My first welds !

[Wedge]

Hi, i just got a new 110 volt 88amps mig welder for my projects and i tried my hand at welding yesterday. I have gas sheilding argon co2 mix and .023 wire. I need to know how are my welds .

Thank you here are the pictures

I played with wire speeds and the power setting on the welder didnt really knew what would happen till i pressed the trigger thats how green i am to welding.

I think 6,7,8 are starting to look good in my humble opinion

2,3,4,6 looks ok to ?

Edited May 11, 2011 by Wedge

[Robftw]

that's where everyone starts, try getting it to look like a roll of coins tipped over, best way i can explain it is to tap down on the pool, move your hand back ever so slightly and tap down again, repeat.

[Neverdone]

I'm definitly no expert on welding, but I can gaurentee you, you are going too fast, and the gun is too far away from the metal.

 

Watch some videos that actually explain what to do. Check a welding chart for your welder if it has one to see if you have the wire speed and voltage in the right ballpark, then just keep practicing.

[Wedge]

Thanks for the advices keep them coming please.

[AlexPie]

I think you need to go hotter on the last picture where your starting to get the flow of it

you don't want it to hump over so much you want good penetration and have your weld lay flatter

if that makes any sense, or alternatively you can slow down a bit which in turn will put more heat in

a general area, and also turn down the wire feed.

 

that just depends on which speed is more comfortable for you.

 

hopefully some of this makes sense

Edited May 12, 2011 by AlexPie

[mario_82_ZXT]

Keep the gun closer, tip the end so you're pushing the puddle in front of you, and probably turn up the heat.

You need the welds to flatten out.

 

Also what kind of welder and wire are you running?

How thick is the plate?

[Owen C.]

With a low power welder and thin wire like you are using the speed you move and the angle you hold the pistol in relation to your work is very important. Move slowly and push the weld along by pointing the tip in the direction you are moving. Hold it so the angle the wire hits the puddle is about 45'. The picture above shows stitching where you trigger in the weld. Your welder would have a hard time doing this with anything more than 16ga. When you are practicing check the back side of the metal. You will know you are getting good penetration if the surface is slightly raised. On thicker material you will want to bevel the edges to promote penetration and work the puddle back and forth. Im sure I am leaving out some details and everyone has their preferred techniques.

[Maverick101]

I have stuff written up for gas welding. Other than temp / flame control it's pretty similar...hope it helps

 

 

 

 

[svMike]

You welds are steadily improving through the pics, particularly 2,3,4 and 6 in the last pic.

 

There are a lot of factors affecting the bead, so read a little and practice more. Miller and Hobart have good resources on their site:

http://www.millerwelds.com/resources/improving-your-skills/mig/

http://www.hobartwelders.com/elearning/

[Wedge]

Thank you very much guys. From what im reading ad seeing on youtube im not letting the gun/heat long enough, on the back side of my plates the metal is just getting blue or orange after it cools down (if that makes sense) so im not seeing the weld getting through or bearly i was scared to burn through i think. Im welding on 1/32 steel to practice my hand on the steel ill be working on the Zed. Ill try my hand at it this week end and ill post more picture. Things im gonna try is leave the torch on for more heat push the puddle by angeling the gun at 45 deg and do my best.

[MoNkEyT88]

I would try practicing on some thicker material, perhaps 18gauge, and practice a fillet weld on a T-joint.

 

Hold the welder so the nozzle is at a 45* angle, and then tilt it slightly so you are "pushing" the wire. You keep the weld puddle 50% on each piece. If you're right handed, I would weld from right to left.

 

This all happens very quickly, but when you start welding;

 

-Start your puddle, try for a 1/4" weld.

 

-Try stitching/whip. Once you have started your puddle, move forward, then back into the puddle. IE. 1/4" ahead, 1/8" back, 1/4" ahead, 1/8" back. etc.. Keep time like a metronome. Say, 60bpm = 60 cycles of moving ahead and moving back. The shorter the whip, the less chance of undercut and inconsistency.

 

-Move at the speed that keeps the weld 1/4".

 

-Practice more, you can stack your welds after you've welded one pass. You don't weld directly over the other weld, rather on the edge of the weld.

 

-After you've welded you can learn a lot from looking at it. The discoloration shows an even weld travel speed, etc. The brown smoke to one side of the weld shows I wasn't exactly at a 45* angle to both parts, or the smoke would be even on both sides of the weld. You can see the motion I moved, as the weld has textured >>>>> as I whipped it.

 

And practice practice practice.

[Wedge]

I practiced a little more this morning i think im getting better. I tried something i saw on youtube the man said to do U's with the with the puddle like UUUUUUUUUUU it seems to be easier for me this time i still think im not ready tomove on the car yet. Now time for pictures of test number 2.

 

First here are pictures of the welder i got and the gas bottle.

 

now pictures of todays weld. (im welding from bottom to top pushing the weld btw)

 

they still dont look flat tho i dont why or how yet but ill practice again. I changed my seating position on the second set of welds i did i was sitting lower this time way easier on my back then leaning over the table, only thing i noticed is that i have more troube seeing the puddle i habe to lean on one side to see the puddle or the tip of the gun is hidding it.

 

Comments are very very welcome please !

Edited May 15, 2011 by Wedge

[JMortensen]

In general if the weld is tall, you're too cold. Turn the power up. In this case though, at least part of the problem is that the weld isn't going into a joint. If you cut the metal and beveled the edges, then welded them back together, the weld would sink down into the joint. Welding on top of a piece of metal is not terribly useful practice. Cut some up and weld it back together and you'll learn a lot more about having tight gaps, beveling, turning the power up too high and burning through, etc. Keep at it!

[Wedge]

thanks Jon. the problem i have with my machine is that I only have two settings Max and Min last time i tried I didnt notice a diffrence ill have to do more training tomorow.

[Kris.Is.Awesome]

I'm more of a structural steel (Thicker- 3/16" is what I do alot) welder, but the same applies to sheet metal (mostly).

 

Slow yourself down- you're not hot enough, and you still have a tall bead. Try some fillet or T welds. Keep your wire in the corner at a 45-60* angle. Move slowly in a constant line. Worry about swirls and flowers and shapes that don't really help unless you're trying to straighten an axle with a welder, more on that some other time haha.

[bruce83]

I have welded for well other 30 years and know for a fact, that you are using the wrong welding gas for short arc steel sheet metal welding. According to the website for "ALMIG" welding gas(label on tank in your photos), that gas has 92% to 96% Argon, 1% to 5% oxygen and 3% to 7% carbon dioxide. This type of gas is for "spray arc" welding heavy steel, using high voltage welding machines, larger welding wire size, giving a hotter arc and larger welds. I have also used 95% argon/5% oxygen for the same effect.

 

I now weld sheet metal (MIG & TIG) all the time for work and for MIG, I only use a 110 volt or 240 volt machine, with 0.023" welding wire (the robot and one other machine do use 0.030" wire} and I also use 75% argon/25% carbon dioxide (commonly called 75/25 gas), but in the past I have used 100% carbon dioxide, but it causes a lot more spatter then 75/25.

 

Change gas to 75/25 and your sheet metal welding will get a lot better. Also listen to how your welding sounds when you are welding, because all short arc welding (which your 110 volt machine does) has a "nice even crackling sound". I can actually set any MIG welding close to its final setting by sound.

[bruce83]

I was back on that welding gas company's website and the name of the welding gas you need is called "Blueshield 6"

[Wedge]

Thanks Bruce83 ill have to go back to the shop to see if they will trade my bottle for some 75/25. I was told to not use Co2 since im working in my garage and dont have alot of ventilation I was told it makes alot of smoke.

[bruce83]

Some amount of smoke is part of all types of welding and if it is a big problem (like burning paint next to the weld), set up a 20" box fan, pull the smoke though the fan away from you and toward an open door. Do not point the fan at you, as it blows the smoke into you and can blow away some of the welding gas, giving you a poor weld.

 

A few notes from experience: Welding light burns skin (just like a sunburn, but can get bad}, so cover exposed skin with 30+ suntan lotion. When TIG welding, I just wear short sleeve shirts and suntan lotion, but when MIG welding, I still wear short sleeve shirts, but also wear a set of green colored welding sleeves, as I have found these to be best on a hot day.

Do not wear light colored T-shirts (white is worse), unless wearing 30+ suntan lotion on chest and belly, as welding light goes right though them and burns skin. Medium to dark colored shirts work OK.

Buy suntan lotion, as the new type of sprays leave an orange colored tint on shirts and it does not wash off.

 

One final note: If a guy tells me he has welded for quite a while, I look at his forearms to see if he has spots on them (white in the summer, as the skin around them is tan). These spots are weld burn scars and everyone that welds gets them sooner or later and the more he welds, the more he has. I have more then I can count and even have a few on my legs.

Edited May 22, 2011 by bruce83

[Oddmanout84]

I was lucky enough to have had a black leather biker jacket from my days when I still had my Harley. When I got my welder, it gained new use as a welding jacket and does so admirably. You can weld with just suntan lotion if you want, but I wouldn't recommend it. Temporary discomfort from welding with PPE in warm weather is better than the prolonged discomfort of burnt skin from UV radiation or molten bits of steel. In my opinion, suntan lotion is a pretty insufficient barrier. If you do use something leather as protection, just make sure what you're wearing is genuine leather and not man-made pleather or something. Almost anything synthetic will melt on contact with sparks, leading to those swiss-cheese looking garments I often see on employees when I take a trip to the local steel distributor.