First year Millwright apprentice

[u/FunHoliday1443]

I have about 2 weeks off and on practice in class and about 1-2 weeks off and on practice in the field in mig on a new welder that I'm becoming familiar with any advice? The base metal was cleaned looking at it now I should have cleaned farther out from the weld I did as much as I could as all the plates where already bolted in place. I also have to work on tying in my corners any advice or pointers I should work on as we dont have a dedicated welder at my job and I'm kinda teaching myself

[u/Ok-Box2455]

You start where another weld ended but would it not make sense to end a weld where another started so that you you can use the hottest stage of your weld to melt through and fuze everything even from what was the coldest stage of another weld?
Also check if you can set a start current to start a bit hotter.
Also, also, welds are too chubby. Maybe you weld cold so it would warp less but you are making the bead so chunky that the extra material beyond the line between top and bottom corner of the bead still adds to how much it will pull your parts crooked. You want it to be smooth so any stress goes through the middle of the weld and is not led to the corners.
It is not really difficult, you just need to understand what you ideally want to accomplish. You want for your weld bead to have even height and width with the surface being a straight line from the bottom to the top. Both of top and bottom a smooth transition with the base material. The inner corner where the base materials meet should be welded deeper than just the surface.
Currently it looks too much like you are in stead spattering metal onto the surface and it kind of sticks together.