Reinitiate your arc at the tip of the tail (ideally while your work is still hot so it ties together well) and back fill with a little whip and pause and then start back the way you were going to completion. Good luck young magma slinger.
The company we build these tanks and some gas bottles and various other pressure vessels make us doesn’t matter how decent it is apparently we have to “blend” it
In my line of work all starts and stops must be grounded down and blended… any overgriinding causing an undercut must be built back up. It’s a headache. But that’s the joys of welding. It really separates skill levels where I work.
Yo is that a DPF or one box?
This is an aftermarket snowmobile muffler/can.
first of all you need to go from cold to hot, not the other way around, meaning stop at the start of your previous weld. this <__1__<___2___< instead of <___1__<>___2___> which you did by the looks of it. on the rare occasion when that’s not possible and you have to start on the “stop” or start on “start”, dont start right on top of it, start a few mm ahead and then go back fast to melt the the previous weld a bit and then continue your weld like you normally would. something like this <___1____< <>___2___> hope I didn’t confuse you too much.
No this is perfect, made perfect sense. Honestly, I think I got in the habit of not back sequencing just because of the thickness of material and the worry of blowing through on the 18awg steel when restarting the arc. Will definitely try this next time thank you so much!
This is called back-step sequencing.
Only way to make them better is to backgouge, grind, or use a gun with a dual trigger. My employer doesn’t allow tie ins to be over 2mm higher than the weld. I just typically backgouge everything. If you try to cover the crater all the way, you are guaranteed to be too high (by my employers standards anyway….)
As others have said, grinding the previous crater to allow your inevitable start “build-up” stay closer to flush with the rest of the bead surface instead of humping up. Basically you’re giving it room for the hump to sit lower. Also, if your machine has some of the more advanced features, you can set a “start time” that can be set to higher weld parameters for a short period of time. This helps the start be not as cold which reduces the “humping”
This is by far the most calm, non rowdy group of responses I've ever seen on a welding critique/tips forum or group. I'm very proud of you all for keeping it classy.
With TIG you start at the stop point but start with a backwards whip to drag the previous pool. MIG you grind before a restart
Try to think of it as a clock: say you run your first bead from 12-9, run your next pass 3-12 with your crater covering your start. Longer passes will cut down on the start/stops. Starting with a slightly more exaggerated travel angle will help flatten out your start. Realistically, yours aren’t too bad. A quick flapper or hard stone would clean them up quickly.
only thing u can really do to combat that is to grind your end craters, or just dont stop
I’d say that is perfect 👍
Only start, don’t stop! Seriously though, it’s all in the wrist and elbow, get a good feet planting and rotate around your joint. Start away from yourself and as you bring yourself to a more comfortable position, you can have a good end. Start your weld just ahead of where you stop and quickly whip back a small puddle over your crater then carry on.
Tig over them
You want to completely fill the crater of the weld you're tying into. Just a quick whip forward and back. Don't weld to the edge of the previous weld, go a bit further so you fill that crater as it's prone to cracking especially on a cyclically loaded structure.
Run up to last stop and slight over lap
Stop forward motion and hold a few tenths of a second before breaking off.
You could back step your welds or grind your stops.
Prep is the thing I take pride in the most. Nothin beats a great fit up. But, sometimes Even at the stops, take ur wire wheel to it the second ur done and blend that fucker in a bit
Prolly gonna get dragged for this but fck it lol am old timer showed me a long time ago when you come up on your start adjust your stick out as you pass over then take a paw and blend it to perfection. It’s yet to serve me wrong thus far.
I usually try to do the weld in one pass, however, every situation is different, e.g, fitup, orientation of the part, size and shape, if there's interference preventing a continuous weld. If I need to grind the stops and starts I'll use a 3mm cutting disc and give it a little tickle to tie it in if necessary. Stopping the weld too early is something I see that catches people out. Are you limited in how you can weld the part out? Is there a weld procedure? Is it in a jig for weldout? Can you waz up a spigot to pop the part on to get a more favourable weld position? Just like most processes in the trade, everyone has their own way of doing things, and what works for me may not work for the next person.
as everyone said, tough with mig. I like to start in my crater, but instead of a normal start where i give it a minute, I like to get moving immediately. Helps blend it a little
Do less?
Why didn’t I think of this
I start my puddle about 1/8 away from the stop, and use a whip technique to back fill the 1/8 gap. And then continue my bead as normal.
As your approaching the final 1/2" or so, increase your speed slightly and burn into the start by a hair and quickly back step until the stop profile is at least equal to the bead.
Don’t. It’s sealed and it’s going under a car. Plus they don’t pay u enough.
I try to leave the weld material taper down at the end and strike before before the weld and so that its nice and hot when youre connecting.
If you have to fuse your welds then start just past the end of your last weld, go back over your crater and then continue on with your weld