Lean of the electrode along the weld axis, measured from perpendicular. Tilting back toward the finished weld is a drag or backhand angle, used with slag-making processes like stick and flux core; pointing ahead is a push or forehand angle, common with solid-wire MIG for a flatter bead. Typical travel angles run 5 to 15 degrees, while the work angle is the separate tilt across the joint.
Fix your travel angle, if there's slag you drag, you're pushing that flux core and burying slag in the toes.
The rhyme 'if there's slag, you drag' covers stick, flux core and sub arc; solid wire and TIG get pushed.
Also heard as
- push angle
- drag angle
- rod angle
- gun angle
Related terms
SMAW
Shielded metal arc welding: arc welding with a flux-coated consumable electrode, known in the shop as stick.
GMAW
Gas metal arc welding: a continuously fed wire electrode shielded by gas, known in the shop as MIG.
Slag inclusion
Nonmetallic slag trapped inside a weld instead of floating out to the surface.
Penetration
How deep the weld fuses into the base metal or the joint beyond the original surface.