Welding Positions - Craftsman 196.205680 Owner's Manual

1. 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.
Figure 10. Stringer Weld Bead
2. 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 moving with the gun. It is best to
hesitate momentarily at each side before
weaving back the other way.
Figure 11. Weave Weld Bead
WELDING POSITIONS
There are three basic welding positions: flat,
horizontal, and vertical.
1. The FLAT POSITION (Figure 12) is the
easiest of the welding positions and is proba-
bly the one you have been using thus far. It is
best if you can weld in the fiat position if at all
possible as good results are easier to achieve.
2. The HORIZONTAL POSITION (Figure 13)
is next in difficulty level. It is performed very
much the same as the flat weld except that
angle B (see POSITION OF THE GUN TO
THE WORK PIECE - p14) is such that the
wire, and therefore the arc force, is directed
more toward the metal above the weld joint.
This is to help prevent the weld puddle from
running downward while still allowing slow
enough travel speed to achieve good pene-
tration. A good starting point for angle B is
about 30 degrees DOWN from being
perpendicular to the work piece.
Figure 13. Horizontal Position Weld
3. The VERTICAL POSITION (Figure 14) is
the next most difficult position. Pulling the
gun from top to bottom may be easier for
many people, but in some instances it can
be difficult to prevent the puddle from run-
ning downward. Pushing the gun from bot-
tom to top may provide better puddle control
and allow slower rates of travel speed to
achieve deeper penetration. When vertical
welding, angle B (see POSITION OF THE
GUN TO THE WORK PIECE - p14) is
usually always kept at zero, but angle A will
generally range from 45 to 60 degrees to
provide better puddle control.
Figure 12. Flat Position Weld
16
Figure 14. Vertical Position Weld