Anything welding

Check out this method as well for joining angle iron at a 90°

https://youtu.be/AF8sgcQDabc

 

It's good that you have something to reference to in the future. You will be reminded how much you skills have improved. Don't be ashamed, be proud that you have improved. You will improve.

 

Got some 75/25 gas today so I can start practicing with that.
And some excalibur 7018 rod that the shop guy swears will magically make me an expert stick welder

 

I've burned a lot of that exact rod. It's really a good way to learn. You learn a lot about arc length and heat management.

 

I need to give that another shot. That’s how I tried it the first time, but I don’t think I notched it enough

 

Very cool, looks like an extremely strong joint. If you have a plasma cutter that's the way to go.

 

Definitely doable with an angle grinder too! I think he just used plasma because it was so T H I C C

 

I gotta get an angle grinder

 

Hahaha yeah you do. It’s essential for even the most basic metal work. I recommend one with an 11amp motor. I have a Milwaukee one that’s a few years old and it’s got some serious balls.

 

You can`t have just one!! 3 or 4 at least

Make sure it is comfortable in your hand

If you like to do lots of grinding get a 7"

 

I got a 14 amp 7” grinder the other day. That thing is a beast!

 

Dewalt has a kit with two angle grinders for $100 at home depot. Ive been rocking them for a few years now. Mind you they are only 7.5amp ones but i keep a flap disc and grinding disc on them. My 11amp dewalt one mostly keeps a cut off wheel on it.

Itll only take you one project where you have to keep swapping discs on a single grinder to decide you need 2-3 more!

 

In Truth I have no idea just how many I have floating around maybe a dozen.

I have had good luck with just about every brand.

On the 4 1/2" and 4 " I throw that stupid handle away that is how you burn them up using 2 hands

Let what ever disc you have on do the work pressure just burns them up the same with tripping the over loads all the time

 

Love this guy, his stick welding videos have been great.

So I am in love with 6013, and it gave me some likely false confidence to take on the project I bought the welder for.

I had a snapped stud in my motorcycle motor I wanted to get out. I have a stud extractor that just wouldn't bite. I practiced on another piece of already broken and removed stud and large nut. After that I went at it on the real version.

The setup:

Projects by Michael Halat, on Flickr

Tacked:

Projects by Michael Halat, on Flickr

And removed:

Projects by Michael Halat, on Flickr
Projects by Michael Halat, on Flickr

I also made a trophy out of my snapped stub shaft from a recent trip:

Projects by Michael Halat, on Flickr
Projects by Michael Halat, on Flickr

After that I ran three practice beads using the full stick.

Projects by Michael Halat, on Flickr
Projects by Michael Halat, on Flickr

This one is SO much easier to strike the arc. I had a ton of fun using this stick. Even though it made welding so much easier I think I am going to burn through my box of 6011 just to practice the harder stick first. I thin I am most proud of the first part of the second bead as well as the part from 1/2 to 3/4. After that the stick was getting so short I had to go one handed.

 

Sorry, I laughed quite a bit at this post.

1. What's with the knife? I thought you were grounding with it or something but the clamp is right on the vise grips.
2. Everyone with a pair of arc flashed vice grips raise your hand I had a pair of those even before I had a welder.

 

Kinda cool using the gas....
No slag and very little splatter.
I'm getting pretty fat welds but when I up the voltage, it stutters, I think because the wire is burning too quickly. I guess I just need to speed up?

 

Does your welder have recommended settings on the inside of it? Should recommend settings based on wire, gas and material thickness. That’s what I’ve been using and it works well.

 

First glance I'd say run hotter, and if it sounds rough crank the feed. Your travel looks good.

 

lol I know it looks ridiculous it was basically a spacer to hold the nut semi level. It’s just what I had on hand.

 

It does have recommended settings and I've been starting with those and messing around with deviation a little bit.
It's also semi automatic in that you set the wire diameter and it sets a baseline voltage/wire speed.
You can't set voltage and wire speed independently but what you can do is change the voltage +or- 20% so if you want a slower wire speed you up the voltage and then turn the voltage/wire speed back down to where you were. This has the effect of keeping you in a reasonable ratio while still allowing you to fine tune it.
I also played with stick some more and found another setting I had missed .
The arc force setting goes from 20 to 100 (% I believe). It was all the way down at 20. Turning that up a bit helped with striking an arc without sticking even more than turning off the VRD did.

You guys were right about too many settings complicating the learning process but I also think that I'm capable of eventually figuring them all out and benefiting from them