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Step 5Laying a Bead
Once your welder is set up and you have prepped your piece of metal it's time to start focusing on the actual welding.
If it's your first time welding you might want to practice just running a bead before actually welding two pieces of metal together. You can do this by taking a piece of scrap metal and making a weld in a straight line on its surface.
Do this a couple of times before you start actually welding so that you can get a feel for the process and figure out what wire speed and power settings you will want to use.
Every welder is different so you will have to figure these settings out yourself. Too little power and you will have a splattered weld that won't penetrate through your work piece. Too much power and you might melt right through the metal entirely.
The pictures below show a few different beads being laid down on some 1/4" plate. Some have too much power and some could use a little more. Check out the image notes for the details.
The basic process of laying a bead is not too difficult. You are trying to make a small zig zag with the tip of the welder, or little concentric circles moving your way from the top of the weld downward. I like to think of it as "sewing" motion where I use the tip of the welding gun to weave the two pieces of metal together.
First start laying beads about an inch or two long. If you make any one weld too long your work piece will heat up in that area and could become warped or compromised, so it's best to do a little welding in one spot, move to another, and then come back to finish up what's left in between.
What are the right settings?
If you are experiencing holes in your workpiece than your power is turned up too high and you are melting through your welds.
If your welds are forming in spurts your wire speed or power settings are too low. The gun is feeding a bunch of wire out of the tip, it's then making contact, and then melting and splattering without forming a proper weld.
You'll know when you have settings right because your welds will start looking nice and smooth. You can also tell a fair amount about the quality of the weld by the way it sounds. You want to hear continuous sparking, almost like a bumble bee on steroids.
If it's your first time welding you might want to practice just running a bead before actually welding two pieces of metal together. You can do this by taking a piece of scrap metal and making a weld in a straight line on its surface.
Do this a couple of times before you start actually welding so that you can get a feel for the process and figure out what wire speed and power settings you will want to use.
Every welder is different so you will have to figure these settings out yourself. Too little power and you will have a splattered weld that won't penetrate through your work piece. Too much power and you might melt right through the metal entirely.
The pictures below show a few different beads being laid down on some 1/4" plate. Some have too much power and some could use a little more. Check out the image notes for the details.
The basic process of laying a bead is not too difficult. You are trying to make a small zig zag with the tip of the welder, or little concentric circles moving your way from the top of the weld downward. I like to think of it as "sewing" motion where I use the tip of the welding gun to weave the two pieces of metal together.
First start laying beads about an inch or two long. If you make any one weld too long your work piece will heat up in that area and could become warped or compromised, so it's best to do a little welding in one spot, move to another, and then come back to finish up what's left in between.
What are the right settings?
If you are experiencing holes in your workpiece than your power is turned up too high and you are melting through your welds.
If your welds are forming in spurts your wire speed or power settings are too low. The gun is feeding a bunch of wire out of the tip, it's then making contact, and then melting and splattering without forming a proper weld.
You'll know when you have settings right because your welds will start looking nice and smooth. You can also tell a fair amount about the quality of the weld by the way it sounds. You want to hear continuous sparking, almost like a bumble bee on steroids.
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Jan 5, 2009. 8:33 AMncblu
says:
welding sounds...... when i run hardwire, i can prep it to a point where you hear nothing, the only time you hear bacon sizzling is if you're running fluxcore or your metal isnt clean.
Reply
Apr 29, 2011. 9:24 PMbrandon_a_boyer
says:
Wrong, whenever you run short circuit transfer you should hear that sound.
Reply
Jan 24, 2009. 10:22 AMmagworks7
says:
This information I am giving may be a little advanced,but may help.There are 3 different types of wire transfer-(wire to parent metal) when it comes to running MIG. Static Transfer-(Bacon Frying Sound),Globular Transfer-(Some Sound),and Spray Transfer-(No Sound).The way you achieve each type of transfer is by adjusting your voltage control from lower settings-(static) to higher levels-(Globular),Highest voltage tolerance-(without burning back to your tip) will achieve your spray arc.What type of transfer used is determined by what the thickness is of the metal your welding on,and your rate of travel speed. When you are using a solid wire,and using a spray transfer,I would highly recommend using 95/5 gas-(95%argon,5%oxygen) as well.This gas will help you run a bit hotter,and will help you produce a better weld by bringing more impurities of your parent metal-(work piece) to the surface. On a personal note,I agree with ncblu. -Adding a comment,...a properly done finishing pass (at times) can improve the final overall appearance of the weld job without negatively affecting weld quality .
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Jan 5, 2009. 8:31 AMncblu
says:
i'm a welder. if you try running a bead in small circles, you will likely get fired if someones paying you to do it, what you get is undercut because you're not laying enough wire down and spreading the puddle out too far and not getting the right penetration. straight line passes are the only way to properly weld and if you have to make more than one pass - your welds will look better and be stronger. if i read the instructable correctly it states that you move from the top and weld downward - dont!, you get minimal penetration and all you are doing is laying blobs of metal down which will likely end up at your feet. always weld from the bottom and proceed vertically, no weaving, circling or sewing.
Reply
Jan 20, 2010. 3:29 PMTBC06
says:
its glorified OAW you won't get fired for doing circles within the puddle itself (i am a welder to) if you are getting under cut along your edges: A: your wire feed speed is a hair to slow or B: your not pausing on the edge and not letting the puddle "wet" out...
Reply
Dec 23, 2008. 6:15 AModonnghaille
says:
The Australia Govt. is funding a science project at the moment on the effects of cocaine on Bees, So imagine how self important he feels.
Reply
Dec 20, 2008. 7:20 PMtzhauling
says:
Just another tip about the sound. My teacher always say to listen for the eggs frying.
Reply
Nov 9, 2008. 7:07 AMMig Welder
says:
hahaha bumble bee on steroids
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