smoothing welds

[Gerry]

There are several things that can cause undercut but mostly it occures when the torch angle is incorrect. The key to solving this problem IMO is watching and working the puddle to fiil the crater from the arc. Excessive speed is the culprit for many welders also.

Russ you are correct about the stress along the side of a weld however most of the failures I've seen in that area are from a cold lap to the base metal. Again controling the puddle will help. If you don't see the base metal fuse into the fillermetal, chances are good a cold lap will result.

Consistant good welds require 3 things ... practice, practice and more practice.

Ron

heres one on my engine mount done with sick. Not critical and ready for dressing. If you look carefully at the short weld you can see where I moved a little too fast. Old eyes again Im afraid


G

 

[Screaming Metal]

I had a friend that had a company making many hot rod parts for mail order... I started to get fix it jobs on cars with those purty parts.. All TIG welded... Parts were breaking in/at the welds.. I told him to take a few parts and lock them in a vise, then beat them to pieces with a BFHammer... If the welds broke, fire your purty welder or as RPM says, weldor, still not correct... that is a great test, the part should fold over at any weld and not hurt a weld... You can not always tell a book by it's cover...

Yup Ted....thats the destructive test. They clamp the fixture into the machine after you weld the envelope, it goes back and forth, then side to side, then it gyrates, then it returns to the center position....that thing always makes me cringe when I do a recert. after a few years. When I stop worrying about it is when the darn thing will break! Ha!

The first time I got my certification is when the old Lincoln Welding trucks used to come by, it costed $200-300 back then....you'd get your papers from the AWS about a month to 3 months later.
IF, you didn't pass, you did not get your money back. First time....I failed....Never agian!!!

 

[Screaming Metal]

heres one on my engine mount done with sick. Not critical and ready for dressing. If you look carefully at the short weld you can see where I moved a little too fast. Old eyes again Im afraid

[attachment=4911:weld2.JPG]
G

Thats still 100% better than I've seen some guys running up and down the road! Ha!

 

[coupeute]

Geez ! Anyone want to talk about bolts now ?

 

[Northstar T]

Geez ! Anyone want to talk about bolts now ?

Ya. don't gring them down either. :jester:

Russ

 

[Gerry]

Geez ! Anyone want to talk about bolts now ?

Me ME I do I do I do, Can I can I, awwwww go on then.

 

[stretch]

This thread started out about filler to use for powder coating. USC All Metal is used by a number of industrial powder coaters and I assume should be good for a hobbyist. JB Weld is supposed to handle up to 500 degrees, and I would assume would work as well. I have to make a decision as what way to go to smooth out some welds on my chassis and stuff welded to it.

Frank

 

[RPM]

This thread started out about filler to use for powder coating. USC All Metal is used by a number of industrial powder coaters and I assume should be good for a hobbyist. JB Weld is supposed to handle up to 500 degrees, and I would assume would work as well. I have to make a decision as what way to go to smooth out some welds on my chassis and stuff welded to it.

Frank

I would check with who ever is going to do your powder coating as to what temp they use. The guys that do my coating bake everything at about 800 degrees first to get rid of any dirt or grease, oil etc. then it is sandblasted. The actual coating is baked at about 350-400.

 

[benT]

I would check with who ever is going to do your powder coating as to what temp they use. The guys that do my coating bake everything at about 800 degrees first to get rid of any dirt or grease, oil etc. then it is sandblasted. The actual coating is baked at about 350-400.

Yep--that's typically our process. If there is some filling to be done it would happen after cleaning and blasting. As for filler, we've used Lab Metal with good sucess. Mind you its not like bondo...its for small filling--not sculpting.