all you guys out there that can weld

i was at work the other day and decided to give it a try this is the first time ive welded anything and i did these with a stick welder just wondering if theres anything you can see in the pics thats wrong or any pointers any one can give me



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oh yeah and it was 1/4" angle iron

flip it over... lets see the other side...

yeah i wanna see if it penetrated too, also if you cleaned up the metal some that would def. help out

You need to slow down your travel speed and watch your rod angle... and make sure your not draging the rod...

slow down a little bit.



that is what you want your weld to look like. that part has the most even bead height and width, which means an even penetration as well.

notice most of your welds have a "pointed arrow" look to it. that means you are moving too fast. and some of the spatter you see means you are feeding too much.

some parts of the bead as you may notice are wider than the other, and have "craters" along their edges. that means you stood there too long, you were going too slow. it may also mean too much amperage.

there is a median there. the right amperage with the right feed rate and speed. it's harder to get it just right with a stick welder, just takes time. obviously, a higher setting needed for thicker metal, but there is such a thing as too much.

try this next time. when you are welding, rather than doing circles or half moons, try going up and down perpendicular to the direction you are laying the bead down. go up and down a total of a 1/4inch. practice with that and try to lay down some beads that have the same width and height throughout. then you should be set.

yeah you just have to steady your hand a lil it takes some practice and for a stick welder thats not bad for your first attempt mine was alot worse

i agree with the post above it will all come down to wich way you are comfterable and what your welder is set at but congrats on your first attempt

yea congrats, just dont become a street source hater like some of the people on here that think they are fabricators cause they can weld two pieces of metel together. i think it'd be pretty cool to keep your thread going with some updates of how u come along, cause it sounds like some guys giving some good ass info especially with the pictures and all.

alot of good info in this post. First, pick yourself up a welders handbook. You can buy it from lowes or home depot for like 20 bucks. There's a lot of good info and tips for beginnings as well as seasoned welders. As far as how your welds look... looks like there's good penentration, some of the best welds are the ugliest. but yeah, slow down and try not to drag your rod. It's tough to keep a good distance at first, it just takes practice. however thick rod you're using is how far away from the work you want to keep it. Also listen to the sound it makes, it should sound like bakin sizzlin in the pan on a sunday morning. that's how you know you have your rod at the right distance from the metal and that's going to help alot with the spatter. you'll get the hang of it.

just out of curiousity... what rod are you using?

good start! keep it up. I like all of the info on this thread.