Going to try my hand at welding

[TerryMason]

I've only really fired it up twice, with pretty lame results so far, but for about 3 hours practice total, I don't feel too bad.

I did find some scrap metal on the side of the road (an Ikea bed frame), so I'll practice some more this week.

 

[Gennybro]

Cool ! Just takes time and practice.

 

[TerryMason]

I got my first weld today on some 14 gauge steel that I couldn't break off with my pliers. I'm not going to quit my day job anytime soon but at least things are getting better.
.


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[Gennybro]

cool ! I think you may need to turn your voltage up a little. The weld material looks to be sitting on top of the metal, not burnt into it.

 

[TerryMason]

Yeah, I think you are right. I wasn't getting any penetration, then I turned the voltage up from the recommended and got the above. I'll turn it up a bit more and see if that helps.

 

[Gennybro]

Just a tip ! If you have a piece of 1\8 thick metal, and want to weld a piece of sheet metal to it. Concentrate your weld on the thicker metal, once you have your puddle started, weave it into the thinner piece of metal.

 

[superj]

good tip. that does make it way easier

 

[Gennybro]

Well ! whats up ?

 

[TerryMason]

I practiced quite a bit and my welds still looked pretty bad, so in despair I had thought to hang up my welding helmet. I watched some YouTube videos and decided to go through my setup one more time before giving up.

It turns out this whole time I've been running solid core mig wire.




I've gone back to harbor freight and now have what I believe to be the right stuff



I haven't had a chance to try it yet, but I have high hopes that my welds won't look quite as bad.

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[Gennybro]

Ive never used that stuff.always have used argon gas. ya got me interested. weld 2 pieces together bang hell with a hammer on it and let us know if the weld held.

 

[superj]

flux core is what i use because i don't feel like driving all the way to the airport side of town to rent/buy a bottle of gas. with the gas though, the welds come out so beautiful and nice where the flux core splatters a little. i think your welder requires flux core though, right? its not a dual welder?

you want really nice welds, go old school with the two tanks for welding. no electricity. you can make it look like the metals were always one piece

 

[Gennybro]

The nice part is ya can take it anywhere out in the field, weld ,braze,cutting torch. An item really worth learning. you can get the small portable tanks with the accesories ,will fit in the back of a jeep.

 

[TerryMason]

I'm amazed at how much difference using the correct wire in my flux core welder has made.

In this photo the top is the best I could do using solid core wire. The bottom is my very first try using flux core. I feel a lot better about welding on my Jeep now.




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[Gennybro]

yehaww, you got it. good job .

 

[Gennybro]

We want a hammer test.

 

[Gennybro]

tip #2, Tack every thing in place before running a bead. If you dont, the metal warps and bends. Well, the metal leans towards the heat source, so if it is not tacked your gonna have a problem. Tack on 2 sides to stabilize the work.

 

[superj]

Yup. And thst looks good sofar

 

[TerryMason]

I've got my first successful welded mod!

I decided to buy a welder in order to shorten my exhaust mount. After adding a undercover fab lifted skid plate, my exhaust was too high, and made contact with the frame. I needed to shorten the mount connected to the transmission. Here are my welding photos, finished product first:





I believe this is called a lap joint in the welding croud

I started by cleaning, fitting, and clamping everything together



I laid my first bead. Once I was done, I beat it will a hammer, and it didn't budge.





And flipped it over and laid the second bead





All cleaned up and painted






Not only did the welding go well, but my exhaust just clears everything. It was a pretty good day.

 

[Gennybro]

cool, making great progress. Now here come the critics. First weld looks great. I noticed you did not tack it on both sides before welding. even thou the job turned out very good. A spot on your second bead in my opinion could have used a spot more weld added to it. You would want the same type of round weld on top of your weld as in the first weld, it is what gives you strenth to the weld. I'm not a welder by trade, one of those machinest dudes that picked it up. But good job dude.

 

[superj]

Looks good and holds with a hammer so must be fine