Offical Bead thread. Show off your beads

Gamble97 · Jan 17, 2012

Lets see your bead work. Mig,tig,stick,oxy doesn't matter. Everyone can learn something from this. I honestly have better luck working on harder material like SS and aluminum than I do when doing basics on mild steel. But I still practice, this is some 1/8th steel, 1/16th orange, 13cfh, 85amps, pretty much maxed the pedal most of the way. Some pics are the same just with the flash on.
Butt and lap joints.

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Flipped it over and did a mig. This is some of the better migs, but it didn't want to start out very well. I think it's time for a cleaning or a new tip. This is with a hobart handler 140, heat set to 4, wire speed set to 70 and c25 around 20. This wire speed is a little fast for my liking but it was recommended.

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^^All done from right to left.
And an older one

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These are not my best migs but not bad.

SS

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turboglenn · Jan 17, 2012

Just search my name in the fab section for threads started by and you'll find all sorts of examples, (since it won't let me double post some pics) plus i'm a little lazy today LOL

TSi Kid · Jan 17, 2012

Props to you both. Honestly, can welding be picked up without going to a school for it? I'd love to learn.

99gst_racer · Jan 17, 2012

TSi Kid said:
Honestly, can welding be picked up without going to a school for it? I'd love to learn.

Most definitely. You can learn proper technique just from reading online, reading books, and watching a few videos. And after that, it's all about practice. With enough practice, your hands, feet, and eyes will get used to the motions and you'll get better each time you pick up the torch.

Here's a bead of mine. Day 3 after picking up a torch for the first time. Still improving everyday.

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turboglenn · Jan 17, 2012

TSi Kid said:
Props to you both. Honestly, can welding be picked up without going to a school for it? I'd love to learn.

totallly canbe picked up, i'm entirely self taught aside form watching others and reading books

Bo0sTdTsI · Jan 17, 2012

Yes welding can be picked up without going to school, but if u want to get into passing xrays id cnsider school, pipe welding open roots is no joke and take time and determination to get it down, id post pics but im at work welding a 6 inch pressurized pipe for ammonia lines as we speak, i still mess up indeed.

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turboglenn · Jan 17, 2012

Gamble97 · Jan 17, 2012

TSi Kid said:
Props to you both. Honestly, can welding be picked up without going to a school for it? I'd love to learn.

I've never been to school. I'm going tomorrow to hopefully get in.
Here is how I started, had an interest so I bought a harbor freight mig used for $80. Worked ok, used only 1 spool of wire and wanted something better. Turned around and sold it for $100. Bought a lincoln weldpak 140 from home depot( got a KILLER deal on it) loved it and used it. however something was missing. it opened the door for me to want more and pretty beads and i didn't appreciate my welder that much. Little did I know it was the skill level I had lacked.
So i go out and buy a harbor freight stick welder (which is awesome btw) and I got lucky enough to score a tig torch that plugged in for $1 as it was their last one. Started reading online and watching videos, and taught myself to tig. It was a perfect setup because it did NOT have a foot pedal.
Why was it perfect, because tig is NOT as easy as it looks at all. Moving both hands and working a foot pedal to get it all right doesn't come naturally really. Maybe it does to some. I have a youtube video where I can show you how my hands moved when I first started and now you can see a huge difference.
So i sold that setup and bought the eastwood tig welder. I got a bad one so I sent it back and said I'll just buy a miller locally. So I did and love it. I started building things like a table to do my work on..then realized that I really miss my mig welder and didn't appreciate it enough so I bought another one. I have both and love them both but now I kind of want my stick welder back as that is a little challenging just striking an arc LOL

Just a warning it's a never ending circle and everyone told me to master MIG before I got to TIG and I probably should have listened.
You can get a bottle, welder and mask to get started for $500 or less depending on the deals you find. And I mean a good 110v welder not a harbor freight one.

99gst_racer said:
Most definitely. You can learn proper technique just from reading online, reading books, and watching a few videos. And after that, it's all about practice. With enough practice, your hands, feet, and eyes will get used to the motions and you'll get better each time you pick up the torch.

Here's a bead of mine. Day 3 after picking up a torch for the first time. Still improving everyday.

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Looking good! practicing on SS huh.

99gst_racer · Jan 17, 2012

Thanks.

Yeah, SS and chromoly is all I got laying around to practice on. But, that's primarily what I plan to TIG on down the road, so I guess it's the perfect material to practice on.

I got chromoly welding down decently, but I can't get the 'row of dimes' look with it yet. Great penetration though. I just got a second regulator, so as soon as I buy a "T" or another bottle, I'll play around with packpurging.

greengoblin · Jan 17, 2012

All MIG work. I'm still learning. first pic is the third attempt at welding and then the others are of just some of the work I did as I have progressed.

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wishihadatalon · Jan 17, 2012

Like a robot, oh wait

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I don't really have too many pictures of what I have done, it usually ends up in the scrap bin after we get our test data for it.
Aluminum butt joint that was later x-rayed after completion.

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I did build a heavy duty table for my garage last year. This is the vise mount I made for it.

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Where it works (mmmmm old Record english built vise)

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Bud92gsx · Jan 17, 2012

Should be renamed official bead boner thread..Good work guys :thumb:

wishihadatalon · Jan 17, 2012

greengoblin said:
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Try slowing down, doing a slight side to side movement with the torch (not even a full on weave), or increasing your voltage. That should help "wet" the puddle out a little bit more. The high center says cold weld to me. Otherwise that looks great.

greengoblin · Jan 17, 2012

wishihadatalon said:
Try slowing down, doing a slight side to side movement with the torch (not even a full on weave), or increasing your voltage. That should help "wet" the puddle out a little bit more. The high center says cold weld to me. Otherwise that looks great.

Thanks for the input. Always welcome.

Pwrtrip75 · Jan 17, 2012

Bo0sTdTsI said:
Yes welding can be picked up without going to school, but if u want to get into passing xrays id cnsider school, pipe welding open roots is no joke and take time and determination to get it down, id post pics but im at work welding a 6 inch pressurized pipe for ammonia lines as we speak, i still mess up indeed.
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I did this for a few years and my friend came in and never even TIG welded before.... in about 1 month they were looking just like yours...and passing xray. the walking the cup method. I think school for welding is the biggest joke and money making scam there is. There is nothing in school you cant learn free from a welding book, or online... and then once you understand the concept and have a basic understanding of metallurgy and thermodynamics... the rest is all practice, practice, practice. No sense paying a school to teach yourself.

simple jake · Jan 17, 2012

All I've done with welding so far is oxy acetylene welding. I took it at the local community college and the instructor just showed us how to ignite our torches, did a few quick beads and said "have at it". So I was pretty much self taught. I had the highest grade in the class, and even though my welds aren't perfect they still looked better than everyone else's LOL

.

Here's a T-joint with 1/8 mild steel:

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Butt weld with 3/16 mild steel:

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And the back side almost completely full penetration:

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This is the only lap weld I could find:

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And here's a bead on some 1/4:

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My welding instructor said that oxy acetylene welding helps out a lot with learning tig because the dipping and torch methods are pretty close to one another. And from what I've seen from youtube videos, it does seem quite similar. I'd really like to get a tig to start practicing on soon.

wishihadatalon · Jan 17, 2012

Pwrtrip75 said:
I did this for a few years and my friend came in and never even TIG welded before.... in about 1 month they were looking just like yours...and passing xray. the walking the cup method. I think school for welding is the biggest joke and money making scam there is. There is nothing in school you cant learn free from a welding book, or online... and then once you understand the concept and have a basic understanding of metallurgy and thermodynamics... the rest is all practice, practice, practice. No sense paying a school to teach yourself.

Really? Hands on learning from an experienced professional and unlimited steel supply to actually try different things and learn multiple processes is hardly a joke. The amount of steel that you use at school alone is worth the tuition cost for a single semester at a local C.C. to get even the basics of welding. And then you have the energy cost, gas costs, consumable costs, and the professional guidance.

BTW
Boromir - one does not simply gain a basic understanding of metallurgy

SlowChild3 · Jan 17, 2012

wishihadatalon said:
Really? Hands on learning from an experienced professional and unlimited steel supply to actually try different things and learn multiple processes is hardly a joke. The amount of steel that you use at school alone is worth the tuition cost for a single semester at a local C.C. to get even the basics of welding. And then you have the energy cost, gas costs, consumable costs, and the professional guidance.

BTW
Boromir - one does not simply gain a basic understanding of metallurgy

I agree. So much more to welding than technique too.

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Bo0sTdTsI · Jan 17, 2012

Well in my opinion I dont think welding school is a scam to some extent, it was really an honor to me to learn from instructrs that have been welding in the field for more than 30yrs and work together in person getting pointers her and there, tips and not to mention getting a certification that i got in 6g tig pipe by a legit certified welding inspector from the American Welding Society. Thanks to goin through the course i got a better job and very good pay an im only 21 yrs old and proud to see the advancement ive had in my career when i see old classmates working fast food. Worth every penny and the experience was prettty cool to. I learned how to use fluxcore, self shielded and dual shield, how to use an arc gouger, mig on aluminum and stainless, learn a bit about the welding code and how the structural code is constantly changing, things i found real interesting and useful for when im ready to try out for a CWI.

Pwrtrip75 · Jan 17, 2012

wishihadatalon said:
Really? Hands on learning from an experienced professional and unlimited steel supply to actually try different things and learn multiple processes is hardly a joke. The amount of steel that you use at school alone is worth the tuition cost for a single semester at a local C.C. to get even the basics of welding. And then you have the energy cost, gas costs, consumable costs, and the professional guidance.

BTW
Boromir - one does not simply gain a basic understanding of metallurgy

One can get a basic understanding about the metal they are welding, the melting point differences, what heating and cooling does to the metal...etc. What I consider basic stuff.

SlowChild3 said:
I agree. So much more to welding than technique too.

Scrap steel is dirt cheap. You can go into any scrap yard and tell them you need a few pieces to practice welding on and I wouldnt think they'd be uncooperative.

My recommendation is take that money you were going to spend on school and go buy yourself a nice welder. I think a Lincoln 185 TIG setup is around $1800. right now. Then study online or get a book. You can watch youtube videos that are worth just as much as an instructor. Miller even has a weld forum, im sure there are many more. Once you are totally familiar with the concept then the technique can be applied. The biggest parts of welding most people overlook and have no concept of is metallurgy and thermodynamics.. Study that. Laying a bead and perfecting your technique is second... that is an art form.....not related to the concept.

School sucks.

I guess it was rude of me to come in here and not post pics like the OP requested.... sorry... heres my contribution. I dont have weld specific pics... more projects.

Im actually a spaz... i dont have the patience to sit and make stuff look all pretty all the time.... I weld it and get it done... LOL

. I can make it look good, most the time function over form. :cool:

Heres a few things ive made. I use a Miller Syncrowave 200 (TIG).

Cast iron manifold i put vbands on. Quick and get it done.

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Stuff you never see in the car I just weld it to function...appearance not concerned about.

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Some parts you see I put some effort into it. Notice the pipe i did good on and the vband welded on i didnt care.... LOL

.

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Another setup i built

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Brackets welded on a rear end. Mild steel.

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I cant find any pics of aluminum.
All i can find is this and its hard to see the welds.

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An intake elbow I made for another car of mine.

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Gamble97 · Jan 19, 2012

Back to basics for me

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TSITurbo95 · Jan 20, 2012

Still practicing tig, but here is a quick mig weld.

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Gamble97 · Jan 20, 2012

Damn that looks good. Do you set the mig settings to the thickness of the pipe or the vband?

Here is my first attempt at SS no backpurge on this machine.

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KAOI · Jan 20, 2012

You should have called this thread Mardi Gras! So many beads!
Love the thread. Great for visual learners

turboglenn · Jan 20, 2012

Gamble, Always set your machine to the thickness of the thinnest material you're joining, you only need to penetrate to thatdepth and any more will only increase the size of the HAZ on the thin part making it more likely to crack or break

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