Do it right the 1st time and you won't need to worry about that.

Honestly if a bead has issues, simply going over it to make it "pretty" doesn't do anything. You need to deal with the original issue that cause it to be "ugly". If your problem was poor fusion, chances are the weld bead itself will hinder you from getting enough penetration down into the base material to solve the issue. The bad well will have to go 1st. If the issue is porosity, unless you remove it 1st, it will just keep coming back. The only time I could really see doing this would be for "art" projects, where all you care about is looks and nothing else.

 

What DSW said. I've never washed over a weld to make it look better and don't plan to ever try it.

 

Then you have never been in a suck azz position fixing welds some one shouldn't have done in the first place. I'm not to proud to admit to washing over a tig weld after a long night out or getting the red azz then rethinking what I was doing. Inspectors highly frown on it, other welders will give you crap about it but won't admit to doing it. There is a learning curve to welding and making a mistake happens. How you fix it is up to you. I say wash away.
Do it tight the first time? Great, if you can. You still need to know how fix it if you can't. There is a time and place for every thing.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk

 

If someone told me to make someone else's welds look nice by washing over it I would quit. A weld is like a signature, I'm not going to put mine on top of someones s***.

 

Yes, I've washed many tig welds with no filler, especially lap joints with 1/4 in steel, makes them look awesome :cool2:

ps. I turn it up 10-15 amps.

John~

 

AdamArc, 100% on that

 

Never! You NEVER NEVER DO THAT :realmad: That's like showing me a picture of somebody else's girlfriend and saying, So what do think! I would like to say I'm just kidding, but meh.............I'm not bud. :drinkup:

 

That's like showing me a picture of somebody else's girlfriend and saying, So what do think!

So Mike, what cha think? :laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh:

 

Squirmy,
Many a time I have been asked to fix something because no one else can. That's my job. Weld what I am told to weld, if it's mine it will pass x-ray the first time. If it's not mine, it will pass x-ray the first time I fix it. I've spent days on a job waiting for a weld because of three day fit ups and no one else was trusted to run root and hot passes. Then the other hands would get the gravy and flush and cap. I would sit a read for days with the occasional repair so I really can't complain. I'm not to proud to fix a bad weld nor am I to proud how I do it. A good welder will weld. A great welder will fix what a good weld can't weld.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk

 

Adam, I don't mind fixing a weld, but I'm not going to just wash over one and hope it fixes it. I don't know what is under the pass I'm fixing. I'm not too proud to fix something, just too proud to put my name on something that isn't right. Same with any kind of work that I do, I'm paid to do it right even if that means I've got to start fresh. You seem to be a talented welder so I'm sure you know what I mean, and I don't have any problem if you are able to pass the welds doing that. Sounds like you can save your employer lots of money fixing welds like that, and they know it.

Rah, I wouldn't mess up a cover pass so there's no need to fix it

 

maybe in that one spot, on that one line, that one night, mirror comes out to reveal that humped up, narrow portion of cap i laid . . . .yep, mirror in one hand and torch in the other. guilty. . . .that one time

 

How do you know a welder is lying?............


His fingers are typing. Hehehe(sorry, no emoticons)

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk

 

I was honest about most of it. . . . scept the word "one" :nono:

 

Well, I've never made a bad weld that I've taken a picture of :laugh:

...grinder jumped into my hand and cut it out before anyone could see it...probably never happened

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=7qXXWHfJha4

 

Nothing a carbon rod, a few hundred amps and some air wont fix .

 

first pass rusty millscaled 1/4 inch pre tacked steel about 125 amps 3/32 309 tig rod

first wash

second wash

and don't drop a hot chinese cup on the table!!

 

first pass rusty millscaled 1/4 inch pre tacked steel about 125 amps 3/32 309
first wash
second wash

and don't drop a hot chinese cup on the table!!

:laugh: :jester:

 

Nothing to add to what Dave posted.. but.. sharpen your tungsten

 

I guess never for appearance sake, my stuff goes away... When I'm filling a deep crack repair & I get to all weld metal I'll turn things up and start shoving 1/8" rod in. Since my stuff then gets overlayed & re-machined I'll sometimes wash or use .045 or 1/16" with a wide weave to make sure there will be enough material on the profile.

I never would wash the outside toes back down into the parent material though.

Inspectors aren't going to like it because reheating many materials is a no-no. If It's steel with some boron or vanadium in it each re-heat makes it more crack sensitive and less ductile. Plus it's just pretty poor practice.

Matt

 

I did it on non critical welds overlaying with sil bronze for looks.. got the idea from Dhem

Sent from my SPH-D700 using Tapatalk 2

 

I was just welding on some nasty rusted steel to see what that 309 rod would tolerate.... this isn't high quality work. just practice.

~John

 

NO. If there is a surface/visual defect and it is NOT a code weld I will dependent on conditions/job...like a toe looking a little cold laped or something like that...but most times I will be adding a touch of filler and blend. For more perfect appearance, hell no, that is just welder vanity. IF it is a code weld I will do what is necessary and make a proper repair according to wps.

 

I wash over ALL my welds at least three sometimes four times.......

http://smg.photobucket.com/user/billcalicura/media/bsmeter.gif.html?sort=3&o=654

 

I wash over ALL my welds at least three sometimes four times.......


View attachment 613851


http://smg.photobucket.com/user/billcalicura/media/bsmeter.gif.html?sort=3&o=654

And backstep/backfeed/forehand too I see.

I wanna see your WPS. I bet it goes like this:
"I put my right hand in,
I put my right hand out,
In out, in out.
shake it all about."

YOU CHEATER!!!

(Twas the 4943 made ya do it, right?)

 

Only for sculptural reasons, I'd cut that cold, dirty weld out and try again for any application though.