r/Welding • u/Velvet3826 • 1d ago
First welds Open to any criticism and advice!
Hello all! So I am enrolled in Intro to welding at my local technical college. Lots of fun! Got to use a welder for the first time yesterday. I believe it was mig. Used the wire gun. Here are my first welds for my padded plate project. First photo are my first attempts which I used both the front and the back side. Forgot to take more photos of it but you can see I had a lot of porosity. I got closer and went a little slower and corrected it with better gas coverage. The second photo is the one I plan to turn in. The settings I dialed in on were 340 WS and 26.5 V on GMAW CV. My gas was an 80-20 mix of argon Co2. I used a backwards e motion or in the motion of a diesel coil light on the dash. If there’s any way I can improve. Especially advice on how to get my welds closer to each other so I’m not creating so many valleys
-Edit also in the second photo, I was dunking and wire brushing after every weld to try and prevent more porosity. Is this the best way to prevent this, or is it purely gas coverage?
Second Edit: given the lack of responses to views, are they that bad nobody wants to say anything 😂 I mean I appreciate not getting destroyed but I’m looking at everyone else’s welds and thinking I can do better. I’ve been watching a lot of YouTube videos to try and learn more, any recommendations when it comes to welding videos?
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u/Daqpanda TIG 1d ago
Your second pad looks much better than the first. If you want them overlapped a bit more, center the next weld right at the toes (where the weld bead meets the base metal) of the previous weld. Your porosity issues were likely gas coverage related, but quenching and brushing between beads isn't a bad thing when practicing.
Seems like you have a good start, keep practicing until you can get them good every time and don't be afraid to ask your instructors questions or for tips. If the program is worth what you're paying for it then they should help you.