808 Agricultural Mechanics and Technology Systems
Copyright Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc.
5. Weld a 10″ long, 3/4″ or 1/2″ pipe handle to the tacked coupons to make
the part safer to handle and provide an excellent location for attaching
the workpiece connection.
6. Position the coupons on the welding table for comfort during welding.
For practice in the 1F position, place the coupons so that the V formed by
the joint is facing up. For practice in the 2F position, position the coupons
so that the top of the T is upside-down on the table.
7. Use a 3/32″ or 1/8″ E6011 electrode to weld a single-pass bead along the
joint of the coupons. This is the root bead.
8. Leave the welding machine running. The duty cycle requires a cool-
down time to protect the internal components of the power source.
9. Thoroughly clean the root bead with a chipping hammer and a wire
brush. Do not cool the coupon at this point because rapid cooling
deteriorates bead quality.
10. Evaluate the root bead quality by answering these questions:
• Is the surface uniformly textured?
• Do the edges blend smoothly and evenly to each side of the joint?
• Are there discontinuities? How many? How severe?
• Is the penetration acceptable?
11. Weld a second bead on the other side of the joint to back up the
root bead.
12. Weld another bead between the root bead and the plate. There should
be about a 60% overlap on the previous bead. Repeat this step on the
opposite side of the coupon.
13. Thoroughly clean the bead and repeat on the other side of the joint.
Alternating the direction of travel from the previous bead yields a smoother
fi nished surface. Repeat this step on the opposite side of the coupon.
14. Clean the welds thoroughly. If desired,
continue fi lling the joint until it is full.
Doing so affords you more practice and
helps you improve your technique. A
variation of this exercise, the “hammer”
project, uses four coupons arranged in
a cross pattern to create four fi llet joints
for practice welding. See Figure 29-56.
15. Clean your work area and return all
equipment to its proper place.
Groove Welds on Flat Plate
A groove weld is performed between
two plates, usually of approximately
equivalent thickness, positioned in a butt
joint. On plates of 1/4″ and thinner, the edges
may be square with no further preparation
other than cleaning. On thicker plates, some
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Figure 29-56. The “hammer” project is a version of practicing
fillet welds that allows for a great deal of practice using a
minimum of materials.