Any good welders in here??

[86350X]

I am new to welding,, just a little practice t work,, anyway, I got my own welder, it's just a lttle MIG machine,,,,, I amusing .30 wire and a 75%/25% mix for shielding gas,,,,, Anyway, I am trying to make my own6 pack rack for a grab bar and somewelds come out great and others are big and glopy and the wire keeps burning back into the tip?? What do you guys think? It has to have to do withthe heat setting and wire speed those are the things I m most unfamilliar with,,,, Does it sound like its to hot/cold,,,, fast/slow????/ Any tips are appreciated

[J.D.]

Sounds to me like your not keeping a steady pace with your hand. Sometimes you think you're going steady, but your really not. Just keep practicing and you'll get it...took me about 8 hours of practice to get pretty good with it.

[86350X]

Thanks, I'll keep that in mind,,,, The reason I think its Wire speed or heat is because at work whe I weld my boss usually sets those for me an then I can weld pretty good,,, at least the beads look good,,, and I have never had the wire burn into the tip like it is,,that confuses me the most

[J.D.]

I don't really know much about the settings either....see I go to a shop class, and my teacher was just teaching us how to weld and what not about a week ago. My problem to start off with is I couldn't keep my hand steady and I was doing some globby, some good too. But once I got the hang of it I had no probs. Have you ever tried stick-welding? That stuff sucks balls! It took me forever just to be able to get it started and keep going! I think mig-welding is the best and easiest way to weld

[86350X]

No, I never tried stick,,,, I like mig welding because its so versatile, you can weld just about anything, including aluminium,,,,, I guess I'll just keep practicing and play wit the settings a bit.......

[smokinwrench]

I can weld anything except the crack of dawn and I'll braze it shut. LOL It sounds to me like you have the wire speed to slow, that is usually the cause of wire burning off in tip. Or it could be to hot it is your pick it depends on the size of material you are welding. It just takes years of practice to be damn good at it. When you get it set right and moving the correct speed for the material, you will get this nice sizzling sound when your welding. If you concentrate on your puddle while welding it helps alot. I haven't bought gas for quit awhile, but last I knew it wasn't much more expensive to get a better mix of gas, 91/9, I think is what I have. The better gas is worth the money if you'r welding on something that needs to look excellent. When using the better gas it will leave less splatter that you have to grind off. Aargon is the best gas to use, it is more expensive, but it is the best. Hope this helps Josh

[86350X]

Thanks,,,, I am currenty using argoshield,,,,75% Argon 25% CO,,, I will try speeding up the wire and turning the temp down,,,,,, I am weldng steel tubing a little less than 1/8t inch thick,,,,,,,

[KASEY]

you will be better off going to .023 wire if your using soild wire!! dual shield wire is your best choice too ,, it takes alot less amperage and is alot easier to learn with too....

[catfishwhisker]

Try finding a piece of metal about the same thickness as the piece your wanting to weld. There should be a chart somewhere on the welder that shows heat and wire settings for certain thickness's of metal. If not, turn the welder down a little under halfway. While striking an arc, keep your other hand on the wire speed. Turn the wire speed up or down till you get a good even arc going. You'll be able to tell the difference in the sound that the arc will be making. You might want to check the regulator too. I use mine set at about 20lbs. If your going to be welding thin metal most of the time, .023 wire will do better. You can keep your heat set lower with the thinner wire so that you won't burn through like the bigger wire. And if you try to weld any aluminum, be sure to use 100% argon. You'll have to get a different liner too. Hope this helps.

[86350X]

Thank you,,, I will try the thinner wire,, I only bought a 2 pound spool just so I ould not have it to long, so when it rns out I will give the .023 a try.... I am gonna go try the wire speed tunng now,,,,, Thanks again

[dakywaky]

if there is paint or oil, grease anything you will always get bad welds, no matter what wire you usealso if your welding thin metal, turn your wire down and your heat also, as to not blow a hole in it.

[Dirtcrasher]

Ya mig welds have to be ground to bare metal. I found that less heat the slower the wire feed or it actually hits the piece and globs up. High heat can take a faster wire speed and it sorta zzzzzzzzzzzzzz together, you'll here it when it's just right! Too much heat burns holes, not enough and it globs up never really joining the metal together. Find the right heat then play with wire speed. Those 120V jobs seem to do up to about .1875 - .250. You need 240V for the bulldozer type stuff, oops wait thats a 6 pack rack! nevermind

[moe]

here's something you may not thought of you can't mig in a windy area,the wind blows your argon sheild away which will give you a bad weld :!:

[PowerTrike]

I have been welding for a little while now, still practicing. Yeah, what they said about speeding up the wire speed is probably true. I have has the same problem before and that did the trick. I just cut down on the amps and turned the knob up to make the wire spool faster. To tell you the truth I usually stick weld though (the only welder i currently own) and it does take some time to master.... However i have used an industrail sized wire-feed. They are nice! I'm thinking of getting a smaller one myself. I will also be taking an advaced welding class in the near future.

I actually just finished a snowmobile lift a few weeks ago. Its pretty cool and easy to build. I think i found the plans on the net a long time ago and printed them out--if i can find them again i will post a link.

Find some scrap metal, clean it up and practice :-D -Nick

[86350X]

Hey, thanks for the responses, I thought this thread was dead,,, Anyway, I have been practicing, doing pretty good too,,,, I will soon have photo's of my 350x restoration up and you will be able to see the grab bar I made, and I have to weld a couple frame cracks,,, I will show pics, but like I said, thanks again,,, and feel free to keep it coming, I am sure I am not the only one looking for advice, ya know?