Pre-Welding for a novice

[MaltbyMower]

JasonL,

With all this good advice, you soon be able to fix anything from the liberty bell to broken heart /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif

My father just upgraded and sold me his century welder. I'm no expert, I've only done one weld, but its as adictive as woodworking. (I have about 25K worth of rarely used woodworking tools in my shop!) Since the welder, I've purchased a chop saw and finally set up my bench grinder.

BTW, for all you molten metal heads, my welder has the gas bottle and the wire feed, and thats about all I know, kinda scary, huh? /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

 

[thingy]

Sounderman,,nice to hear you mention me again,,you still mad????[still like the way you quote me],,,yeah,,no need doing a job right if you can do it wrong,right?,wrong? good attitude..........thingy

 

[Soundguy]

You are a real piece of work... commas and all.

Soundguy

 

[thingy]

Thanks,,,sound,,,,,,and by the way,,,you use d.c.e.p.,,,for stick welding on steel,,not d.c.e.n.,,,,and,,,,most rods are sticky,,if,,,,,,you don't know what your doing,,,,,,mine hardly ever stick,,,,,,,,,anymores,,,,,,,,,the thing

 

[Spiffy]

OK, Thingy, now you have me confused.

I'm guessing you must be in some some very specialized and fault sensitive construction [chemical plants or something?] talking about Xray inspection, certifications on various pipe materials in various positions....and now, adamant about reverse polarity [DCEP]. That's stricter than the bridge shop I once worked in [everyone can relax; I never did any of the certified welding].

Reverse should drive some contaminants to the surface like AC does, and, depending upon your welding techniques, will give deeper penatration in most situations [I guess the rules change for TIG, but, unfortunately, overdosing on caffiene is the closest I get to being a Tigger]; anyway straight polarity can be used on steel. Essentially what I'm saying is that to state "always DCEP for steel" in this situation, he may as well go "buzz-box".

I think cleaning whenever posible is a great recommendation; but in all honesty, the reverse polarity or AC will forgive some bad habits [espcially if nobody is going to Xray your weld].

A good welder [espcially with good equiment] wouldn't have trouble with rods sticking; though I sometimes can hold an arc at 40A AC with E6013s, under 75A AC, I really should find some of those rods Soundguy has. If fancy equipment can't make up for some user faults; special rods may as well! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Anyway, if we're still talking "cheap, quick, and dirty [dirty: mostly figuratively, but let's allow a little contamination here]", the buzz-box would be step one, then one can augment with other toys or step up to a universal machine. If "versatile" is the real key word [assuming fairly cheap too]; I'm sticking with the Oxy-acetylene as step 1.

Now, Thingy, can you explain the comma "thing" to me?! /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

 

[thingy]

Well,,,,,,,,,if your confused,,,I didn't make you that way,,,,and just cause you don't know something doesn't mean your confused,just means you don't know,,,,,and yes,,,,I am in the welding racket professionally,,,,,,,,and have worked in chemical plants,,,and have also worked in steel fab shops,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,now,,,,,,,,,lets look at the numbers on an electrode,,,,lets take e-7018 for example,,,the e stands for electrode,,,the first two numbers are for minimum tesile strength times 1,000, in psi,,the third number indicates what postion you can weld with it,,,1 = all postions,,,,2 = horazontal and flat,,,etc,,,,,,the last number in this case indicates the kind of coating on rod and what current manufactor says can be used,,,in this case,,the manufactor is saying you can use a.c. or d.c.r.p,,,,,now if it would have been a 3 instead of 8 than manufactor is saying it will work with a.c.,,,,d.c.e.n,,,,or d.c.e.p,,,,,,now if it had been a 0 than manufactor is saying just d.c.r.p.,,,,,,now we know what the numbers mean,,,,,,,but having said all that,,,it is common knowledge,,that most rods for steel will run better on d.c. than a.c.,,even if manufactor says they can be run on a.c.,,,like a e-7018 for example,,,and it is also common knowledge that most will run better on d.c.e.p. than on d.c.e.n,,,even though manufactor says it can be run on d.c.e.n.,,,,,,,,there are a few exceptions ,,, e-6013 for example,,is generally considered an a.c. rod,,,and might even run better on a.c.,,,its the a.c. buzz box rod,,,,,,,,,but its the exception,,not the rule,,,,,,,,,,,so about all electrodes run much better on d.c. than a.c.,,,,,fact,,,,,,,and many electrodes just will not do it on a.c.,,,,cause they are not made for a.c.,,,fact,,,,,,,and its safe to say,,,all rods made for d.c. will run much better on d.c.r.p. than on d.c.s.p......its another fact that d.c.r.p. will allow more penatration than d.c.s.p,,and both more than a.c.,,,,,,,and as far as a.c. cleaning better or something,,,,in stick welding,,,hummm,,,,,,,,you really don't need a rod to clean your metal for you,,,your supposed to clean it before you weld it,,,,,,,,and if it don't penatrate as much,,or weld as good with,,,,,kinda defeating the purpose,,,huh??? Just look up what alternating current is,,,,,and you will see,,it alternates,and if your trying to melt steel,generally thats not as good as direct current,,,,in theory,,on all the time,,,,,,,,thingy

 

[Mith]

Jason, sorry about your thread.

Soundguy. Yep. Im Mith, very much real, not just a Myth. /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

Thingy, were not welding pros, its Tractorbynet.com, not perfectweldersbynet.com.
</font><font color="blue" class="small">( it all depends on what you mean by master )</font>
It does. Seeming as we are not (mostly) professional welders I believe that the meaning I was using corresponds to that of many people here. Also if I alert you to the thread title </font><font color="blue" class="small">( Pre-Welding for a novice )</font>
</font><font color="blue" class="small">( exactlly how most home welders use it )</font>
I personally find this statement wrong and poorly thought out. Just as we are not pros doesnt mean we have no idea what we are doing. As to the MIG, you cannot deny that that is a good way to intoduce it visually, it bares no resemblence to its use, note I went on to explain it further.
Anyway, im sorry that we are not the utmost perfection of welders and we dont do everything the way a professional welder would. I will be sure to call on your services for advice next time I need to do a X-ray quality weld if that OK.
1 question though. What does TIG stand for, I cant remember, Tungsten Inert Gas maybe?
This is my last reply to this thread, thankyou.
LBrown, you have competition. /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif

 

[thingy]

I relize most people hear are not welding experts,,,,,if you read my first post in this thread,,,you will see that I treated it that way,,,,,,,the man was asking basic stuff,,,so thats the way I went,,,,,,,BUT others started telling him the how to part,,,and some of the info needed to be corrected,,,,,,the way you learn anything is the right way,,,,,,,for instance,,,if your reading teacher in 1st grade could barely read themselfs,,,its not good for the little students,,,,,,for instance,,telling the man that he really didn't need to clean the weld area prior to welding,,,,,,,,well,,,thats not the way you teach somebody,,,,you got to learn the basics,,,and go from there,,,for instance,,,telling the man to use d.c.e.n. if using direct current,,,,,,,,,and suming up m.i.g. welding as a hot glue gun,,,,don't you see thats why all these little mig welders are sold,,,,,,,,cause thats how many feel about them,,,,,,but,,,as I've tried to explain above,,,,,,if you learn to use the g.m.a.w. process correctly,,,,,it is anything but a hot glue gun process,,,,now,,,,,if I ruffeled a few of you guys feathers,,,well,,,,,let me put it this way,,,,,,if we was talking lets say,,,mechanic work,,,,,and I was giving my two cents worth,,[cause thats all it would be worth in this case],,,,and mr. goodwrench got on here and tried helping out,,,,well,,,,I wouldn't get upset at him,,,,,,would maybe try and learn something about the mechanical problem we was talking about,,,,,,get it,,,,now thats just me,,,,,,,,,,G.T.A.W.......it stands for gas tungsten arc welding,,,,,,t.i.g.,,which would mean,,tungsten inert gas,,, is just short for that,,,,,,like m.i.g. is short for gas metal arc welding,,,,like stick is short [in a different way] for s.m.a.w.,,,,,which stands for shielded metal arc welding,,,,like flux core,,,,is short for f.c.a.w..which stands for fluxed core arc welding,,,,,etc.,,,,etc...the thing

 

[Spiffy]

<font color="blue"> I am in the welding racket professionally </font>

Thanks for clearing things up Thingy. Actually, since I guessed you did some sort of finicky stuff, I was confused about how to parallel your experience to the question at hand, not the actual question! I still don't understand the commas. /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

Anyway, I'm with you on bad habits sticking harder than undercut slag [I have both, the former sometimes causes the latter! /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif ]. But I don't think Mith [Myth! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif] or Soundguy were offbase saying that acceptable [yes, application can make this a real vaque term] welds can be had under less than ideal conditions and with less than ideal equipment.

Both the red "tombstone" and "R2D2" cost me only new cables. Don't know about prices; but if in the same ballpark; the AC/DC would be a no-brainer. And if $$$ were no problem; oh boy: AC/DC/MIG/TIG;sub-arc; plasma cutter;.....no wait, I'd pay somebody with a steadier hand than mine to weld /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif....I suppose freight to Thingy would be to slow for my impatience though. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Anyway, the classes or working with friends who are proffesionals [they may have some odd habits too though!] are still great ideas. And all the other info here stikes truth too, irronically even the completely polar statements from Thingy and Soundguy & Mith (all application and whether it [or your personal taste] can afford to be wrong)...heck even my hairbrained points have some truth [if you're slightly masochistic anyway]. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Get the best equiment for the money you're willing to part with and enjoy it. "A stitch in time" may apply here, but if you're talking "hobby farm" uses, you may or may not care. /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

 

[thingy]

You guys are funny,,,,,,you keep writing me and mentioning my name and "quoting" me,,,but want to get back to........the issue...........pot calling the kettle,,,,,here's some advice,,,,quit writing me quotin me and ,,and I'll shut up,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,on THIS thread,,,said all I need to say anyways,,,,,,,,,,,,,but will be reading these welding topics,,,and give advice as needed,,,IF I feel like it,,,,,most times when I read these don't get involved,,,but might in future more since it really seems to upset 2 or 3 people so bad,,,,,,and by the way,,,,,,,all the comma's are to get you to ask,,,,"why all the commas",see,,,,,,,,,,it works,,,,the thing