get in a position where you can see. you can hold your gun back away from the weld a little or angle it a little more so you can see...you can make your stick out like 3/8" if need be. and if you have to, you can even drag the gun till you can't drag anymore, and just turn it around mid-bead and push it while the arc is still going. or you could just push the gun the whole way around the inside corner. but sometimes the space is just too small to get a mig gun in there and you have to resort to a stick welder. or you could come up w/ a different design for your projects that don't have such tight and small corners.
as for welding something that's not flat, what do you mean? do you mean flat position? or an uneven surface?
what I mean is I can take ONE flat piece of stock and lay a perfect bead on it, but when I throw in even the slightest gap or unevenness where two pieces join then it gives me trouble. This is probably my lack of ability to maintain the arc while encountering these irregularities in surfaces.
Hello bzzzzzzz,
I wonder if what you are experiencing is the effect of a magnetic field. It is possible for the field to draw the arc (arc wander) in any give direction. This is common when welding in an enclosure. The field will be constant on DC polarity. If this is the case, the only way to rid yourself of it is to use the SMAW machine on AC polarity.
HTH,
Steve
no such setting on my machine.
The trouble with welding inside corners is mostly due to "Arc Blow" or magnetic field properties as Steve mentioned.
What happens is when you get to the corner, the magnetic field generated by the welding arc is being repelled by the other leg of your angle. Try to picture holding two magnets together, if they are turned the right way, they stick together, however if turned the wrong way they repel each other. This is what happens to the weld puddle, it gets pushed away.
There are ways to prevent this though like:
Wrapping your ground lead around the part to create a coil will demagnatize the part. It makes a difference if you wrap the lead clockwise or counterclockwise, depending on the polarity of your part. You'll have to try both ways to see which works.
Also, it helps to weld away from the point that your ground lead is attached to the part, or it's even better if you can split your ground lead in two and connect to opposite ends of the part.
Also, you should tack the part right in the corner. This creates a bridge for the magnetic field travel to the other part.
Good Luck,
Tim
OK here is another "try this".
Set up the situation that is giving you trouble. Keep the wire speed down a little so you don't deposit metal so fast that you get rushed. Let's call the two pieces right and left. Now explore what it takes to get the arc to land on each piece as close to the joint as you can. Usually just moving a little toward the desired side will suffice. Some might prefer to roll their wrist a little toward that side. When you learn what it takes to choose the side then think rightside and pause leftside and pause right left ... each time moving ahead a little. The rate at which you go back and forth will vary with your personal style and the thickness of the material, wire, heat etc. practice. the symmetry between the two pauses will also vary depending on the position and size of the pieces. More practice. You'll get it.
Bill
Hey bzzzz, what kind of welding machine/wire/gas are you using?
Good suggestion, In addition I would tell you to learn what it sounds like when both pieces are fusing together. This will help you when you get in a blind corner and you can not see what your puddle is doing.
Work on trying to see the molten weld puddle. Most new welders have trouble joining 2 pieces of metal together until they are able to see the puddle. Once you see the puddle, it will be like someone has turned a light on and your skills will improve. Do whatever it takes initially to get in a position to see the puddle - lean the gun back or forward, increase the distance between the end of the gun and the workpiece, change your position so that your eyes are always in a position to see the puddle. You may even want to try increasing your arc voltage or wire feed speed on a piece of thick material until you can see the puddle and what it looks like on the sides touching the base metal. Once you see the puddle, work on fine tuning your technique (gun angle, travel speed, wire feed speed, etc.), and improving the appearance of your welds. The configuration you call a "corner joint" is a fillet weld. On your first bead in a fillet weld work on keeping your puddle centered in the corner or slightly up on the vertical face. You didn't say what thicknesses of steel you are trying to join. Thin gage material (1/32" to 1/1/6") can be a bit trickier than material 1/8" and thicker. Try to start out on 1/8" thick material or thicker until you get used to making fillet welds. Then you can try the thinner materials with faster travel speeds. But, until you see the puddle and can tell what is happening between the weld metal and the 2 pieces being joined, you will continue to have problems.
Hope this helps,
Marty
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