this post was submitted on 09 Jul 2025
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A small thing that will help a lot is getting a steel wire brush and scrubbing the site of the weld before you try to strike the arc. It clears the area of the oxide layer and makes it easier to start and get a cleaner weld.
Have you been beveling the weld locations?
oh HELL no I haven't haha, my main focus was to stay as on grid as possible with the structure, but I've been doing most of it without any prep on the materials
Ah, okay. If you take a grinder to the edge of the material to create a little bevel, it can help get a better penetration on the weld and get a bit of a flatter weld. You’d have to lower your heat a bit and change the angle to redirect the heat towards where the metal is thickest though.
You’re probably fine as is, it doesn’t look like the material is that thick, but with thicker material a small bevel of 1/3-1/2 of the thickness can help a lot.
(I’m gonna try and reel in my excitement on having someone to rant to about welding now.)
No need :3