Completely An Amateur

[Wazrus]

Practice. Practice. Practice. Prepare your plate/material edges, i.e., bevel 'em. Practice welding light to heavy and heavy to light sections, both round and square. That way, you'll get a better 'feel' for the amperages so you don't burn holes or make big slaggy heaps for the rod to stick in. Keep your head out of the fumes, if welding galvanised stuff. Break the slag ASAP (while it's hot) and check for slag inclusions/holes, by grinding. Watch the weld pool: it should be sort of 'fingernail shaped' at the end of the rod and should ALWAYS be there. Establish angle(s) for the various rods and work and try different arc distances/angles. Try your hand welding some 16gge material and try some galvanised stuff, too, but remember the fumes. Time taken on clamping and setup is time well spent. Use a hand-held mask: using such a mask forces proper attention to clamping and setup and keeps the free hand away from hot bits. Pre-set your work with a mind to distortion:distortion in welding is a fact of life. Place your weld runs with that in mind, shorter runs and turning is better than a long run on one side then turning to complete the other. The sections will pull to the welded area. If it's out of square, bash it into shape before proceeding. Check, check, check for square. Clamp, clamp clamp, before you start.
Cannot over emphasize practice, though.
Best of luck
Wazrus Australia

 

[LD1]

. 60xx rods only need to be in dry storage and dont put any heat on them.

Same with 7014

 

[Sarazwork]

Wow, lots to get started on, Thanks everyone. My son, who is in the Marines right now, left me with all his welding stuff, so I have a bunch of equipment, gloves, helmet, hammers and such to get started right now. Thanks for the tip on the balaclava. I probably need to get one of those. I have lots of fluffy white hair, which I can just see, bursting into flames at the first rogue spark... (imagine the fire inspector, "Well, I have heard of spontaneous combustion and as much as it looks like that might be the case I am pretty sure it was just a welding accident...") :laughing:

Gary Fowler, I would love to take you up on your offer. I have a seal a meal. So I can do that. I have tons of scrap metal laying around... (I live on a turtle farm and there is scrap everything here.)

 

[kencunningham]

Dont weld galvanized unless you absolutely have to. The fumes will make you really sick.

 

[stub]

Don't wear sandals. Don't ask me how I know.

 

[Depmandog]

Don't wear sandals. Don't ask me how I know.

So that's how you got your nickname "Stub"!! Burned through and dropped some hot slag on your toe...and now it's a tad shorter....!!!

Good thing you weren't wearing shorts too!!

(or that nickname would have been DoubleStub
Hahahaha!!

 

[k0ua]

Don't wear sandals. Don't ask me how I know.

don't wear low cut shoes with polyester socks either..:shocked: Polyester is the gift that keeps on giving

James K0UA

 

[Sarazwork]

So that's how you got your nickname "Stub"!! Burned through and dropped some hot slag on your toe...and now it's a tad shorter....!!!

Good thing you weren't wearing shorts too!!

(or that nickname would have been DoubleStub
Hahahaha!!

OW, OW, OW...

I built a forge to bend some steel once and found out all about hot metal... There are girl parts aprons aren't made wide enough at the top to protect. :cool2: see that little red guy... I looked like that but I wasn't smiling.... I have a scar in the shape of a square and a wider apron now....

 

[Depmandog]

OW, OW, OW...

I built a forge to bend some steel once and found out all about hot metal... There are girl parts aprons aren't made wide enough at the top to protect. :cool2: see that little red guy... I looked like that but I wasn't smiling.... I have a scar in the shape of a square and a wider apron now....

Is that what they call a beauty mark??

 

[Sarazwork]

I call it a beauty mark now... Some people might call it a brand :ashamed: