I usually go for a bit more cleaning action than normal on a job like this but not all that much...just a percent or 2 .  probably had it set to around 32% cleaning on the ac balance but not enough to round the tungsten much.  And I was using a square wave machine.

glad you enjoyed it.

Kevin Fox Great feedback.  Everyone can stand some self reflection from time to time. 

I have never completely understood why high speed pulse has the affect it does but the manufacturers claim in constricts or chokes down the arc like a choke on a shotgun which limits the spread.  But I do know it helps when you want to confine a bead like when welding on or near an edge.

 A miller electric rep I met a a trade show recommended pulse rates of 100 for tool and die and mold repair to confine the weld.

I have been experimenting with it ever since.   

For 4140, most technical resources recommend a 500f preheat so it stands to reason you want to keep it above 500 while welding to slow the cooling rate.

thanks for the comment,  Jody

That pad was a product I was experimenting with and sold for a while but discontinued due to some manufacturing issues. It worked great but the straps were not up to snuff.   

Wire speed settings seem very situational.  In a perfect scenario on say a 2f fillet weld, higher wire speeds like what mig charts recommend seem to work fine with very little spatter with a pull angle.  Push angles seems to make more spatter.

In my experience, gun angle and wire speed both affect spatter and a low wire speed combined with a push angle generally makes for more spatter with short circuit mig.  

there is a pretty wide range of wire speed settings that provide for minimal spatter but make it more difficult to control the deposit for vertical uphill welding so sometimes I just tolerate the spatter to lay down a bit less metal.

Short circuit mig uphill seems to always lay down more metal that you anticipate so Sometimes its just a gut feeling depending on how high that last pass is before the cover pass.

Thanks Martin,

I will definitely look into doing a video on coupon prep. Great idea.

You make a good point on the mirror welding and grinding. 

thanks

A higher inductance setting is supposed to make a bead wet in more but after the fact, I think the root pass might have pushed thru better with a slightly lower inductance setting.

Some of my machines don't even have an inductance setting so I was just experimenting with it. 

Thanks for your comment...It gives me a few ideas on more cut and etch stuff

jody

thank you Brian

I still have that box somewhere in storage . I need to try it again using copper ball bearings.  I think copper might work really well for certain small parts provided they don't fuse to back side

I think you covered all the main things. I think one of the main things is lingering too long while fiddling with a flimsy filler rod.  Back in the day, I would use .063" (1.6mm) ams4951 wire on this thickness with good results and no melt thru. The .045" wire is better for a smaller bead but I just liked the bigger wire for stiffness.  thanks