Anything welding

I would stay away from the flux if you already have the gas.

The .023 is too small for that heavier iron. Like said .035 will work better. Some go with .030 to compramise. Me, I use .035 for everything.

Your heat is up, but you are at 7 on the wire speed. I wonder if you back off the heat, keep the WS the same and slow down on how fast you are traveling the weld bead. That bead looks to have no penatration. gonna have to slow down.

Is that machine a 120v or 240v machine? If a 120v, you might be at the capacity of the machine. You can still weld that heavy of iron with a 120v unit, but will just need to go slower. I'm looking it up now.

KO

 

Just looked it up, that machine should weld that 1/4 mild steel just fine. Your problem is the wire is too small.

Have tried pushing the bead? sometimes with small wire, pushing will get better results. I know pulling, with cutting in, makes a stronger weld, but sometimes you have to change it up to find out what works.

KO

 

So noob question but wouldn't smaller wire give better penetration because of a smaller cross sectional area flowing the same current. Kinda how flux core penetrates better than solid wire because of the smaller area.

 

you cant get it hot enough to penetrate the thicker metal. it melts before it gets to the metal =

 

Gotcha. That makes sense.

 

Some good info there, that makes perfect sense about the smaller wire. I tried the .023 wire both ways, pushing and pulling and went at different speeds on passes but I'm pretty sure I'm out of gas. I just got done switching it over to .030 flux core and threw a decent little weld down on that same piece pictured above. Going to give that a whirl tomorrow and I'll get some more pictures up. Thanks for the responses guys!

 

For reference this is what I'm working on. 2x3x1/8 tube and 3x1/4 flat stock

 

Your settings are fairly close, but it seems to me like your wire speed may be a bit too slow for the heat you are running. That will be why you are getting a lot of spatter build up on the weld and your tips.


To set wire speed, I usually keep one hand on the wire speed dial and then start running a bead. You can then adjust the wire speed up or down until it is running smooth. I try to rest my arm on something to keep my hand steady while I do this.

Too slow, it will burn the wire before fusing in to the base metal.
Too fast, the wire will hit the base metal before melting (you will feel the wire pushing the gun back a little bit).

I found a 20 second video clip that may help: http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/wire-speed.htm

 

Yeah I knew it couldn't be too far off but I ran out of gas so I switched over to some .030 flux core and it's going a lot better. I'm definitely rusty though. The butt joints on the 2x3 tube are a bitch to not burn through and I can't see the joint very well so I keep drifting off to the side.

 

Yeah, it is going better for you now. Practice maintaining a consistent travel speed & arc length and you will be set

 

Not too spam, but in case anyone's interested.

http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/buy-sell-trade/300525-nib-welder-accessories-f-s.html

 

Here's one of the butt joints on the 1/8" wall tube

 

Bit of a gap there.

 

Haha I knew someone was going to say something. It was the only way to get the outside angle right. I'm just going to cut a little piece and plate it up. May not be the prettiest, but it's mine

 

In that situation if you can, it's best to take the total angle and split it evenly between the pieces. so for instance if you need a 30* angle, cut each at 15* and you'll have a nice gap free joint.

 

Why not just split the angle? If it was a 45 then two 22.5's wouldn't leave a gap( just a example. I understand it might not be a 45 degree).

 

I don't have anything to measure the angles with my main concern was having the same amount of metal sticking out around the corner as the bedsides and tailgate which is why that gap is there. I'm not too worried about it because one I plate it an mount the bumper, you'll never see it. This is my first solo fab project so I still have plenty of techniques to learn. I'll see if my dad has a protractor or something and see what they ended up being cut at out of curiousity

 

angle finders are like $10 at lowes

 

I'm cheap I mean I built this thing with all my dad's tools haha. I'm trying to hold off on buying tools for myself since I have nowhere to store them right now. Might be getting a house soon though!

 

Even a speed square will work. Super cheap and available at just about any lumber/ hardware store.