Techniques; Traveling The Gun; Of Weld Beads - Century OM-117071002 Operator's Manual

As you become more familiar with your
new welder and better at laying some
simple weld beads, you can begin to try
some different welding techniques to
improve, and add versatility to your
welding skills.
TRAVELING THE GUN
Gun travel refers to the movement of the
gun along the weld joint and is broken
into two elements: Direction and Speed.
A solid weld bead requires that the
welding gun be moved steadily and at
the right speed along the weld joint.
Moving the gun too fast, too slow, or
erratically will prevent proper fusion or
create a lumpy, uneven bead.
1. TRAVEL DIRECTION is the
direction the gun is moved along
the weld joint in relation to the weld
puddle. The gun is either PUSHED
(see Figure 9) into the weld puddle
or PULLED away from the weld
puddle.
Figure 9. Gun Travel Direction
For most welding jobs you will pull the
gun along the weld joint to take
advantage of the greater weld puddle
visibility. However, there are a few
applications where pushing the gun may
provide some advantages:
VERTICAL WELDING can be done by
starting at the top of a weld joint and
pulling the gun down toward the bottom.
However, in the event that puddle
control becomes difficult (such as the
puddle wanting to run downward),
starting a vertical weld at the bottom of a
weld joint and pushing the gun up
toward the top will help to overcome this
problem.
2. TRAVEL SPEED is the rate at which
the gun is being pushed or pulled
along the weld joint. For a fixed
heat setting, the faster the travel
speed, the lower the penetration
and the lower and narrower the
finished weld bead. Likewise, the
slower the travel speed, the deeper
the penetration and the higher and
wider the finished weld bead.
TYPES OF WELD BEADS
,
The STRINGER BEAD (Figure 10)
is formed by traveling with the gun
in a straight line while keeping the
wire and nozzle centered over the
weld joint. This is the easiest type of
bead to make and is the type you
have been using up to this point.
,
Figure 10. Stringer Weld Bead
The WEAVE BEAD (Figure 11)is
used when you want to deposit
metal over a wider space than
would be possible with a stringer
bead. It is made by weaving from
side to side while traveling with the
gun. It is best to hesitate
momentarily at each side before
weaving back the other way.
Figure 11. Weave Weld Bead
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