How to Understand the Direction of Travel in Welding

Understanding the direction of travel when you're welding pieces of metal together means having a clear field and a good line of sight of your working area. Making sure you know where you're running your bead and being able to see what you're doing are critical in making a solid, durable weld that's also cosmetically acceptable.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

1. Determine which way your bead will run. Most right handed welders work from left to right. So, if you're right handed, make sure your have a clear view of your work to your left side and that you have a clear path to the right to pull the welding wire ahead as you puddle your bead.

2. Clear any obstacles out of the way that might get in your way once you get your bead puddling. A sure way to mess up a clean weld is to have to stop and turn your arc off in the middle of your work. Your work area should be clean, well lit and well ventilated.

3. Hold your arc welding rod, commonly called a wire welder, at about a 45 degree angle down and to your left at the beginning point of the joint or plate you are welding.

4. Make a practice run or two from the beginning point on your left to the end point of the weld. Be sure there's enough room to move your arm and hand holding the arc welder freely and that you have room to move along the welding field to your right, if you need to.

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