New Thread, same topic, my CAREER is on the line, please help ON TOPIC.

[DVA]

I do not know why all the notes have been erased. The comments are light compared to what you would receive in the field if you showed up for a job and everyone found out you were a beginner. My work passes less than 70 % of welders, many with 20+ years pipe welding all over the country. Here are a few pictures I took in the shop of a hot tap mockup.

Hooda, I suggest you find someone who knows what they are doing and they can help you with the proper settings and techniques. With some practice you will become more consistent but it will take a lot of hood time. I attached the pictures to show the type of consistency that is typical of a professional welder.

[zoama]

I do not know why all the notes have been erased. The comments are light compared to what you would receive in the field if you showed up for a job and everyone found out you were a beginner. My work passes less than 70 % of welders, many with 20+ years pipe welding all over the country. Here are a few pictures I took in the shop of a hot tap mockup.

Hooda, I suggest you find someone who knows what they are doing and they can help you with the proper settings and techniques. With some practice you will become more consistent but it will take a lot of hood time. I attached the pictures to show the type of consistency that is typical of a professional welder.

That's some awesome welding. I don't think I'll ever be that consistent.

[hooda]

I do not know why all the notes have been erased. The comments are light compared to what you would receive in the field if you showed up for a job and everyone found out you were a beginner. My work passes less than 70 % of welders, many with 20+ years pipe welding all over the country. Here are a few pictures I took in the shop of a hot tap mockup.

Hooda, I suggest you find someone who knows what they are doing and they can help you with the proper settings and techniques. With some practice you will become more consistent but it will take a lot of hood time. I attached the pictures to show the type of consistency that is typical of a professional welder.

I will start off by saying that the welds in this post are something I have set my sights on being able to produce. They are beautiful. I know that I am literally YEARS away from having the experience and hence the ability to do welding to that level. But in saying that, I also never claimed to have that kind of ability in the first place. Do I think I have the TALENT to learn, and the dedication to practice until I'm that good? Abso-freaking-lutely! You know, I took an unplanned welding test a couple months back as the result of dropping off a resume and explaining to the guy where I was, experience wise. He didn't get the job that he would have needed me for, and I dropped my pursuit of the job. I ran into him last week at the local steel supplier, and he told me to keep in touch, and if things pick up, he'd still be interested in putting me on. We both realize that it would be an ENTRY level position, but it showed me that a guy who does food and pharm. grade welding has enough belief that I'm TEACHABLE to keep me on his list.

The way that some members chose to treat my call for help was (obviously) not the direction that the moderators want the forum to go. Most of the members that I talk to off-forum agree that the "look at the fat kid" mentality is childish, mean-spirited, and does absolutely nothing to advance one of the main agendas of this forum, which is to HELP fellow members in need. I've been told by several members on just this thread that I have no ability, that I can't weld, that I should re-think my career plans, and that I'm wasting my time. And the people that put these comments out offered absolutely nothing constructive as far as a solution to my problem. If I wanted to really be put in the shark tank, I would have put those pics up on that other welding website, then I would have expected to be ripped to shreds. Luckily for me, there were some decent members that offered pointers on what to try, and I was able to muddle my way through a bunch of crap that I had produced, and salvage it enough to be usable, (and thankfully for my own ego, not too visible). If I could actually afford it, I would go to a formal welding school, like hobart or lincoln. But at this point, it's not even a DREAM of being possible. Lacking that, all I can do is read, study, practice, repeat. Over and over until I actually get better. I have made a choice, and the plan has not changed, just the time table.

I have 2 questions as long as I'm at it. 1. What would be the setup to make welds like those in the pics (Tungsten, amps, cfh, etc)? and 2. I noticed that in your sig, you have a Evolution Rage2. What's your opinion of it? Do you recommend it for cutting 1/8" wall steel tubing? Thanks.

[performance]

DVA,
I did not remove the comments...But while the topic has been brought up...

This is NOT welding web or some other forum where that is a free for all. Nor, is it the "job site". Why should we lower our standards to that? We have a Broad range of customers with a broad range of capabilities. Just because someone thinks another's welds aren't up to par, is no reason to start taunting them. It's against OUR policies on the forum. Any bullying shouldn't be tolerated. We have men, women, and even several youngsters on the forum...Several people have expressed their appreciation for our keeping this forum fairly genteel and civil for the most part. A little snippiness is tolerated as we all have bad days and words don't come out right. But persistent and constant hate filled attacks against someone is not warranted here. We have a legal responsibilty as well, if we see it going on and do nothing about it, as it goes toward defamation of characther. The offensive posters are opening themselves up to legal action as well if an offended party chooses. If we can't get along, then someone has to start by editing the offensive posts out of the conversation, then if it persists, put them in time out for a while, hopefully not a permanent one.

I agree, worksite ribbing is rough sometimes, but usually good natured. If it isn't those things are usually settled with someone loosing their cool. But again, this is not the jobsite, and the rules there don't apply here. We are not talking about editing negative comments about Everlast, unless someone just starts spouting hate, and making it personal. Legitimate complaints and grievances are welcome, as long as it is civil. But the disrespect shown Hooda who came with his hat in his hand in his hand asking for advice is a pet peeve of mine, and others behind the site and on the forum. It boils down to: IF you can't say something nice, just don't say it. Did we all grow up and forget our raising and manners? Or did we not have any at all?

[KSmith]

Hooda,
I have never used a Rage chopsaw. I thought about a chopsaw for awhile, but I was not excited about the sparks working in the space of a two car garage. I ended up purchasing a harbor freight 4x6 horizontal/vertical bandsaw. It was under 200 dollars with a coupon. I picked it up myself at the store, so I could see the box had not been opened or damaged. I made a good stand for it right away, and got a good Irwin bimetal blade. A bit of setup adjustment, and it cuts within a few thousands true. You can set it up for up to 60 degree cuts. Depending on the size of your stock you want to cut, it is a great budget saw for 1/8" wall tube, thick stuff, flat stock, whatever. I have cut everything with it, quietly, accurately. Also, there is a 4x6" bandsaw forum on yahoo, that has lots of good advice for this type of saw.

ken

[brad3579]

Hey Hooda
I have the northern tool cold cut saw. We have cut quite alot of angle iron with it and it works great.
I got on sale for $249 and had a $50 coupon so ended up paying $199.

http://www.northerntool.com/shop/too...6857_200326857

[SeanMurphy265]

It almost looks like the AC balance is turned more toward AC too much electrode positive dialed in. One thing about tig welding you can have one dial turned the wrong way, and go from zero to hero!

I will say tig welding with the power arc 140st has helped me out a bunch. Sometimes less is more.


I will say something for Hood a. It takes a man to ask for help. When I call support I always check to see if I made a mistake first. I have watched too many people raise hell and blame a company for their mistake. Sometimes you got to lay your pride down and ask for some help.

[sportbike]

It almost looks like the AC balance is turned more toward AC too much electrode positive dialed in. One thing about tig welding you can have one dial turned the wrong way, and go from zero to hero!

I would assume he is using DC on that since it is steel.

[SeanMurphy265]

I'm sure he does, I'm saying it looks as if he is off on one of his settings.

[JBnID]

Hooda--
It looks like you're trying to maintain too much puddle with too little an electrode and too much power and end up chasing it around. Shorten up the electrode some so you can drag the cup and keep the puddle small enough it doesn't snag the cup on several pieces of scrap to get an idea of how to work very close and cool. I highly recommend the weldingtipsandtricks site for great close-ups of TIG at work, too. Your welds look 'noisy'. TIG should be very quiet. Mill scale and rust is a killer for TIG.

[hooda]

Hooda--
It looks like you're trying to maintain too much puddle with too little an electrode and too much power and end up chasing it around. Shorten up the electrode some so you can drag the cup and keep the puddle small enough it doesn't snag the cup on several pieces of scrap to get an idea of how to work very close and cool. I highly recommend the weldingtipsandtricks site for great close-ups of TIG at work, too. Your welds look 'noisy'. TIG should be very quiet. Mill scale and rust is a killer for TIG.

So far, this appears to be the best description of what I "feel" but don't know how to diagnose and correct. I will try to use a lower power setting on my next welds. Thanks for the tip.
:
The part in this thread was just a one-off for my trailer, and it was all 1/4" thick, and I considered it to be strictly practice, an opportunity to get some hood time, and with me as the customer, things looking as bad as they do are something I can live with.

:
Now, next on my agenda is a table of sorts that I need to build. The entire table is 1/8"wall, 2"x2" square tubing, and the majority of the welds will be tee joints, just basically getting one tube butted up and perfectly squared up to the other, tacking in place, and finishing up after I have 5 or 6 tacked up. I have literally hundreds of these to do, so it's in my best interest to get really good at them, really fast. I have a PILE of short pieces to practice on before I go to assembling the first table, so that means that I have plenty of room to make my mistakes, and get the process nailed down. The plan is to experiment with pulse, different electrode sizes, tip chapes, cup sizes, etc. I would really appreciate it if guys with experience would maybe give suggestions on where they would start out at, settings, electrode size, etc. and whether anyone would consider this to be a 2t/4t situation vs. foot pedal. I prefer the pedal, it's just I think I might want to get good with the switch for those times when that's the only option. Thanks

[sportbike]

115 amps, 3/32 tungsten, 1/16" filler. I'd leave pulse off. Keep the heat a little biased to the long tube side rather than teh end of tube side.

[JBnID]

The first TIG job I had was welding together 2x2x1/8 box tube into tables. The tee joints are easy to do by dragging the cup and laying the filler in the joint. A slight back and forth will stack the little bit of extra wire it takes to complete the joint. I STRONGLY recommend the foot pedal at least for practice so you know exactly where it operates right, then you can set upslope and downslope and use a switch when doing so many of one thing. Everything you'll be doing is stringer beads unless your saw is crooked and you have to do some filling. The 'lay wire' technique is perfect for those tee joints and short flats.
I can tell you from experience, build GOOD fixtures so the table is put together, with braces, as a unit. Otherwise something will pull out of square in spite of all you do!

With hundreds to do (I only had half a dozen and was a machinist most of the time) I'd investigate a robot line. I have a cheap Hobard Porta Tig here if you need it.

[jakeru]

Hard to tell from this picture what is going on; there might be some discoloration right at the tip; which if so could indicate inadequate post flow or some other shielding problem. Does your camera have a "macro" setting? (It looks like a flower symbol) That will allow you to focus better on very close things. (Generally, it's very helpful for taking clear weld bead, or other close-up detailed shots.) Glad to hear you are making some progress with figuring things out.

[JBnID]

Hooda--
Your big puddle is caused by the blunt tip, I think. Sharpen that dude til it sticks to a thumbnail and it'll focus the arc much better. It's normal for the tip to discolor some, but it's usually a case of too little post flow.

[SimpleSimon]

Hooda--
Your big puddle is caused by the blunt tip, I think. Sharpen that dude til it sticks to a thumbnail and it'll focus the arc much better. It's normal for the tip to discolor some, but it's usually a case of too little post flow.

He is welding on aluminum. It will naturally ball up.

[zoama]

He is welding on aluminum. It will naturally ball up.

I believe he's welding steel.

[sportbike]

You still around Hooda? Haven't seen any posts or updates for quite sometime. Last I remember, you went "all in" on welding equipment and maybe even rented some space.

[hooda]

Hey Sport! Odd that you would post this a mere three days before I decided to rejoin the crew here. I tell ya what, there was such a hostile environment developing on this thread in particular that I just got disgusted and left. I have zero time for mean spirited bee as in bee, ess as in ess. During my absence I came upon a few key realizations. One being that I am not a professional welder, and probably never will be. My tentative career path will require me to be able to produce professional quality welds in all modes and all positions, on all materials. I'm a LONG way from being even close to being there.

I'm also realistic to the fact that achieving that level requires three main things: 1. Aptitude-One must possess the basic ability to perform basic welding tasks, like the ability to hold a steady arc and be AWARE of what that arc and the puddle are doing. 2. Attitude-One must have the desire to learn, The humility to accept criticism, and The motivation to act on that criticism and improve. 3. Equipment-Let's face it, A-Rod could probably hit a home run with a broom handle, but the best bat in the world ain't gonna get me beyond the inner outfield, ever. BUT it will allow me to maximize my hitting ability. Same goes for welding equipment. Jody from Tips n' Tricks can produce beautiful welds with a fried out, 40 year old buzzbox, not me. BUT equipping myself with a 250EX greatly increases the chance that I will learn, as well as giving me absolutely no excuse to blame my shortcomings on the welder. Plus, It's so cool, that I WANT to weld with it. It is easily the BEST investment that I have made out of all the tools in my shop.

So, armed with the three basics I mentioned above, what I need now is EXPERIENCE, PRACTICE, and INSTRUCTION. That is why I decided to return here. The EVERLAST forum is by and large a civil group of great guys that will help me with my journey, and I have made a few friends here that I associate with off forum. I hope to make a few more. What I have to offer in return is to share my experience with anyone that cares to hear from me. I have been a CNC Machinist, Programmer, Engineer, and the Vice President of a 25 person machine shop. Before I started machining 21 years ago, I was a Journeyman Heavy Equipment Mechanic, Army Airborne Ranger, and as a teen, I was a Farm Hand for a couple of summers. So basically, I have what one could call a multi-faceted background. Welding is the next step in my quest to become well rounded in all segments of the metal-working industry. Once I get my skill set to at least an acceptable level, I will start on the next step in my plan, which is sheet metal. My dream is to one day build a real aluminum bodied Cobra Replica. I hope that you are all here to see that happen.

[everlastsupport]

Welcome back.

You will find your heart is key too. I am not sure what school Donor76 went to, or Jesse James (the TV guy), but I bet none. A lot of practice and hard work. You'll be fine. The fact you are back leads me to believe that. Sounds like you are ready to continue your venture. Getting closer to the metal

I too hope I will be here to see that Cobra too.