Up the Crack or Down?

[CaddmannQ]

I have a 1/8” pressed steel shape that has a 1” long crack at an edge. I have drilled a hole at the end of the crack. Now I am going to weld it up.

Should I weld towards the hole, or towards the edge?

This is mild steel and I am going to use the TIG welder.

[Ironman]

I would control warpage by backstitching

[CaddmannQ]

Thank you Ironman.

I won’t try to weld it in a single pass, but I guess I asked the wrong question.

Would you put the first puddle near the edge, or at the hole, or perhaps somewhere in-between?

Since I did not know the best place to start this weld I was going to start in the middle of the crack and jump back-and-forth.

I have total access to weld this from both sides flat on the table.

[astronut]

I would start the weld at the edge while the piece has not absorbed much heat yet. Less tendacy to melt the edge than if tried it last after absorbing a bunch of heat and wanting to melt the edges away.

[digr]

I don't think it really matters.

[CaddmannQ]

It needs a little bit of straightening, and I will wait to do that until after the welding, but I doubt it will have too much warp.

Of course everything depends on my skills as a welder. All things considered, this first little bit of welding should be a breeze compared to what comes later.

But really, I was just curious if there was a general rule about welding up cracks where you have to drill a hole.