^~~ What he said

 

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...

 

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...



Mostly uniform...


Pretty much uniform...

 

That's pretty trick there Smoke Dawg!

 

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

 

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 . Theres not many people that can weld and a be "welder" at all processes

 

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

 

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

 

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.. )

 

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