Getting anyone around here to do some welding is dang near impossible. After spending a hour on the phone and getting nowhere, I called the local welding supply house in coatesville and asked about some MIG units. It so happens they were running a sale and I bought a Hobart 135 MIG with gas setup. Now I just gotta learn to use it. I fired it up tonight with a C02/argon mix, reversed the polarity for solid core wire and had at it. I finally fixed the only outstanding tech item on the Savoy, I had J-hooks for a traunk battery hold down and that's a no-no. I welded the J-hooks to the battery tray, five minute job at most.
Melted metal today
- Thread starter snook
- Start date
BigBlockMopar
Well-known member
I recently got a spare welder from a friends place to use in my garage.
Only had to buy a freaking expensive gas-bottle and filling for it, but that's ok, the rest was free anyway...
I have tried using a super vintage old crappy arc-welder I have here, but can never seem to get anything done with it other than create only 1 big spark-rain and melt the welding-rod to the steel right after that... lol
But the CO2-welder I can use now works way more easier and is more controllable imo.
Since I have the thing I have fixed quite some things I had to have welded years ago, but never got around to it asking someone cause it was just too much hastle dragging parts everywhere and such.
But now I'm laying 'snails' like there's no tomorrow... LOL
Only had to buy a freaking expensive gas-bottle and filling for it, but that's ok, the rest was free anyway...
I have tried using a super vintage old crappy arc-welder I have here, but can never seem to get anything done with it other than create only 1 big spark-rain and melt the welding-rod to the steel right after that... lol
But the CO2-welder I can use now works way more easier and is more controllable imo.
Since I have the thing I have fixed quite some things I had to have welded years ago, but never got around to it asking someone cause it was just too much hastle dragging parts everywhere and such.
But now I'm laying 'snails' like there's no tomorrow... LOL
jedimaster
Well-known member
Welding is an art as much as it is technical skill. If your just getting into welding start on a stick welder. Its easier to read the puddle on a stick welder, and you need to be able to do that on a mig welder or your welds will be supperficial solder's. Wire feed mig welders can be very misleading. But once you get the hang of it your welds will still suck. Then you will see an improvment in you welds each time you use it. You need to get used to the welder your using, spool speed, drag speed, angle of the gun, length of the electrode, amp range are different for all types of wire, metals, and often differ between welders.
A few tips on mig welding for yall.
Mig welders must be dragged at an angle to get a clean weld(the same way a stick welder is done). in other words if your welding from left to right the wire should be tilted to the right like this
/ (angle) > direction
or
\ (angle) < direction
If not you will get lumpy bumpy welds.
Also you need to learn what a good weld sounds like.
There should be no snapping or popping should be a constant BZZZZZZZZZ BZZZZZZZZZ BZZZZZZZZZ.
Make sure the metal is clean to bare metal no paint, rust grease or dirt. This is a hugely important factor, although wire feed mig is the most leaneiant in welding dirty metal, You will not get a smooth clean weld if its dirty.
Try and weld in bursts of like 2 or 3 inches at most, otherwise you'll run into duty cycle problems, and the steel will get too hot.
If your welding cast iron(like exhaust manifolds), you will need to bake the metal to as hot as you can before welding it.(bake like stick it in tha barbeque for 10 - 20 minutes before welding)
I would recomend getting some 1/8" mild steel to practise on, I find it is the easiest.
You should also learn how to triple pass when welding, you get a much stronger weld.
If your having specific problems shoot me a message and I'll try and help you, I am no pro but I can weld pretty good, and I learned from a real pro.
Stick welding technique is almost identical to Flux core wire feed welding in tha you drag at an angle, but you have to first strike the electrode or you will weld the rod to the metal your welding. also the rod shouldn't really touch the metal, you strike the arc and feed the rod as it disapears. Its hard to explain. I read a good article on it a while ago I'll see if I can dig it up.
Lol I found it. This is a good read, print it out and try it with your stick welder in your hand you'll ge tthe hang of it.
http://www.aussieweld.com.au/arcwelding/page4/page4.htm
A few tips on mig welding for yall.
Mig welders must be dragged at an angle to get a clean weld(the same way a stick welder is done). in other words if your welding from left to right the wire should be tilted to the right like this
/ (angle) > direction
or
\ (angle) < direction
If not you will get lumpy bumpy welds.
Also you need to learn what a good weld sounds like.
There should be no snapping or popping should be a constant BZZZZZZZZZ BZZZZZZZZZ BZZZZZZZZZ.
Make sure the metal is clean to bare metal no paint, rust grease or dirt. This is a hugely important factor, although wire feed mig is the most leaneiant in welding dirty metal, You will not get a smooth clean weld if its dirty.
Try and weld in bursts of like 2 or 3 inches at most, otherwise you'll run into duty cycle problems, and the steel will get too hot.
If your welding cast iron(like exhaust manifolds), you will need to bake the metal to as hot as you can before welding it.(bake like stick it in tha barbeque for 10 - 20 minutes before welding)
I would recomend getting some 1/8" mild steel to practise on, I find it is the easiest.
You should also learn how to triple pass when welding, you get a much stronger weld.
If your having specific problems shoot me a message and I'll try and help you, I am no pro but I can weld pretty good, and I learned from a real pro.
Stick welding technique is almost identical to Flux core wire feed welding in tha you drag at an angle, but you have to first strike the electrode or you will weld the rod to the metal your welding. also the rod shouldn't really touch the metal, you strike the arc and feed the rod as it disapears. Its hard to explain. I read a good article on it a while ago I'll see if I can dig it up.
Lol I found it. This is a good read, print it out and try it with your stick welder in your hand you'll ge tthe hang of it.
http://www.aussieweld.com.au/arcwelding/page4/page4.htm
BigBlockMopar
Well-known member
Being a noob at rod-welding I found that with a rod-welder, the rod is too long to maintain good handcontrol over it. (Did I really say that? LOL !!)
If you could rest your hand on the work somehow, without melting your skin in the progress ofcourse, I think it will be much easier to control the rod's movement and distance to the iron.
In that view I agree that if you're able to make good welds with a rod-welder, making welds with a wirefed-welder should be even more easier.
But for the time being I'll just keep playing with wirefed-welder for now and get some stuff done finally...
If you could rest your hand on the work somehow, without melting your skin in the progress ofcourse, I think it will be much easier to control the rod's movement and distance to the iron.
In that view I agree that if you're able to make good welds with a rod-welder, making welds with a wirefed-welder should be even more easier.
But for the time being I'll just keep playing with wirefed-welder for now and get some stuff done finally...
68R/T
I got drunk and swallowed my teeth, now
I learned to stick weld almost 40 yrs ago. Bought a Lincoln 225 35 yrs ago for $112. Over the years I've used nothing else and have developed my skills to where I can comfortably weld anything from 18 gauge steel to cast, even stainless. (I love working with stainless) [smilie=s:
Much of the trick to stick welding is also in choosing the right rods and amp setting, and practice, practice, practice, practice, practice, and then practice some more.
I seen wirewelds done by some of the best and still believe that if your metal is 1/4" thick or more, a stick is by far a stronger weld.
When welding cast, like Jedi said, pre-heat your metal and use a nickle rod and stitch-weld to prevent warpage.
It is also possible to weld cast without pre-heating but it's a lot trickier. You can only weld about 1/2" at a time and let it cool enough to touch, then stitch-weld a different area. It's very time consuming, but eventually it will get done. [smilie=c:
the cool-weld method is how I modified the manifold on my waGOON. A few of members here have seen that one.
Much of the trick to stick welding is also in choosing the right rods and amp setting, and practice, practice, practice, practice, practice, and then practice some more.
I seen wirewelds done by some of the best and still believe that if your metal is 1/4" thick or more, a stick is by far a stronger weld.
When welding cast, like Jedi said, pre-heat your metal and use a nickle rod and stitch-weld to prevent warpage.
It is also possible to weld cast without pre-heating but it's a lot trickier. You can only weld about 1/2" at a time and let it cool enough to touch, then stitch-weld a different area. It's very time consuming, but eventually it will get done. [smilie=c:
the cool-weld method is how I modified the manifold on my waGOON. A few of members here have seen that one.
383duster
they say I'm a sheep forker.......
welding is my job and i can tell with today's filled wire for mig it's quality is better then stick welding, and much faster and cleaner welding.
I can weld with both very good, got al the certificates for welding pipelines and suchs stuff, inside is always mig and outside alway's with stick.
A good proffesional mig welder?? around $ 10,000 they cost....... [smilie=e:
I can weld with both very good, got al the certificates for welding pipelines and suchs stuff, inside is always mig and outside alway's with stick.
A good proffesional mig welder?? around $ 10,000 they cost....... [smilie=e:
jedimaster
Well-known member
Me personally I use a mig welder, as its cleaner, less chipping, and once you get used to it you can get good penetration. Also it welds alot cooler so you tend to get less warpage. But I wholeheartedly agree, anything 1/4" or thicker I prefer a stick.