New to welding.....having a blast w/projects!!

[stormpetrel]

Had some projects to do and didn't wanna pay someone to do 'em....so I bought a little Lincoln Weld-Pak and got to work. First impression? This is *not* easy My first attempts at laying down a bead were laughable.:laughing:

Today's project was welding a couple of grab hooks onto the top of my loader bucket. I used Lincoln Innershield 211 .035 flux core wire on the highest setting and wire feed on 3 (fairly low). Two passes did the trick. This is the first weld I've done that I though looked at all decent, and I've burned up a couple of pounds of wire practicing!

I didn't put any reinforcing plate under the hooks because the loader has a new 1/4" top (the first project I attempted) backed with 1/2" steel plate which is through-bolted to strengthen the top. I have a grapple on the bucket which bent the spit out of the top. I had reinforced the 1/8" steel w/ a piece of 1/4" angle iron which failed miserably at strengthening the top sufficiently to stop it from bending. Ahem.

So I cut the entire top off, fitted a new 1/4" steel plate instead of the 1/8" that was on there originally. I lapped it over the top on the back, and butted it against the sides. I then ran a continuous bead in two passes, on BOTH top and bottom of all seams. It didn't look too pretty, but I've tested it with the largest rocks the loader/grapple can lift, and some it couldn't lift. The welds held fine, and the top of the bucket didn't re-bend.

I can't say say enough about the little Lincoln flux-core welder: it has done all I could throw at it and run perfectly. I didn't buy a bigger welder because (a) I don't have the money, (b) I don't have 220v in my garage, and (c) I wanted a new welder for my first one, and spent all I could afford trying to get a decent one (for a 110v, that is). I tried Mr. sledge on a weld I thought looked ugly (A piece of pipe welded on to a 1/4" "coupon") and my vise broke!!! So I guess ugly doesn't necessarily mean weak?

Anyhoo, I just wanted to show folks what I'm up to. And....thanks for all the good info I've collected about how to weld from "lurking" here and trying to get the right info.

The photos show the new hook, and a shot of the bucket top. Any comments, advice etc. are appreciated.

 

[RoMad]

The hook weld looks pretty darn good for a beginner. I am not a mig welder, so others may correct me. If I made that weld I would run one more stringer on the bucket up to about half the height of the weld you have and I would turn the heat up a little and make sure it penetrates.
Like I said at first, it looks good. Just doesn't look like it penetrated into the top of the bucket a lot.

 

[Shield Arc]

I'm new to welding myself! But if it was me I'd preheat those hooks, and make two more passes all the way around!

 

[Arc weld]

I guess someone has to be the bearer of bad news but a first or second project for a new welder shouldn't be welding lifting hooks on a bucket, especially with NR211! NR211 is a general purpose wire that isn't designed for dynamic loading(twisting/pulling stress). Before welding anything, that's the first thing you have to consider, whether it's a static load(just sitting there) or a dynamic load. Then you choose the right rods or wire to use and how to prep it. The very least I'd do is put 2 more passes on the hooks like Shield Arc said. Preheat would be a very good idea since your machine is limited to welding about 3/16" material.

 

[PhysAssist]

I'm new to welding myself! But if it was me I'd preheat those hooks, and make two more passes all the way around!

LOL! New to welding

 

[BukitCase]

Shield is retired, kinda like me - I've noticed that it sometimes makes more sense to think of time as being more relative to the entire cosmos, not the immediate version that tends to rear its ugly head when punching a clock

Sooo, when he says "new to welding", it may be he's measuring more in terms of "millenia" than in minutes

At least I've almost got the wifey to swallow that crap :cool2: ... Steve

 

[PhysAssist]

Shield is retired, kinda like me - I've noticed that it sometimes makes more sense to think of time as being more relative to the entire cosmos, not the immediate version that tends to rear its ugly head when punching a clock

Sooo, when he says "new to welding", it may be he's measuring more in terms of "millenia" than in minutes

At least I've almost got the wifey to swallow that crap :cool2: ... Steve

Sounds like a Carl Sagan view of the cosmos- mill-yuns and mill-yuns of years came before, and after....

 

[Shield Arc]

stormpetrel in case you didn't understand what I meant about adding two more passes. Here is a really crude drawing of a 3-pass fillet.
I put some hooks on my fence spooler awhile back. I used 7018, and remember these hooks are for only holding the spooler onto the forks, so no real load, or I may have put 3-passes also.

 

[cqaigy2]

I think that was 'bill yuns and bill yuns'
That 'new guy' Shield Arc, seems to know what he's talking about. :thumbsup:

 

[Shield Arc]

That 'new guy' Shield Arc, seems to know what he's talking about. :thumbsup:

Naw, just got a good line of bull ****!