Anything welding

Dicked around all day in the shop; was able to pick up another 36" x 40" piece of 3/8 A36 for $60, wanted an extension to my table.

Beautiful weather, about 75/80 all day.

I'm a little stuck on the legs portion of things. Have 10 feet of 1.5" x 3" .125 tube for my legs. I'm thinking some kind of swing up deal, with tabs/bolts on the upper portion of the legs. I goofed up a little bit, and made the throw on my hinges a little too long. It's alright, I didn't really want to cut into the 3/8 to make it smaller anyways. Mostly, the hinged design is so I can condense the table when I've got a truck in there, and for when I buy a house.













Any input?

 

Looks cold. Turn the voltage up a notch

 

40 CFH sounds way too high for your gas.. You'll blow through a bottle in no time at that flow rate.

 

Im using .030 solid wire. It looks to be a bit old and some of the wire has some discoloration so I'm planning on picking up some more soon.

The heat is actually all the way up. I agree, the fusion on the edges could be better but what's interesting is I'm getting good penetration and in some places a little to much. If you flip the piece over you can see where the weld was just beginning to come through the bottom piece.

This is my first time welding with gas, what would you suggest setting it at?

 

If it's coming through the back, your torch speed is probably inconsistent.

If you cannot turn the heat up, then you will need to slow down a bit. Watch the puddle. Also watch the stick-out. It shouldn't be more than 3/8 of an inch or so. Start your gas flow rate around 22cfh. You can adjust it up or down from there.

Also, you said you were working with .030. For the material you're welding, .035 might be better.

Last, clean the material before welding. Wire brush or wire wheel on a grinder works.

 

Thanks for the tips! Do you know of any videos that show proper gun technique and are filmed through a welding mask? I'd love to watch someone who actually knows what they are doing to see their motion, stickout, gun angle, ect. I have been running stickout right around 1/2" and I'll be sure to turn the gas down. If I have too little gas the puddle with be dirty and porous, correct? Are there any signs of too much gas? Also I tried slowing down and pausing on the edges but I found that my puddle would get too large and when I turned the wire feed down, I would get an inconsistent arc. I feel like watching someone through a mask would really help things click for me.

 

Weldingtupsandtricks.com usually offers a video each week with archives of all kinds of introductory videos. Well worth a look.

 

^^^ It's a great site.

 

Looked over it really quick and it looks like there's some really good information there. I'll take a look at it tonight, just got done working 12 hr on 3rd so I'm hitting the sack. Thanks again for the help! I'll study up on there, pick up some new wire and post up the results.

 

bought a harbor freight 170 amp welder yesterday along with one of their helmets, I know they're not the best but I've seen my buddies 90a one do some pretty good lookin stuff so I figure this should cover most anything I wanna do for now while I'm learnin

 

Ran a few more beads today. Got to looking under the hood and checked the polarity and it was set on DC- so I swaped that around. Also bumped the gas down to 25 and all these beads are my first try at pushing rather than pulling. Still using the old wire but I did pick up some new wire and contact tips. Going to swap to the new wire and give it another go tomorrow.

 

Jacob pm me your number and I'll send you a video later. Something is wrong. Should look like butter lol

 

They still look very cold.

I'm in no way an authority.. So take what I say with caution.

Here's one of mine from a few months ago. In hindsight, it's even a little cold as well.



I guess I'm saying that yours look cold, because the edges aren't tied into the base metal at all, looks like a caterpillar just sitting there. I'd try some simple t-joints. Sure, running straight beads is great, but there's nothing to really tie into. Whereas on a joint, you can really see how your puddle spreads evenly on top and bottom.

What thickness material are you welding, and what amperage/voltage?

 

Try actualy welding two peaice together instead of just laying beads on top

 

New toy, got it for free from a guy I ride the train with. It's a Lincoln 225 ac stick welder. Was planning on buying a wire feed welder next month but you can't beat free, plus I'll really learn to weld just need to install a 220 outlet in my garage...



Planning to build a rack and rear swingout bumper first, after some practice. Maybe some extra plates for my front bumper too. Once I have confidence in my welds and have a feel for it, I'd like to tackle a rear shock relocation and belly/tcase/gas tank skids.

Last but not least I'll build whatever it is my wife says so, because she is the boss.

 

First off, I really appreciate the willingness to help. These are just little 1/8" plates and I've got the voltage set to 3 out of 4. 4 was burning through, hell 3 burns through if I move slow enough. Like I said, I have some brand new wire I'll put in tomorrow and see what kind of a difference that makes. In that picture you posted, did you start from the corner and pull back or the other way around? What kind of gun motion are you using?

Will give that a try tomorrow.

 

Looks like he started on the outsides, and worked his way into the corner on both top beads. Also looks like he is either making the cursive "e"s or going back a forth slightly.

 

dont quote me on this as i havent done stick in a few years. i think its a triangle pattern and make sure you point towards the toe on each side to help avoid under cut

 

Tig Aluminum guys

Im trying to lay down some tig beads at work to join some 1/4 square tubing with some sch 40 tube (1/8" equivalent) and im using pure tungsten (green band) and im having a hell of a time getting the two to join together. like i cant even get a puddle started and im up at 150-180 amps.

But then i switched to 2% (orange band) and put a point on it and was able to get things going and it was a hell of a lot better.

when i told one of the guys in the shop that i switched to 2% he about flipped his shit. is there anything wrong with this or is it pretty much do whatever is working.

machine is an older syncrowave 250

 

Might be dumb, but you're balling the tip of the Tungsten right? And everything is CLEAN CLEAN where they are to join together. Stainless wire-brushed and acetone cleaned.