These are the worst welds you have ever seen

[Renze]

Somebody must have said this before, but i'll list my .04 $

1. get an experienced welder to adjust your machine, electricity, wire feed, gas flow. Then write that down if you cant remember the settings.
(if your machine settings are correct, then you know that if welds are poor, it must be the adjustment of the man handling the welder, not the adjustment settings of the welding machine itself. very important if you dont want to keep guessing what's wrong, for weeks)
2. before you weld anything with MIG, clean the surface of the steel with a wire brush or preferrably grind it blank with a disk grinder. MIG hates rust or paint more than any other type of welder
3. dont weld in the open on a windy day. the MIG gas will be blown away and you'd just paste chicken sh*t on it....
4. dont try your first welds on anything thinner than 3mm. any thinner and it's hard to control your melt bath, go too slow and you'd easily burn holes in it. Not something for someone with less than a month experience.

 

[ronjhall]

I will ask only one question today. How do you guys actually see what you are doing? With the tinted glass and my head 2-3 feet away, I felt like I was welding blind. I would put the tip near the bolts, pull the trigger and move the tip around, stop, flip up the shade and see what happened moments ago.

All I am seeing is one spot with brilliant light. The actual bolts were nowhere to be found in my field of vision.

Get a Auto-Darkening welding helmet. It makes a big difference in how you view your welds.
If you are welding our side in cold weather. Your helmet lens may be fogging up. There are coating that can be applied to lens to cut down on the fogging.
Here is where I got my helmet from. CyberWeld

 

[BobRip]

I
I will ask only one question today. How do you guys actually see what you are doing? quote]

Sun is best, but get some artifical light shining on the subject. A halogen 120 watt flood light will help a lot.

I found that I had to slow my movement and move slow enough to allow the weld to penetrate. This helped me some. What others are saying is good.
I taught myself and am still not good, but I keep trying and send more pictures for comments her.

 

[Ifixcars]

I would say get some "drops", which are small cut pieces of new steel, from a local weld/steel supply shop if you can. They are usually cheap to buy, since they are kind of scraps that may have some use someday. I can usually buy a handfull of pieces for a couple of bucks. Or you can go to a good hardware store or tractor supply store and buy some short sticks of mild steel to play with. Get some 1/8" or so thick pieces and start with the settings on your welder instruction sheet or on the helper sticker on your welder. If I were you, I would get some solid .030 -6 wire like a Lincoln L56 or Hobart HB28 and use your gas bottle set up. Make sure your POLARITY is set up for whatever process you are using (check your manual to be sure you are set correctly). Run some longer beads instead of little tack welds. I think you can buy an additional shade to place in front of your existing lens to make it darker. I think most helmets are #10, and you can step up to a #11 for a couple of bucks. Usually, the more power you weld with, the darker the lens needs to be. You can switch back to FCAW after you get used to GMAW. FCAW is brighter, and creates more splatter. You should use a pull technique when running this wire. With the gas, you can push or pull the bead. I prefer to push most of the time. Don't forget to turn your gas on, and set the pressure to about 30 when you press your trigger. I'm betting when you go to the gas and solid wire you will get good results in a very short time.

 

[dbdartman]

In a welding post before thingy!

OK, The first question I'm forced to ask is: Did you read the manual that came with the machine?

Second question: Did you set the polarity for flux core (Flux core & gas shield use different polarity)?

Third question: Did you set your voltage & wire speed, in accordance with the material thickness, from the tables that should be on the door of the machine AND in the manual?

Tip #1: READ THE MANUAL!!!!! Once you get past all the safety warnings (which ARE important & shouldn't be skimmed over) there should be plenty of instruction on how to get started.

Tip #2: A good weld sounds like bacon sizzling in a hot pan. I find the settings on the machine cover as a great starting point, & use wire speed to fine-adjust so the weld SOUNDS smooth.

Tip #3: Get as close to the weld as you can, to see better, & more light on/in the work area will never hurt anything.

Tip #4: Auto-darkening lenses are nice, auto-darkening lenses with adjustable shade are even nicer! I paid over $250 for my Jackson EQC shield about 10 years ago & it adjusts from 9-12 shade, has adjustable sensitivity (for use in sunlight), plus adjustable delay (from shaded to "clear") & has served me well for all MIG & TIG welding, including work from 30 amps to 200+ amps. The delay is most useful for TIG welding aluminum, & I end up with a 3-4 second delay (to keep the tungsten from blinding me after a weld).

Tip #5: GET COMFORTABLE! Nothing will make a weld worse than trying to contort yourself into position then having your hands/arms shaking because there's nothing to "lean" on. I've found that even using your pinky finger as a "guide" for the hand holding the welding gun is better than nothing. Along this same line, do a "dry run" along whatever you want to weld BEFORE you weld. This way you'll have an idea of how & where you must move your hand(s), arm(s), or body before you pull the trigger.


99 out of 100 bolts are coated in SOMETHING (typically gold or silver zinc) & therefore make poor candidates for welding unless they are cleaned in acid to remove the coating. Get yourself, as already suggested, mild steel & a 4" angle grinder with grinding discs & a wire wheel attachment. Clean the steel good before welding. Practice, practice, PRACTICE!!!

BTW, new steel will have what's called "mill slag" coating it. That's what gives the steel it's brown/blue color. If you grind the mill slag off, the steel will be a bright & shiny almost silver color.


And, my final tip:READ THE MANUAL!

 

[Sully2]

Tip #1: READ THE MANUAL!!!!! Once you get past all the safety warnings (which ARE important & shouldn't be skimmed over) there should be plenty of instruction on how to get started.

Tip #2: A good weld sounds like bacon sizzling in a hot pan. I find the settings on the machine cover as a great starting point, & use wire speed to fine-adjust so the weld SOUNDS smooth.

Tip #3: Get as close to the weld as you can, to see better, & more light on/in the work area will never hurt anything.

Tip #4: Auto-darkening lenses are nice, auto-darkening lenses with adjustable shade are even nicer! I paid over $250 for my Jackson EQC shield about 10 years ago & it adjusts from 9-12 shade, has adjustable sensitivity (for use in sunlight), plus adjustable delay (from shaded to "clear") & has served me well for all MIG & TIG welding, including work from 30 amps to 200+ amps. The delay is most useful for TIG welding aluminum, & I end up with a 3-4 second delay (to keep the tungsten from blinding me after a weld).

Tip #5: GET COMFORTABLE! Nothing will make a weld worse than trying to contort yourself into position then having your hands/arms shaking because there's nothing to "lean" on. I've found that even using your pinky finger as a "guide" for the hand holding the welding gun is better than nothing. Along this same line, do a "dry run" along whatever you want to weld BEFORE you weld. This way you'll have an idea of how & where you must move your hand(s), arm(s), or body before you pull the trigger.


99 out of 100 bolts are coated in SOMETHING (typically gold or silver zinc) & therefore make poor candidates for welding unless they are cleaned in acid to remove the coating. Get yourself, as already suggested, mild steel & a 4" angle grinder with grinding discs & a wire wheel attachment. Clean the steel good before welding. Practice, practice, PRACTICE!!!

BTW, new steel will have what's called "mill slag" coating it. That's what gives the steel it's brown/blue color. If you grind the mill slag off, the steel will be a bright & shiny almost silver color.


And, my final tip:READ THE MANUAL!

As far as Im concerned you made the posting I woud have! I also bought a Jackson EQC Pro variable....and it was the smartest thing Ive done lately!

Also Id suggest this gentleman stop playing with welding bolts and such and just go and get some cutoffs of "about" 1/8 to 3/16ths thick..about 6 inches long of strips...angle...etc (1 1/2" wide stock..??) and practice on that material WITH HIS GRINDER ALSO...and to weld every "joint" he can dream of. Lap welds..seam welds..fillet welds...you name it.

 

[gclark94560]

Tip #4: Auto-darkening lenses are nice, auto-darkening lenses with adjustable shade are even nicer! I paid over $250 for my Jackson EQC shield about 10 years ago & it adjusts from 9-12 shade, has adjustable sensitivity (for use in sunlight), plus adjustable delay (from shaded to "clear") & has served me well for all MIG & TIG welding, including work from 30 amps to 200+ amps. The delay is most useful for TIG welding aluminum, & I end up with a 3-4 second delay (to keep the tungsten from blinding me after a weld).

Hi All!

I agree with just about everything said. I LOVE my Harbor Freight auto darkening and shade adjustable helmet!

Great investment for about $50 - from the HFT web site -

>>>"Superior auto-darkening lens for arc, MIG or TIG welding. Darkens from shade #4 to #9-#13 in 1/20000 of a second. Solar powered.

ITEM 46092-7VGA
$49.99 ">>>

Greg

 

[Tom_Veatch]

Try a #9 lens for a few bucks or get an auto-darkening helmet from Harbor Freight for about $50

Harbor Freight Tools - Quality Tools at the Lowest Prices

It's not top a of the line helmet, but it's OK for learning.

Believe it or not, I like my $50 Harbor Freight helmet better than my $200 Miller helmet.

 

[StevenPaul]

I think the first thing is to do what you've already done, ASK QUESTIONS! and especially on TBN. Lots of good advice and knowledge already pointed out in here. One thing I learned is what you seemed to be concerned about is how close to get when welding, well, I thought I was staying close enough for comfort (about a foot or so away) when one day I had a 19 year old kid who just graduated high school last year come over and help me with a couple small projects. He loves to weld, he's not a pro by no means, but he just loves welding. Well, I let him weld some (I have a small but sufficient flux core welder) and the first thing I noticed was how close he was getting to his welding, I mean this kid was like 6 or so inches from the welding. So I thought, hmmm, I wonder, well, next thing ya know, I tried it and it worked. I could see more and felt more confident in doing longer welds as opposed to little ones that I felt I had to check every 2 seconds.

And a few other things;
have plenty of open space and air
yes, those "sparks" can sting a bit, cover thyself!
It's all about the "puddle", make it a flowing puddle of molten lava!
a grinder and paint can be a rookie welders best friend at times!
get comfortable, can't tell you how much this makes a difference
take the advice of the pros in here and like someone else said, find a local welder, and I say, visit their shop and drool at all their cool stuff!

Steve

 

[BTDT]

As some have said, get close enough to see, but try to stay out of the fumes. Outside is usually not a problem, but indoors, may need a fan pointed in your direction to gently blow the fumes away from you. I say gently, because if you are using gas, you don't want fan blowing hard enough to interfere with that. Make sure, also, that there are not any flammables (gas, rags, etc) under or near where you are welding. Welding is fun.