Tell me why I shouldn't just do straight line
They all look the same

>>2973045
because each one has different applications
https://www.arccaptain.com/es/blogs/article/welding-weave-patterns

>>2973045
The weaves are slightly wider.
>Tell me why I should use one weave over the other.
There is no why. It doesn't matter.

>>2973048
>There is no why. It doesn't matter.
you'd fail a steamfitter job for sure

>>2973050
So I'm told.

Haven't welded in about 2,5 years now. Ever since I moved and got an office job.
I'd like to buy a TIG but I know I won't use it often. Not enough projects around the house :(

>>2973045
Avoid square weave technique unless you have a reason to do it.
The bead width variation isn't worth it. Inspectors judge bead width, based on most narrow measurement.

Square weave pattern will commonly fail inspection if you ever push the weld pool too far. Not worth it.
Stick it consistent bead width, if that means a different weave technique, so be it.

Weld superiority isn't subjective.
You use the correct motion for the application, and you achieve a perfect bead output.
No one cares how you actually maneuver your electrode tip, except the inspector when they find bead inconsistency.

Equal fluid movement of the weld pool at consistent bead width is the way. Anything else is the dark side.

>>2973196
Not to say it's bad, it's just that other motions can make up for a mistake like slightly pushing your pool too far.
If you do it with square weave, you're going to become a grinder instead of a welder.

So, use the other motions, as they will forgive/cover up your mistake of inconsistent travel speed.
Square weave will not forgive that, as your pool will be beyond the toe of your last wave crest. Missing overlap within your own bead line is CRAZY and isn't even a possibility with most motions.
Square weave can do that, if you think about it, you are missing overlap, on the same bead you are making. From an efficient professional welding standard, this is bumfuck crazy and makes a mother fucker wonder, who even invented square weave? It's shit, unless you have to make that motion for a riveted/equally spaced bolted edge, there's almost NO REASON to ever square weave.

>>2973061
Why not just get a simple cheapo stick welder?

No gas canister. You can buy rods at local hardware stores. If you need a weld to look pretty, just grab some 7018's. If you need wire level/precision work, use a soldering iron kit.

SMAW stick welding is good enough for 99% of home level work.
Can be done for much cheaper, low cost stick unit, cost of rods, no gas to worry about. For home project/sporadic use, you really can't go wrong with stick.
(No rod oven though, better stick to the resilient stuff, men and children are separated by whether or not they are comfortable with 60x0 rods.)

I want to make a test sample for dye penetration.
I was thinking doing a weld bead that cracks for sure (preferably invisible that only comes up with dye), grind and polish to flat.

What would be an "ideal" way to do this? What filler what settings would work?

>>2973061
>>2973204
just get a stick/mig machine with flux core wire
then you can dual shield if you want later

>>2973207
Welding cast iron with mild steel filler rod will crack for sure.

>>2972986
The third one is best right?

>>2973204
if you can mig why the fuck would you stick?

>>2975498
I prefer stick welding over mig for lots of the stuff I weld. You don't have to clean stuff up as carefully because 6010 or 6011 will burn right in anyhow, get better weld penetration on thicker material, and don't have to worry about your shielding gas blowing away.

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>>2975525
>don't have to clean
>will burn right in anyhow
>get better weld penetration on thicker material
>don't have to worry about your shielding gas blowing away
haha innershield at 300a go brrrrrr

>>2973045
when you go to test for aws certs they recommend you use a straight line. you should use it and produces strong welds

>>2975559
>haha innershield at 300a go brrrrrr
I've tried flux core exactly once.... Not my cup of tea. I do have a small spool that came with a welder and another 10 or 11 lb spool that I should probably use up sometime.

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Picrel: worth it or not, for beginner hobbist? Just read a little ftom link here >>2973047; what can it do, metals/thickness wise, and what can't it?

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>use 6014 rods
>hate it and they suck ass

>get 7014 rods
>works great

>>2975787
>what can it do
120A, that would be 6mm 1/4" absolute maximum
>what can't it
gas. that machine is gasless only and thin wire too, which for a lot of applications is pure dog shit.

I worked in a welding supply shop for 10 years of my life. I realize people want to spend as close to $0 as possible and get a machine that can do everything. I would not recommend a machine like pic related unless all you want to do is 3mm plate on trailers and fencing.

>>2975833
Yeah, just browsed yt and there's s lot of videos about it and mostly praising it (ex : https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=LariCNWmY1w(, hence why I was wondering.

>>2975836
Those power electronic machines usually fail when one or more of the power transistor fail. If it happens, figure out which ones failed with a multimeter then order replacements. Cost me $20 to fix a $300 machine.

muricans cannot fathom the 7018 open root

>>2976891
canucks cannot fathom a good fitter and a 7010 hippy rod downhill root

>>2976922
>fitter
murifats never did end the slave trade after all

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>297692aight
>the helper thinks its allowed to talk

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>>2972986
>be lowlife scum dropshitter
>wait 22 days to dispatch my fba order
>send chinkshit instead of genuine as ordered and paid for
>get negative feedbacks removed because they were all fba orders of garbage middlemanned through amazon delivery
>continue doing monkey behavior for peanuts margins
and here i am being fucking retarded just trying to make an honest buck melting metal together

>he doesn't decant acetylene because big gas reddit bots say it's a bad idea
oooOoooooOo scary

>>2978303
an acetylene generator would be neat but calcium carbide has gotten absurdly expensive and they really dont build much over 4psi which rules out running big rosebuds which are the primary gas eaters
and the commercial cylinder filling plants are insane with precision scales in submerged vats because it really is sketch balls over 25psi. and theres tons of trade secrets around acetone saturation measurements and maximum filling rates/time
propylene is supposed to be the best acetylene substitute but a many suppliers dont stock it
i tried propane but it sucks ass. slow as fuck to start the cut and dumps too much bulk heat into the work which makes cutting rusted nuts off without fucking the bolt threads nearly impossible. and it eats oxy like candy. but it cuts really clean on new plate on the burn table

>>2978331
Get a bigger propane tip for your torch. It'll still eat oxygen, but you can definitely pre-heat a shit ton faster.

>>2978303
I do, I have a 5L bottle i top off every time I get the 50L one replaced and have been doing for years. Have I slowly increased the acetone contents of the small bottle? Maybe, I'll replace it too when I notice a difference.

Why do my welds don't scab? I got 6010 and 6011 and neither form a crust after welding like I've seen in all the welding videos I've watched.

>>2978446
there is slag, just rake it off with a chipping hammer. or you got some really old, oil soaked electrodes and most of the slag is trapped inside your weld.

>>2978446
6010 and 6011 slag sticks a lot harder than 6013 or 7018. Its on there and just takes more chipping or a wire brush on an angle grinder to get it off.

>>2972986
Corkscrew ftw

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>>2972986
Yay! My people! My brothers!
Pictured: Cross Section of GMAW corner joint.
8"x1"x1/4" flat bar mild 2x
.035 ER70S-6
20.5v 370WFS

I am a new welder, just in the middle of my cert program.

GTAW was invented by retarded masochists and I hate it.
MIG is God's gift to Earth.
SMAW is easier than people think, but not all rods are created equal.

Lastly:
Fuck aluminum.

>>2979228
1F , by the way.

This was my VERY FIRST GMAW corner joint.

>>2978446
If you mean like snakeskin freezing, that really is rod dependent.

There is a WORLD of difference between 60xx rods and 7018.

Try a 7018, that'll be more what you're looking for, probably.

>>2977537
>Buying gas lenses

Gas adjustment accessories for TIG are the welding equivalent of penis enlargement pills, except for the Unicorn farts but even those are just process dependent and don't work for every weldment.

Change my mind.

>>2975559
I wasn't aware they sold Giraffe neck MIG guns.

>>2979236
try and weld some titanium and then tell me laminar flow doesn't matter

>>2975498
Because Stick > FCAW by skill

If you don't want to be a skillful welder and you just need shit to stick together FCAW is fine, I guess, but I prefer NOT buying entire spools of wire for home use.
With a welder for home/sporadic projects, you may need different rod/filler alloy on hand.
By going with stick, you just buy a few different packs of rods.
With MIG, you have to buy spools, and if you're trying to save money and go this route, you'll end up getting a spool gun, and lots of little spools for it. Self winding is such a bad idea, no welder will tell you to do it, unless you're a serious penny pincher with an erection for GMAW setups.

Aka
Cheaper to buy rods, than to buy whole new spools, just to work with different base metals.
Which means stick is the cheapest way to go for "miscellaneous" welding scenarios.

Also, some base material just really doesn't fucking FCAW, but the proper rod will penetrate through a fucking bunker.

>>2979240
I make less than $30/hr

If someone wants ME to weld titanium, they have already made a grave miscalculation before we get there.

You are probably right. I haven't fucked with that material yet. If that's when it matters, noted. Thanks for the info.

>>2979244
large gas lens or a purge box or you have to jerry rig something around your cup to trap gas and you can't see shit

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>>2979236
wait wait lemme guess
i doubt youre a mega geezer running an og airco/union carbide/linde jumbo beerbottle handle 500a torch hooked to the water faucet for cooling and have the helium cranked up to 100 cfh to fire off the 1/4" tungsten with a genuine pyrex dinner glass cup
so that means you come from a 2nd world establishment where you cant imagine anything different than a silly yuro style torch for limp wristed edamamebois. which you enjoy because it reminds you of when your wifes bull lets you hold it before he puts it in
and you must not pay for gas because a stubby lens runs clean at half the flow of the junk straight cups from the heliarc dinosaur days
just wait until you find out about newfangled shit like different length back caps and wedge collets and foot pedal controls