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POSMTION
WELDING
BUTT WELD
in order to derive the greatest benefits from your welder,
you should practice until you can make a welded
iolnt
in almost any conceivable
position. The ability
to do this
is especially
useful when making repairs on machinery as
the amount of welding
in most cases is small and does not
warrant
disassembling the parts to weld them in the flat
position Welds of this type have been classified into three
groups according
to their location
and are referred to as
vertical,
horizontal
and overhead
welds (fig
1) Of the
three positions, vertlca[ welding will be used the most and
should be practiced first. Skill gained in this type of weld
will make horizontal and overhead welding easier
VERTICAL
WELDING
The two methods of welding
in the vertical
position are
commonly
known
as "vertlcal-down"
and
"vertlcal-up"
welding
(fig_ 2)_ In the former the bead is started at the
top and welded
in a straight llne downward
In the latter
the bead is started at the bottom and welded up, usually
with a weaving
motion
The chief difficulty
encountered
with any position weld is
keeping the molten metal in the puddle from falling
out.
To prevent this the arc must be held as short as possible and
the weld puddle kept fairly small so it will solidify rapidly
Verficabdown
welding is the easiest to perform and is used
on material up to 1/8-inch thick Before attempting a vertical
weld, run a few practice beads to get the feel
of the
arc_ Tack-weld a piece of scrap iron to an old practice plate
so it is positioned vertlcal]y
(fig
3). Use l/B-inch
rods for
the first welds and a current of about 75 to 115 amperes
Experiment
with various amperage
settings until you are
using the highest current you can handle
Hold the rod at
right angles to the plate laterally,
with the tip pointed up
at the angle shown in figure 3 Start the weld at the top
of the plate and move the rod in a straight line downward
The correct rate of travel can be determined by gradually
reducing the speed unti! molten metal in the puddle can no
longer be kept in place
Then, increase the speed slightly
while watching the puddie, arc length and angle of the rod
A short arc provides better control of the molten meta!
Follow the same procedure with 3/32
and 5/32-inch
rods
It will be noted that the larger the rod the more difficult
it
is to control the puddle
For this reason smatler diameter
rods are always used for position welding
Lap or tee-joints are made by simply directing
the arc into
the cornel of the joint as in fiat welding and moving the
rod down the seam at a steady pace Butt welds may require
more practice, as there is a tendency to burn through on
light gauge material
if this occurs, continue until the seam
is completed and patch the hole by chipping the slag and
wire brushing until clean Then, with slightly lower current,
strike an arc on the weld directly above the hole and quickly
bring the rod down to the lower rim of the hole to deposit
a small amount of metal
Raise the rod far an instant to
let the metal solidify and repeat until the hole is welded
Hold a long arc when raising, so there will be no metal
deposited except when the rod is lowered
Any hesitation
in the rate of travel will cause a "burn through/'
if this
happens repeatedly,
lower the welding
current
Leave a slight gap between pieces for butt welds on material
over 3/32-1nch thick_ Inspect the back side after welding
for small bead along the seam, indicating complete pene-
tration (fig 4)
Butt joints on material
around 3/16-1nch
thick should be welded on both sides.
Vertical-down
welds may be made on heavier material
by
laying in a number of passes (fig 5), however, this practice
is not recammended as it takes longer than a heavier single*
pass weld made by the vertical-up method
VEBTtCAL-
OOWN WELO
DlflECTIOH
BKVEL
VEffTICAL.DOWN
WELDING
Figure
3
A SMALL BEAD OH
BACK SiDE [HBICATES
COMPLETEPEHETRATIOH
Figure 4
/3EB
PASS
-2HO
PASS
-IST FkSS
Figure
$
I-I1
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