New to welding

ericb2400 · Apr 15, 2015

SHMBO got me a welder for Christmas. Not much of one. A Lowe's special 110v wire feed.
I finally found something to weld on. An old lawnmower blade. Looking for hints and tips. Pleas no bashing on the small size I am happy that she got it for me.

ericb2400 · Apr 15, 2015

4th from the top is my first try. Worked my way up from there then continueed down from there so the bottom weld is the last one.

I am having trouble seeing what I am doing while welding. Any tips? I have figured out to breath through my nose to help keep from fogging the lenses. Any other new be tips to pass along

Shield Arc · Apr 16, 2015

You're gonna need to get a lot closer with the pictures of your welds. Is that a self shielded flux core only machine?
The trick to not having your hood fog up, is to get the inside of the hood hotter than your head. I hang my hood and reading glasses in front of a small heater until I'm ready to weld.

Gary Fowler · Apr 16, 2015

If you cant see the arc clearly, check the lens shade. If it is higher than a number 10 it is too dark or your FCAW welding. If you have an Auto-Dark lens, then it has adjustment knob to set the shade usually from shade 8 thru 12. A number 10 shade is pretty universally accepted for all but high amperage arc gouging and you wont be doing any of that.

skidsareforkids · Apr 16, 2015

Puddle is EVERYTHING! If you can't see the puddle you're never going to get where you want to be. Youtube has a ton of videos on welding. Watch them and start to recognize what a good puddle looks like. Also grind the rust off that blade dirty material contributes to porosity and even in practice welds if you're welding over rust you're not going to ever really now how good you're doing.

jb1390 · Apr 24, 2015

ericb2400 said:
4th from the top is my first try. Worked my way up from there then continueed down from there so the bottom weld is the last one.

I am having trouble seeing what I am doing while welding. Any tips? I have figured out to breath through my nose to help keep from fogging the lenses. Any other new be tips to pass along

View attachment 421159

I find it help tremendously to rest my elbows or something on a part that is steady. I cannot just hold a gun out at arms length and get consistent, smooth movement. If you are unsteady in the gun movement, you'll never get a good looking bead.

Also I found when I only had a 110 machine, a weave pattern helped, instead of a straight push.