I have some questions about mig welding.1Is Running a bead and a butt weld the same thing?2If im welding aluminum sheet metal together what shape do you make when welding would it be a half circle sorta like this ((((( and keep doing that?
Butt weld is a type of weldIt is just when you push two pieces of metal together and weld the resulting seamRunning a bead is the actual weld that you do to a butt weld, vertical weld or whatever type of material arrangement you haveThe bead is the actual weld you haveI successful weld will have that half circle look in all your welds including aluminum, steel or stainlessGetting that technique down to run that bead is part of the skill in knowing how fast you can run the weld and how deep the weld isThe half circles come from you having a melted pool of metal to where the metal almost overflows from the seam, but then you move to the next fraction of an inch and the pool sides solidify making that half circle in it's wake If you see those half circles and the weld penetration is deep enough, genrally it will be a good weldThat good weld is called running a bead especially if it is longer than an inch or more
Better start by checking the formula for the volume of a cylinder.
