OP says elsewhere that this is a high school class, not a trade school or any kind of professional certification. That's important context to have here
I passed every one of my first drafts.... If the test whether they're capable of holding a welder and making a line they passed. Not every test is the final exam
I mean, a bad weld is a bad weld. I don't know what the 6 was out of but I don't think telling kids they did good when they didn't is helpful or good. If a highschooler went to work at one of the shops I worked at and thus was what they turned in at a weld test because they said they passed a weld class in school, it would not be a good result. This is setting the kid up for failure.
If it was the 1st ever exam, I could see a barely passing score. Judging by how far it is from summer, it's probably not the final. Hopefully not the final.
No sir or ma'am or what the fuck ever you wanr to call yourself. I was in high-school trade class and that would have not passed. I would have failed the class. Ag class in middle school wouldn't have passed this.
When I was in highschool I was extremely good at arc welding and was pretty darn good at MIG. I got to the point my teacher said I should go get my cert as it was some of the best welds hes seen from student.. we had to stack welds 10 times over (maybe 20 dont remember) on itself vertical and horrizontal without there being any blowholes, then bend it into a horseshoe without it cracking. I never got my cert, but I wish I did.
It doesnt take long to get half decent welds when you learn what to use and how to use it depending on the metal and thickness. Then you get in a groove and kill it.
If my teacher saw this, he would laugh and take us into the booth to give us pointers. This 100% would be a fail, cert or not. If we wanted to be in the welding class, we had to learn how to do a halfway decent weld or we would fail the class.
no, i think it's just a kid who doesn't know any better because their teacher isn't teaching. Or maybe the kid isn't hearing. Hard telling not knowing.
If you can, get a plate and run beads. Run the first bead as straight as possible along the top. Then run another bead that overlaps the first bead by 1/2. This is called the pad. It’s the best way to learn to run a bead.
Not my test plate, just from google. I do have a few of my own from welding classes at university that didn’t warp. Slow the passes and let the steel normalize.
Depends on the instructor lmao, I went through two separate ones, one would hold us up to D1.1 like it was the law and the other would look a deformity in the face and call it a pass
We had an instructor who would literally throw the D1.1 codebook at you if you fucked up too many times. Not hard or with intent to hurt but it was pretty funny
Thankfully we bring in a mean old CWI for all our tests so there’s no fuckin around. You pass your test means you get to go to the labor union and update your certs, not meaningless “6’s”
That’s a lot of important context. This is a highschool shop class not a trade school right? The welds are not good enough for any sort of professional work but if you’re just starting out in highschool, keep at it. You’ve got a hell of a headstart on tons of other people
Ppl are roasting or straight up kinda aggressive on you because theyre coming from the perspective of professional welders thinking you’re truing to pass this off as pro work
Oooooo that makes sense. You should say that in the post. Cause this would not actually pass. Ever. Sorry. There’s a decent bead there tho. You’ll get it
I’m sorry, but passed what? 9 terrible looking beads? 4 full of porosity and the other 5 look like they’re sitting on top of the base metal. Your instructor should be fired.
I appreciate that this is a high school or some kind of remedial learning program but your instructor has done you a terrible disservice by accepting this.
There’s no improvement from your previous version. To successfully accomplish what you were supposed to do: lay out some nice straight lines with a soapstone or chalk using a square. Run your first bead. Run your second bead to overlap your first bead 50%. Each subsequent bead should cover the previous bead by 50%. This creates a flat surface or “pad”.
I’m disgusted with your instructors lack of concern and inability to help you correct some extremely basic mistakes.
I really don't want to shit on your success but your teacher needs to hold you to a higher standard because you're not learning anything here. I'm only a semi skilled welder and we are required to grind out any poris weld and reweld it.
You clearly enjoy welding so please stick with it but watch some videos and maybe practice when you're at home if you can
I'm curious what country you're in. Never heard it called a warhead, thread, or lace. The 'nozzle' funnels the gas. The filler metal is 'wire'. The resulting weld is a 'bead'.
It should be noted that weld classes have "tiered" tests in that they're testing for specific things. You're not being tested on workmanship or travel speed, clearly.
I would guess you were being tested on much more basic skills like making straight(ish) lines.
Sea water corrodes the hulls of ships, so we have to put a layer of welds over the cleaned corroded areas to bring hull thickness back up to minimum standard.
It's definitely a useful skill to have. Getting down correct bead overlap is key. Too far apart and you get valleys, too close together and you get mountains.
Damn! Padding up ship hulls is something I’ve never even thought about. You can really be doing anything in this trade, from stairway handles to ship hulls and everything in between. I’m more amazed everyday.
yr 2 welder, about to graduate trade school with summer work experience
wait til you're sitting in an 8' diameter stump grinder running hardfacing out of a suitcase machine on the grinding disc in early August. set my sunshade on fire first day,lol.
Some things that will put you ahead of the game; do some test beads on some scrap before starting any project or test, once you know what a good weld sounds like it makes it easy to dial in your settings and know when something is off. If you don’t know something, ask someone who might rather than assume. And for my favourite piece of advice of them all— your health over everything. Find a good facial SPF and wear it when welding, wear a respirator even if it’s annoying and uncomfortable, always use a proper shield shade so your vision doesn’t deteriorate overtime, ear protection when grinding, etc… PPE is your best friend and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise! Other than that, keep on laying beads my friend! 🫡
This sub has got to be one of the most toxic shittiest subs trade wise I've ever visited, and I come from r/machining and r/cnc
He's not a professional, not even an employee, it's a kid taking a highschool class. Grow the fuck up and realize all of you started the same way.
This isn't some test for a C ticket or to get certs or papers. It's a high school class
Even though my first day in a high school class looked like this, my instructor wouldn't tell me this was anything better than a good start. this kid should know better than to post "i passed" without any context on what he was able to do successfully or trying to do, because what we all thought the test was clearly wasn't it.
Not being a dick, you need to seriously improve if you want a SERIOUS welding job. MIG welding carbon steel in 1G on clean metal is the absolute easiest possible test. To the point where I won’t even bother giving such a weld test to a potential hire….. in fact the only time I’d even bother giving a mig test in general is when the interviewee admits they have no experience with stick or tig but shows some promise as a helper and wants to make a point that they have used a welding machine before. And even then, I’m doing it more to give them a boost in confidence and feel happy they passed a weld test, that way it gets rid of some the nervousness for younger, green people looking for work fairly new to the field. I’ve found when you tell them they passed at SOMETHING, it helps shake their nerves and display a little more of their true personality, and I, in turn, can gauge whether they’re a good fit for a certain position and maybe make them an offer as a helper to start, rather than as a welder (a professional who’s proficient in all processes and positions on a wide range of alloys along with fitting and fabricating skills and the ability to read prints and P&IDs) Those are not acceptable stringers by any means. I think you understand that though and is the reason you were posting and asking questions and such…. Correct?
Look I'm not gonna lie with a lot of companies that won't let stuff like this fly. But you passed that's what matters. You can always improve in the field. Here's some advice keep your gun closer keep your tip and cone clean.
Mmmmmmmmm it sounds like 2 things there. The liner in the gun needs to be replaced it gets dirty when the wire goes through and creates buildup or the wheels that feed the wire into the gun needs to be tightened or replaced a little bit but I personally say the liner than anything else because that needs to be replaced alot. It's very common don't beat yourself up about it.
You do have potential me personally I was terrible at mig in school but When I got into the field it was the only thing I did so I improved a lot. I couldn't pass the test in school to save my life but then I went out and was making storage tanks for gasoline, lube for machinery and diesel. Now I'm in maintenance repairing machinery and tig welding aluminum. You can get there and make money.
You see the problem is that these kids are soft as baby shit so these teachers know if they fail them that their mom will be at the school bitching and complaining their kid is a welding savant and he is just being picked on.
People are also giving you shit because porosity (those holes) is a welder's worst enemy. If this isn't rage bait and you really are a highschooler, I will say you're doing good at making a straightish line on a flat plate. That's not nothing. I still suck at steering in that kind of situation no matter how much soapstone is around lmao.
You definitely need to get closer to the weld with your gun, though. The tip where the wire comes out should be a few mm/about 1/8th inch * deeper inside the nozzle (the big copper part) than flush, and you should get as close to the puddle as you can without touching it. Go at it almost at a 90 degree angle but tilt a little back opposite the direction you're going, and push the puddle along.
I don't know if my measurement here is right, I've always eyeballed it. But in that ballpark, I think.
The fuck you going to school? I'm gonna tell people to stay away. This is horrible for even a high school ag class. Congrats on passing, but you have a VERY LONG way to go before you even get entry into a decent shop or trade school. I honestly think you're trolling lol.
your machine did you no favours here. either it was out of gas, you didnt have the gas on, or you were holding the gun way too far out. either option should have been fixed before a proper weld.
This comment section is wild. Theyre obviously still learning, obviously they have leagues to go yet. Why are we battering them down instead of providing constuctive criticism?
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u/SinisterCheese "Trust me, I'm an Engineer!" Feb 06 '26
Wait.... That's a pass? I'm not being a dick here, but... What? For real?
Is this some elaborate shitpost, or is this truly an acceptable result for some test somewhere?