Copyright Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc. Chapter 8 Manual Welding Techniques 133 of 15°–20°. The term push angle refers to the torch being pointed in the direction the weld progresses. This angle allows the welder to see the weld pool, but still provides good penetration. A larger travel angle would create an elongated weld pool and decrease the penetration into the joint. The welding rod is typically held 10°–20° from the surface of the base metal. This angle makes it easy for the welder to see the weld pool and to feed welding rod into the weld pool as needed. See Figure 8-7. When making fi llet welds, the torch is generally held at a 45° work angle and a 15°–20° travel angle. If an inside corner joint is being welded, the tip of the electrode is pointed directly at the joint between the two workpieces. If a lap joint is being welded, the tip of the electrode should be pointed slightly more toward the surface piece than the edge piece. The edges of a metal plate are not able to dissipate heat as quickly as the large surfaces of the plate. As a result, if the torch is pointed directly at the joint between the two plates, the edge of one piece heats up faster than the surface of the other, which can lead to undercut- ting at the edges of the joint. Pointing the torch slightly more toward the surface than the edge provides even heating through the entire joint. See Figure 8-8. When adding welding rod, the welder should grip the rod in the fi ngers as shown in Figure 8-9. The hand should be kept as close as possible to the arc to hold the rod steady. The rod should be moved in conjunc- tion with the torch movement. When additional rod is required, it can be moved forward through the fi ngers using a forward movement of the thumb. Too much extension of the welding rod from the fi ngers results in a wobbly rod end, making addition to the weld pool very uneven. Adding rod to the pool requires steadi- ness and concentration in order to place the correct A B C Figure 8-7. Typical welding angles for welding a butt joint in any position. A—This butt weld is in the flat position. Note that the torch is at a 90° work angle. The torch is tilted so the electrode is pointing in the direction the weld is progressing. This is referred to as the travel angle. B—A butt weld in the horizontal position. C—A butt weld in the vertical position. (Mark Prosser)