Doesn't the manufacturer of your equipment provide the info you need? Torch kit came with exactly ZERO documentation. The only thing on the three tips I have is stamped numbers but without measuring the actual orifices, they're just arbitrary numbers. Most manufacturers stamp the tip size onto the ...

I'm just a hobbyist welder and have been doing only arc (SMAW, GMAW, FCAW, GTAW) welding of late. I do have a gas rig that I used last many years ago for some quick repairs on a trailer, but I really had no idea what I was doing. I decided to break it out the other day just to re-familiarize myself ...

Thanks to the mods/admins/IT weenies <grin> for adding that forum. Now to formulate my 3.4 billion question post.

Hate to necro this thread, but didn't want to start another one with the same subject. Since it appears that this thread never gained any traction, can I ask that it be revisited? This is my "go-to" forum for all things arc welding/cutting and since I've been taking some classes (Got my AW...

Quick follow up. Finished my FCAW 3G cert test last week so have been messing around over the last few classes. Tried some 6010 again last night. Still got the flat and horizontal stuff down (Some of my beads were actually pretty nice!) and then tried vertical uphill (3F) again. Sort of still have i...

LtBadd wrote:Congrats, nice looking coupons!

Thx. I'm going to try to make magnets out of them.

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tungstendipper wrote:Good Job!

Thanks. I was worried it would be Swiss cheese as I was cutting it apart. I relaxed quite a bit once I got everything cleaned up and couldn't see any issues.

Once the first piece bent ok, I was pretty confident the other one would be ok.



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Well, I passed! Thought for sure I'd have a couple defects once the coupon was cut apart, but nope. Good penetration into the base metal, no voids/crack/holes to be seen. Bend test went just fine with no issues whatsoever. Relieved to have that done and over with. 20180329_202317.jpg 20180329_202331...

Bad ju-ju remains. Struggled with the machine most of the night. Had the instructor sit with it for quite some time to try and get it figured out. Settings that were working fine previously weren't cutting it with the new wire (Same stuff, I looked at the labels on the spools) I finally jumped to an...

Well, last night was an exercise in frustration. Over the weekend I'd made parts for my test plates so I didn't "waste" time grinding in class. Got them tacked up and then grabbed some scrap from last week and ran some practice passes. WTH? The dinosaur backbones are back... CO2 bottle was...

Sounds like either reaching with the electrode (where you drop your wrist angle as you go up instead of raising your wrist), or drifting back out of the good CTWD. Instructors said the same thing, but we've been watching each other to see if that's the case. It doesn't appear to be. 2 classes ago, ...

Can you stop to let it cool before it goes haywire? Then just restart? I tried that on one of the 1st couple sessions doing this and after cutting and bending, saw I didn't get complete penetration at the root in the restart area. Definitely a technique and experience issue with that, but don't kno...

Quick background. All of my arc welding experience has been in a classroom, 3x/week since January 24. SMAW, GMAW and for the past 2 weeks, FCAW (Dual Shield) Flat and Fillet I've got figured out with all 3 types and SMAW vertical uphill is decent. Currently working on 3G pieces in preparation for a ...

Why fixed shade? The better you can see the puddle, the better you can weld.[/quote]Got my auto-darkening dialed down to about 8.75. I can go lower, but then it starts getting a little too bright.. That seems a bit low to me but everyone has a different light tolerance. I normally use a shade 11 or...

Lightning wrote:

Skiddz wrote: Why fixed shade?

The better you can see the puddle, the better you can weld.

Got my auto-darkening dialed down to about 8.75. I can go lower, but then it starts getting a little too bright..

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Lookin good. Now try it again with a good fixed-shade shield. I don't know if I'd go with "good", but I think MinnesotaDave hit it right on the head below: :) Why fixed shade? Yep, you're on the right track now :) And, in what's pretty typical for my life, we start MIG tonight so won't ge...

Wow! Had the proverbial light bulb come on tonight towards the end of class. Laid down a pretty decent (for me anyways) vertical uphill root pass with 6010. Other than a semi-pooched restart, I'm pretty happy with this one: 20180221_193623.jpg Now I need to start a 7018 vertical uphill thread. Still...

Did a little more horizontal tonight. Played with Arc Control when doing 6010 passes. Looks like 67/68 is the "sweet spot" for this particular machine. 7018 seemed to like right at 20. 6010 Root passes actually looked decent and only a couple REALLY small sections of undercut and I'm prett...

Lightning wrote:
Isn't that a mig machine? If you can run 6010 with that, you're a whole lot better than me!

Sorry, MULTImatic 215...

Skiddz, I was having an issue on my machine, and hadn't paid much attention to it. I realized the next day after thinking things through, and was looking in the manual. I saw the ARC Force and checked the setting, which was down around 5%. I was having problems with both 6011 and 7018... Jody has a...

Set the arc force for about 5. It will give you some dig but soften things up a bit. Maybe enough to get rid of your undercut at the edge. Granted you could even go down to 2 or 3 but it’s not a magic wand. It will often help if the undercut is very small. Especially if you run fine with similar se...

Do you have the ability to adjust arc force? There is an Arc/Dig setting on the machine, but I haven't played with it. I downloaded the manual for the machine (Miller XMT 304) and will do some reading tonight when I'm done with the "Honey-Do" list for today. Stick with it, you'll get it. ...

Quick update. Went backwards a bit and stopped vertical practice and worked on stacking beads in fillet welds. 6010 root and 7018 fill, but last night, I was determined to figure out 6010 fillet welds with 6010 cover passes using 3/8" material. Other than some undercut on the root pass, I was a...

I would try to keep it close to 90° until you start to "get it" with 601X. The whip and pause technique may help you... Yep, doing the whip and pause on flat is working ok. Uphill is still the issue. Inverted "T"s seems to be the best thus far, just need to work on travel speed ...

I can still read ok if it's bright enough, but low light makes it tough. I think if I had better lighting in the booth it would help to see both puddle and weld direction better, but the cheaters were only a few bucks so we'll see how that goes tonight. Question on electrode angle going uphill: I've...