I have a couple welders in our shop that when using the short circuiting mode, in the flat position, use a whipping motion and can produce beads that look like they were done by a machine.
When short circuiting vertical uphill, I like to weave a little to help keep the bead from dripping back in the center of the bead.
When spray arcing, no whipping is required.
Tim
I am regurgitating something that is written in every textbook on welding that I've had the time to read. Twenty two years of industrial and college level training equals to a whole bunch of books. Pushing for thin gauge materials for less penetration. Pulling on thicker gauged materials (just like stick rod) for deeper penetration. This works for my students when giving bend test.
Side to side oscillation tends to produce cold lap for a majority of the beginners that I've delt with. There are those that oscilating works for them and they couldn't whip if their name was whip.
That said, I whip the mig just like the E-6010 on things like the square groove, vee groove or a seal weld. Step forward to burn into new metal, step back to fill. That seems to be the easiest way to explain why. Of course, every situation will produce a reason that I will do something different. Sometimes in the same bead. Just so long as the end result looks good, is uniform, and it will pass the bend test.
Maybe just a little more information on the application, gauge of material, wire size, elec. parameters? Good information has already been given for both scenarios though.
if I want more penetration I'd drag the gun and whip it like 6010. if I wanted to fill a gap I'd do a weave w/ a long pause at both sides and stay at the front of the puddle. but I like to whip wherever I can because GMAW does tend to have a tendency to cold-lap if you're not careful. by whipping i'm insuring that i'm getting penetration into the base metal. and you can try it yourself...you can actually see the arc digging into the base metal before any filler metal is deposited.
Just my thoughts.
I've worked at shops where they don't want you to use a whip technique, for reasons of lack of fusion I believe, and others where that is what the majority of the people do.
Now having said that, assuming your just using short circuit, I feel if all your parameters are set correctly( amps, volts, etc.) for the particular job your working on you shouldn't have to whip or oscilate, not saying you don't have to, especially on gage material.
Basically, it boils down to this: You should use whatever method works well for you as long as you acheive good results and if a particular technique is not stated in a procedure.
Hope this helps,
Brian Maas
Some very interesting comments, normally we are welding 3/16" on up
with some out of position welding using .035" and .045" wire. We do not promote the whipping action due to lack of fusion potential. We give guided bend tests and I haven't had a welder pass yet using the whipping action, vertical up is a different story. Even on some fillet
weld break test's I have seen lack of fusion problems when the weldor
used the whipping action. I am somewhat surprised by some of the comments about dragging the gun technique though. Keep the comments coming I would like to hear as many reasons to why or why not.
Thanks Brett B.
I always thought it was "stay with the lead edge of that puddle" at all costs with gmaw. Makes sense to me because you melt the base, melt the wire onto that, and move on out before the puddle starts to run onto something cold. Is this rationale correct? I also find that metals must be really clean for solid wire with shielding gas. In short circut that is.
For what it's worth:
I have heard that whipping with 7018 (where pool protection is more by slag on top of the pool) can cause quality problems.
Whipping with 6010 has not caused weld-pool quality issues, since the gas from the cellulose in addition to the slag keeps it protected.
Whipping with GMAW could give lack of gas coverage, therefore quality issues. The hidden question is when does an oscillation become a whip, and how fast is the whip?
good point. it's hard to describe what you're doing while you weld in words. when I whip GMAW it's not as big of a whipping action as w/ 6010, and the motions are slower than I'd do w/ 6010 because moving too fast will just make the wire stub into the plate and you need to keep gas coverage. my whipping is more like moving more rapidly toward the front of the puddle and then +1/16th in front of the puddle to penetrate into unmelted base metal. then I move backward to fill the puddle. I do that all at the same pace and same motion speed as a weave. so I guess technically I'd call my technique a slow forward weave.
Main difference between push and drag technique:
Drag equals a little better penetration but a more rounded convex weld.
Push equals slightly less penetration but a flatter weld bead that usually looks better.
On groove welds with open root I would use the drag method.
Keep in mind short circuit transfer is generally a lower heat input process. Chances of lack of fusion would increase the heavier the material you us.
Just my opinion,
Brian Maas
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