Welding newbie need advice

"the prussian" Shop Dogs said:
Glad to hear you had some success. Learning to weld is a life long process that can be as rewarding as it can be aggravating. I spent ten years as a shipwright for the u.s. Navy , we used every welding process you can imagine and some even i still don't belive. Under water and under way . Just ease into it and pratice alot . Like any other skill it comes with time. Theres nothing like rolling(or floating) out on something you made yourself.
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there are some sick welding procedures that goe into ships wow like the 300 foot beads on the side of a ship where they have rails that the welder rolls on
 
Robot's are takin over the world, just kidding . Yea if your in a shipyard and you see a guy whose clean and carrying a folding chair. You can be assured he works a robotic welder. There cool and all but putting those babysitters in the same grade as real working welders is a joke .
I was lucky to run my own shop and worked on every type of matt. You can think of ,from latex to fiberglass to hundred year old steel .
It's a bad sign for a country when they start fireing all the skilled tradesmen from jobs that have been around for a century. I haven't worked since!
 
practice makes perfect as long as the tools are up to par usually. I'm about to try a 200$ hf mig welder just to tack stuff up either that or i need to invest into a 3rd arm lol
 
Taco,
You're gonna love that High Frequency rig. Makes everything nicer.

Funny story: When I got my first HF machine it was back before cable TV. People used antennas. The HF from my welder would screw up my neighbor's reception, bad. I didn't realize at first it was me who was messing with their TVs but when I finally figured out what it was, I kept quiet. It was about that time that Cable started coming to the neighborhood so their problem eventually went away.
Tom

LOL, just realized you're talking about Harbor Freight...not High Frequency. Sorry :) Maybe you'll enjoy the story anyway.
 
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....one more thing to add to all the good info already posted...you can pre-heat the thicker steel with a propane torch, better penetration on the heavier steel, without burning up the thinner...just my $.02
 
I was just gonna say that Estaban. I am brand new to welding and found that some where. Works well. Really is cool to be able to do all the stuff a welder allows for. My welds are still mighty fugly but they hold well.

My next project is the "2Door, door less" MB car carrier.

What thread is that on Tom?
 
Estaban said:
...a fair amount of helpful info here
Welding Tips and Tricks - TIG, MIG, Stick and a pantload of other info
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Purty cool Estaban. Gotta love the opening;
"I'm a welder.

I am not a PHD,

and I am certainly not a webmaster.


Most welders I know don't give a rats butt about stuff like when acetylene gas was discovered...me neither.

So what I try to do is just boil things down into down and dirty welding tips like the one in this short video on how to get the "Stack of Dimes" look on aluminum tig welds."

Thanks for posting. Saved it.
 
i got a question since everyone is on the welding topic, i have a little solar fluxcore wire mig welder at home (about the size of a minature coolar) and i also use a 220v lincoln at work (not sure of the model) now when i weld sometimes the welder stops spitting out wire or struggles to feed it smoothly all the time, on my fluxcore it sucks because it flatens the wire where the little wheel feeds it threw and than i need to assist it past the flattened portion of the wire. Im carefull not to let the spool unwide when installing it and i use what i consider a good amount of tension on both the spool and the wheel that feeds the wire (if i go to light it doesnt pull the wire threw and the same if i put to much tension). Now recently this started happening at work with the lincoln and my foreman said it always did this and its really annoying so i am here to ask you guys on any suggestion on what i can do to get more grip on the wire (i was thinking of taking a small file or a piece of sandpaper and roughen up the surface of the wire feed wheel, anyone think this is a good idea? any other suggestions?
 
This has always been a problem on Mig machines..Replace the feed rollers and the liner...tension adjustment is critical--must be just right..This is the reason the better quality mig machines have both a push roller setup near the spool and a pull roller setup inside the gun...Watch you tips inside the gun..if they start to burn ,change them , they do not last forever, the liner behind the tip will burn and clog up
 
Turtle Ted is right on here. Heed his advice. The tension on the spool should be just enough to keep it from unwinding. If you're flattening the flux core wire there's too much tension on the drive roller.
The inner lining could be wearing out and/or rusty/dirty. I have an option on my Hobart that applies a lubricant to the wire just as it enters the liner. It was a Hobart option so I don't know if there's such a thing for your machine.
Above all the tips MUST be clean and free of slag; a problem with flux core wire and a good reason to look at a gas setup. They burn much cleaner.
Good luck. Let us know if these suggestions help.

Just thought of a question: If MIG is metal/inert gas but the machine is not setup for gas and only uses flux core wire, is it still a MIG welder? I'd think you'd call it an MF :)
Tom
 
i know i know i agree not much of a welder now is it, i have used "REAL" welders and seen the diference this is just what i have for now, a good welder will run me about $650 (i know its not much for a welder but i can get a decent lincoln when they go on sale for that price) and i need to run a 220v plug to my garage (if im going to buy a new welder i dont want something slightly better i want something good that will last and perform)and as well im not doing to much welding at the moment im not producing nothing just mostly messing around so i cant really justify spending that money right now when i do have access to better welders when i need them. Also more on the topic of cleaning and replacing roollers and linings, soo let me get this straight i need to replace the rolers inside the mig (both or just the driving one? i also noticed that the rollers have 2 groves to them shall i turn it the other way and try the other groove?) and the lining inside the grip or inside the machine or both? any way of celeaning the path of the wire??? and should i maybe remove the tube/cable (im not sure whats it called maybe someone can tell me, im reffering to the cable that connects the gun to the welder and allows the wire to travel threw it?) and clean it maybe i can hold it up and spray some sort of lubricant threw it, and suggestions are wlecome if its a bad idead just tell me i wont do it, thanx guys and keep the advice coming :)
 
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pull the wire out of the liner and blow it out with an air hose. inside the machine before you send the wire back into the liner stick the wire through an earplug then into the liner this acts as a wiper and kinda keeps the wire clean before it heads through the gun. just an old trick i've used for awhile
 
flybytaco said:
pull the wire out of the liner and blow it out with an air hose. inside the machine before you send the wire back into the liner stick the wire through an earplug then into the liner this acts as a wiper and kinda keeps the wire clean before it heads through the gun. just an old trick i've used for awhile[/QUOTE

Good idea. Most weld shops sell wipers just for that purpose....kind of a piece of felt inside a metal clip that you slide over the wire. They also have an aerosol liner cleaner....comes in a can with a small tip. Just pump some into the liner, let it sit, and blow it out. You would be surprised at what comes out the end. Helps a lot if the wire gets slight rust. If it is too rusty, toss it. Makes for poor welds and worn liners.
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Thanx 2door, what are the odds the only location to buy those products in Canada (at least whats posted on theyre site) is only 15 min away from my house, i have yet to enter a store dedicated to welding :)
 
spit_fire said:
Thanx 2door, what are the odds the only location to buy those products in Canada (at least whats posted on theyre site) is only 15 min away from my house, i have yet to enter a store dedicated to welding :)
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Good luck, Spit Fire. Please let us know how you're doing.
Tom
 
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