Hey Oldman..

[smokeshow]

Last thursday I passed my second 2G test...

Passed both of the 3G tests I took today.... that weave/shelf pattern for vertical is a pain the &*%@!!!!!!!!! but it sure does hold like Midiablo late at night... LOL...

So now I have completed 1,2 and 3 G... with GMAW...

But the bad news is semester ended today... next semester starts on Jan 7...

I was hoping to get 4G in this semester... and be certified... but this way I can get an whole other semester in and maybe get some time on TIG and plasma...

[MiDiablo]

Congrats knee grow, now get the wifey to move you fools back down South :D

...or just have her find us a place and some jobs! :lol:

[GNs-r-slow]

When you get good take same test SMAW open root !' plate test 3-4g. What are you going to do when you get all you certs
Congrat on the 3g

[OldMan]

Last thursday I passed my second 2G test...

Passed both of the 3G tests I took today.... that weave/shelf pattern for vertical is a pain the &*%@!!!!!!!!! but it sure does hold like Midiablo late at night... LOL...


Very Cool Smoke!!! I am happy to hear that! Did you stick with the same welder or did you change out? I think that welder was your problem all along, as even the instructor couldn't pass the test with that thing. It needs to come to FL and be part of an artificial reef!! :D
I also might get to head up there this weekend, if all goes right. I doubt it will though, as the infrastructure upgrade is killing me. We have another move this weekend, but I am hoping to shirk my responsibilities since I worked the last 12 days/nights in a row. :mad:



Congrats knee grow, now get the wifey to move you fools back down South :D

...or just have her find us a place and some jobs! :lol:

Jo$h, Mrs. Smoke is already working on this for all of us... :crack: She already has a lead for me. I just have to decide if this is the right time....


When you get good take same test SMAW open root !' plate test 3-4g. What are you going to do when you get all you certs
Congrat on the 3g

I'm sure he has real goals, but my personal goal is to get his lazy behind certified. Then he can make me a cage and some nice mini tubs.... ;)

[GNs-r-slow]

I'm sure he has real goals, but my personal goal is to get his lazy behind certified. Then he can make me a cage and some nice mini tubs.... :wink:

That the ticket, good welder is always useful :D
I wish we would of started with wire...

[smokeshow]

Bret,

I did switch from the one machine to the other... that Miller 350P was kicking my butt... I have only failed one test plate since swapping over... and the one I failed had a 3/16 long surface hair line in it... and 1/8 in max allowable... and the only reason I got that was I with this machine I am able to get good enough burn through that I do not have to weld the backside. However, after doing that one I have been welding the backside sheerly to avoid this issue. It has almost no structural improvements to it, but it makes all the difference aesthetically... sorry to hear about your crappy working enviroment... but I am fairly familar with you doing so...

JP,
The job hunt/search can be increased to include you in it... just name the field and I will search or get leads... just remember cost of living and pay is slightly less, unless you are willing to drive at least and hour to work...

Gns-R-Slow...
I know several of the guys say "open root" is a pita.. as is stainless... as for job.. at the moment the Marine base is the best option, they pay around $20-25 hr... for a good welder... but their standards are crazy... but it is what I am shooting for at the moment...


To all, lol..
Posting a few pics just for the heck of it... and these pieces have not be cleaned or wirebrushed to remove any lose slag or surface particles... they have not been altered in anyway shape or form.. I apologize for the poor quality in pics and welds... but it's the best I got to work with right now... lol...


Two views from top...

The welds start at the bottom and go up
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v221/Smokeshow/100_4598.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v221/Smokeshow/100_4597.jpg

View of one from side... sort of...

The weld in this picture goes from left to right... the leftside being the bottom.. and right being top.. I just rotated the camera..
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v221/Smokeshow/100_4608.jpg


View from topside down...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v221/Smokeshow/100_4607.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v221/Smokeshow/100_4605.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v221/Smokeshow/100_4603.jpg

Incase you are not sure or aware, the idea is to make the welds tie intogether and be spaced as evenly as possible but no more than half your puddle/weld up... the shape of the weld when looking down upon it should be even and close to flat as possible... a small cresent shape is acceptable however an arc or hump is not... I could go more in depth but I think you get the idea... oh yeah, gravity is a PITA!!!!!

[smokeshow]

Gns-R-slow,

I and one other guy are the only two that got to start on GMAW...
everyone else was on SMAW.. GTAW.. or FCAW... not sure how I got so lucky... but I am glad it worked out this way...

[MiDiablo]

That's awesome Smoke! Keep up the good work bro... And I need yer ass yo do some welding for me... :D

[351coupe]

Nice welds bro,what kind of school are you going to Doug?I've been thinking of going in January,just not sure where to start.Vertical sucks!!

[smokeshow]

Technical College...

My instructor/professor is awesome... he is certified in almost everything possible... even underwater welding...

[MiDiablo]

My uncle PeeWee (Jason Downing's dad) was an underwater welder for a local boatyard here for eons before he passed away... I always wanted to learn from him :(

[smokeshow]

Wow, that's kool.. sort of.. (not that he died,) you know what I am saying...

Until recently, I was not even aware that there were so many different types of welds/welding...

[MiDiablo]

I think it's awesome Dougie!

Side note: I'm headed for Boston until just after X-Mas... You and the family got any plans of coming South for X-Mas or New Years??

[smokeshow]

Yeah we will be down for a few days right before christmas... so I doubt we will get to see each other... sadly...

[MiDiablo]

:mars: I'll hafta come up for New Years or somethin' man...

[smokeshow]

sounds good... I am thinking I am going to take a week of vacation then... so that should work out...

[GNs-r-slow]

Cool smoke, sounds like your takin advantage of what they got to offer. Get as many of those certs as possible, Ive made good money at it

[smokeshow]

Yes, I am trying to make them as useful as possible... hope scholarship helps out too.. LOL...

[smokeshow]

Passed 4g the other day after only one day of practice on the 4G position...

Moving on now... yea...

[OldMan]

Congrads!!!

How many more tests do you have left to go? Also, are you getting any time on the Aluminum?

[MiDiablo]

^~~ What he said :D

[smokeshow]

No aluminum yet, due to that GMAW on AL is not commonly used, GTAW (TIG) is most commonly used on AL... however it can be done... just I have not covered it... and doubt they will but I can check on it... and I have no more tests on GMAW... just book work and blueprinting left... and as far as I know I should have my cert in GMAW... whoopie.. LOL.. But if they let me get time on GTAW, I will take it... from what I hear if you can solder you can TIG... yeah it is not exactly that simple, but it is the general idea of it...

[smokeshow]

Well, I started doing radius and 45° today... but there is no per se test for this, it is more or less teaching you how to articulate your hand and the machine around objects.

But anyways, I picked up the first 4G (overhead) piece from the other day and took some pics tonight of it...

If you look close you can see toward the top of it there is some undercut (where it didn't completely tie in to the bevel/side) that was because it was it was directly over my head and like newb I didn't know any better...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v221/Smokeshow/100_4872.jpg

Mostly uniform...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v221/Smokeshow/100_4874.jpg

Pretty much uniform...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v221/Smokeshow/100_4873.jpg

[MiDiablo]

That's pretty trick there Smoke Dawg!

[smokeshow]

Thanks.. . still got a ways to go... before I personally feel like I am ready to tackle anything that comes my way...

[GNs-r-slow]

Looks like smooth weave!! Congrats on the certs!
As far as tig goes, if you use a high freak welding rig, its very difficult.
You have the pedal, filler, and torch all goin at the same time, too much shit happenin for me :D. Theres not many people that can weld and a be "welder" at all processes

[OldMan]

Pretty much uniform...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v221/Smokeshow/100_4873.jpg

Some thick looking stuff... but it is looking good!! :bigthumb:

[smokeshow]

Bret,
Yeah, that is 3/8 plate (1020 steel).. that is the material that all my test were taken on...

You would weld the piece (in whatever direction your test was in front and back side... front side has the two 30° bevels together, and the back you have to relief cut where your burn through shows up and clean it up and weld it back), then get the instructor to inspect the welds and have him mark two 2" strips out of the center of the piece, and then you on both sides, take the torch and cut them and smooth out the weld and place it in a bending machine...( if you remove to much metal out and make the piece a 1/4 or less, you fail ) one piece goes in facing one way and the other gets flipped over and bent the other way... if it breaks or cracks or pits more than a 1/16 on each piece you fail.. and if you don't pass them both, you fail... and to make it even harder, you have to pass the same test again right after it to pass... and if you fail... you have to start all over again...


Anyways, I welded several radius' and 45° after 3 or 4 sets of that I finally got it down.. so I asked the instructor, what next? he said, wanna try tig... then he thought a minute and said but we don't have a machine open... so try this flux core machine. and so I did... and good lord, I love the welds a FCAW (flux core arc weld) makes... the flux in the wire basically makes the weld lay flatter and smoother than normal wire... with the same pattern weld that I was making before on GMAW, now the FCAW virtually shows no weld spot... it looks more like the metal just has a small arc or metal that blends at the joint now... where as on GMAW you can clearly tell that there is a weld there but the seration/transition between weaves... I will try and get some pics of that on next tuesday night...

I think I am going to try and pass all the FCAW tests and then jump on GTAW (tig) right after that... only reason I am not going straight to TIG is I am pretty sure that I can knock out FCAW and that will give me 2 types of welding on my resume.. where as I am pretty sure I will not knock out TIG quite as fast... that is a skill that takes quite a bit of time... anyways, my lazy butt needs to do more book work...

GNs-R-Slow,
You like my "weave" I just got them done, along with my new extentions...
But yeah, I watched a few of the guys doing TIG today and tried to pick up as much as possible from the ones that know what they are doing... and man, just watching them manipulate that rod and twist it and move the torch and push the pedal.. almost makes you get lost just thinking about it... I know for dang sure I would need new gloves I can barely feel my fingers in the ones have now, no way I could hold that rod and be able to feel how much I need to move it... LOL

[smokeshow]

Well, here is my sad first attempt at FCAW (Flux Core Arc Welding) This picture is in the 2G (horizontal) and welded right to left...

Ok so I am not completely terrible.. but I have a ways to go yet.. most of my issues thus far is learning spacing and angling (sp?). They are different from GMAW... I thought I would post a few of my first practice plate... Any insight would be appreciated... but like I said already, I know I need to angle up a tad bit.
Side note, instructor does not want me to weave at all... ( although I can make the bead look a lot better if they would let me but for now, no weave )

(this is in the 2G position... right to left)
And if you are wondering why I start low on the bead is because I do not have an auto-darkening helmet.. and I start low to make sure I fill in decently... (probably a bad habit, but I can't see till I strike an arc.. )

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v221/Smokeshow/100_4875.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v221/Smokeshow/100_4879.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v221/Smokeshow/100_4878.jpg

[MiDiablo]

Yo' flow is durty knee grow :lol: Lil Smoke leavin' toys all over the place!! :D

[smokeshow]

Yeah... that is his completely automated thomas set.. it is pretty cool..

[smokeshow]

Well fella's... I gone and done it.. LOL... passed my 2G FCAW tests today... and started on a 3G... but ran out of time... so I brought it home and took a few pics..

One stringer (slow and stead for nice burn through) and then a couple of weave passes...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v221/Smokeshow/100_4880.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v221/Smokeshow/100_4881.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v221/Smokeshow/100_4882.jpg

You might notice if you look closely.. at the very top, there is some "holes/worm holes?" not exactly sure what causes/caused it.. but the just I got from several people is that my angle was to far up.. and the gas was not fully penetrating.. which very well could be... this booth I am in is set-up funny, but I do the best I can with what I have...

Any input is appreciated as always...

[OldMan]

I don't know much about it, but it looks like it would hold! :bigthumb:

[smokeshow]

It will hold you like Sally in the corners of sebring international speedway...

[95coBraSVT]

As a certified welder, and without knowing what the exact environment was, I would venture to say you may be correct. Are you running dual shield? or just flux core? if your running dual shield (flux core AS WELL AS gas) then if the gas gets blown out by wind or something, then you'll get porosity. It can also happen if you have contaminated wire. Check that to see if you have any kind of corrosion on it at all. You could have also missed a piece of slag from a previous pass. Also, you may have gotten some grinder dust in it. And finally, sometimes (although not often) you just get porosity. It happens. And the crappy deal is that if it's on a certification pass or might get x-rayed, you will have to grind the whole pass out. Just make sure that if you grind it out, you wire brush it out like a MOFO after each pass. I always used a wire wheel on a grinder to clean it out after chipping it. Wait until you go for a 6G test. You think gravity sucks now? Upside down and up SUCKS!

[95coBraSVT]

What are you using for your face shield?

Some guys like the instant lenses. I'm a bit old fashioned though, and prefer the old flip style still with a gold #10 lens.

Man...I miss blowing my nose to get the black boogers out. LOL

[smokeshow]

LOL...

I use a larger faced Lincoln shade #10...
And I am really not sure on the wire.. I just know it breaks easily... unlike GMAW... FCAW breaks in a second... I fix this machines wire at least once a day...

[95coBraSVT]

I'm assuming you have the green (looks black unless your welding) lense. You should really spend the money and get a gold lens. It shows SO much more color and while it protects as well as the green lense, you can see the puddle better with the gold lens. Yeah, you're running plain flux core. There shouldn't be any gas to it to be able to blow away. So that leaves you with just making sure it's all clean. Now, if you suffered "arc blow", you could get porosity also.

If you're having problems with the wire birdnesting and breaking, loosen up the drive wheels a little. Look at the wire that is coming out of the gun first. If it has little tracks on it from the drive wheels, then it's too tight.

Welding is one of those things that you can only get better with LOTS of practice. Just keep doing it and experimenting. Oh yeah....Watch out for baloons filled with oxy/acetylene. LOL

[95coBraSVT]

Here is a link to one that would work in your hood. Jackson Welding Helmet, Big Window® - Shade 10 Gold - Mfg# 3010795 (http://www.professionalequipment.com/jackson-welding-helmet-big-window-3010795/welding-helmets/)

[smokeshow]

Thanks a million bro!!!!!!!!!

[95coBraSVT]

No problem. I was a welder for 10 years or so professionaly, then I had a lung collapse, and the Dr. told me if I kept welding and smoking, I would be dead in 5 years. I quit both for the most part. I still weld enough to keep my cert current, but I quit smoking completely. I may allow my cert to laps though...It just isn't worth it to keep anymore for something I hardly use.

Once you get one of those lens', you will notice a HUGE difference. and your welds will show it too. I switched 1/2 way through tech school, and graduated 2nd in my class. Only 2nd and not 1st because I wouldn't smoke pot w/ the instructor. LOL

[smokeshow]

I hear that... thanks for all the input.. I personally think I learn the most, well kind of profound... but I learn the most, from those who have learned the most.. I.E. been there, done that...

[95coBraSVT]

And you WILL learn a lot that way, but you will learn the most from simply DOING it and experimenting with it. The more problems you run into, the better off you will be actually. Sounds weird, but it's true. Especially if your a good troubleshooter.

[smokeshow]

Thanks again...

[smokeshow]

Well, the porosity/worm holes did that test plate in.. however.. I passed the next two test plates and 3G FCAW in the process... 4G FCAW here I come... (on thursday, next welding class).. can't wait to finish FCAW and move on to GTAW.. where I know I will fail, for quite some time.. but I will enjoy the challenge...

[MiDiablo]

Congrats Smoke. Keep up the good work bro, and you'll be owning a small performance shop in the middle of nowhere, in... Well, no time :D

LOL

[smokeshow]

And you will be my shop b___... well.. buddie.. yeah.. buddie is the word I was going to use...

on a more serious note.. one day we will... just not sure when... if all goes well..

[MiDiablo]

:nono:

[95coBraSVT]

Actually, TIG is EASY. If you can do oxy acetylene, you can EASILY do TIG. It is easier to do, quieter, and (best of all) cleaner.

[smokeshow]

Well fella's here it is.. my first day of welding on TIG... I have about an hour and half now of experience on TIG... and about 40 minutes of that was figuring out how to manipulate the torch and pedal and feed the rod into it... and on top of that.. I couldn't figure out which hand to use with which.. so I took a pic of a piece with both on it.. you decide... left hand with torch in it.. is on left.. and right hand torch is on right.. and yes I know it is not straight.. and I suck... Just new to all of this right now...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v221/Smokeshow/100_4894.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v221/Smokeshow/100_4895.jpg

[MiDiablo]

It's a start knee-grow! :D

[95coBraSVT]

I agree with Mi. I like to use the right hand personally. What are you? Right or left handed? The one on the right looked better to me. The picture would have been cooler if you had welded the dime to the piece of metal. LOL

Have you zapped yourself on tig yet? Just wait. I always prefered to do tig barehanded with my left hand. (the one I use to feed the filler rod in) It's kinda funny, but when I first started, I would get the filler rod onto the tungsten tip and zap myself with it because I almost always leaned on my work. LOL Fun times....Tig is by far the cleanest welding process.

[smokeshow]

I am right handed... but I can do almost everything with my left.. just not usually as well... I kind of knew that both processes are important in TIG... and I just was not sure which hand would produce the best results...

The guy who has showing me how to TIG zapped himself twice.. LOL...

[smokeshow]

Oh yeah... forgot to tell ya.. I past my 4g FCAW.. but I figured you gathered that since I started on GTAW (tig)