Welding Techniques; Traveling With The Gun; Types Of Weld Beads - Sears Craftsman 934.20105 Owner's Manual

WELDING TECHNIQUES Page 22
WELDING TECHNIQUES
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 WITH 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 irratically will prevent proper
fusion or create a lumpy, uneven bead.
1. TRAVEL DIREC-
TION is the direction
the gun is moved
along the weld joint in
relation to the weld
puddle. The gun is
either PUSHED into
the weld puddle or
PULLED away from
the weld puddle.
PULLING
PUSHING
For most welding jobs you will "pull" the gun
along the weld joint to take advantage of the
greater weld puddle visability. 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 pud-
dle 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.
ALUMINUM WELDING can be done using either
direction of gun travel, but "pushing" will leave a
weld that is cleaner in appearance. "Pulling" the
gun will leave a sooty weld since the finished weld
is always being blasted by the arc and the impuri-
ties coming out of the weld puddle. This problem
affects the weld appearance only and the weld can
be cleaned up with a stainless steel bristled wire
brush.
.
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 fin-
ished weld bead.
TYPES OF WELD BEADS -
1. The STRINGER BEAD 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.
2. The WEAVE BEAD 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.