Anything welding

Oh ok, what I’ve been doing is when the angle is on a 45, it’s 2 holed. I still double check it though.

 

Appreciate all the advice but I vastly overestimated my welding skills. I struggled when I practiced on 2 lawnmower blades lol I’m gonna get these installed by someone else, anybody know any good shops in AL? I’m heading to SOS concepts next month so I may just get them to do it for $250

 

Post up pics of your work, there’s some really smart welders here that will help you get good enough for your sliders.

 

Straightness!!!

 

Sure I would like to learn how to do it better, it was pretty fun. So the vertical piece and most of the practice welds you see in the pics were done with thin E6013 rods. I had trouble with them burning way to fast at anything above 150amps. I found a sweet spot at 75 amps but when I checked the weld strength, it kind of fell apart. Didn’t seem to melt well. Towards the end of the day, I tried some thicker E6010 and cranked it up to 220amps, that how I welded the middle section, and I could tell a big different but it started to burn through. Both ways I did not feel comfortable attempting on my truck. Also I had trouble with the rods sticking a bunch? Didn’t seem to matter what amp I was on



I think tomorrow I am going to Lowe’s or Home Depot to get some practice steel and spend the next week welding. Maybe by next weekend I’ll feel comfortable enough to attempt a slider install

 

The only thing I can say is stay away from steel at Lowe’s or Home Depot, they are way over priced. Go to your local metal yard and ask for scrap.

Also, I don’t know the first thing about stick welding. If you were using mig then I can help out a little. There’s far more experienced guys here than myself though so I’m sure they’ll chime in soon.

 

Good call, didn’t think about that. I don’t know much either but I do know “if it starts to slag, you drag” lol I feel like a lot of it is having good technique but more so know what amps to use and what rod

 

I’d check out some videos on YouTube about different techniques people use while arc welding. This will give you a better picture on how the puddle is supposed to look while welding. Also, like others have said, HD and Lowe’s material is overpriced. Try your local metal supplier and see if they have a scrap pile you can buy for cheap or even take for free in some cases. And lastly, clean the material with a flap disc before welding. This will give you much better results. You can also get an idea of what to set the welder at by what thickness of material you are joining.

I wouldn’t attempt doing the sliders on a vehicle at this stage of welding. Not to be rude, but a few more weeks of solid practice should get you there hopefully.

 

I was under the impression you were mig welding those sliders. No way would I recommend a novice stick weld on sliders.

 

Flap disk, hadn’t heard of that before, I’ll get one. Im sure this thread has some good advice to

I was but I’m getting mixed opinions, some say mig wouldn’t be enough power, some say it would. I do intend to use these sliders pretty hard

 

Id mig weld them. Weld the legs of the sliders to squares (if the ends don’t have squares/rectangles). This will give a bigger surface area for the sliders to stick to the frame and welding the squares onto a frame is easier than welding a tube onto the frame. Weld the leg of the sliders to the square on the bench in a comfortable position to get best results

 

Thankfully the legs already are welded to the scab plates and gussets. The plates are 1/4 steel, the frame is 3/16 (I believe) that’s the big reason I didn’t think mig was strong enough. I saw on YouTube to weld different thickness steel, I would need to weld the 1/4 plate and let the puddle run off and melt the frame. The slider tubes are 1/8 steel

 

A mig is plenty powerful for sliders. I’ve welded a few sets of sliders using mig. Also, a decent mig will penetrate 1/4”. Plus, you’re not really penetrating the 1/4” straight on, you’re hitting the side while penetrating the frame.

 

Didn’t think of it like that, good point. I do feel comfortable on a mig. Here’s the one I basically have but an older version

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Lincoln-Electric-120-Volt-Flux-Cored-Wire-Feed-Welder/3499872

 

I have a off brand Flux core welder. I get spatter and choppiness. It also seems to burn holes quickly. Is there anyway to get a consistent bead out of them?

 

My opinion is you can't see. I know, sounds rough, but you missed the lap joint completely. We've talked about this before and I'm guilty of this also. You can't weld if you can't see. Another thing that might help alot is clean before you weld. All that rust, or paint, or dirt will never be your friend. Wire brush that junk to bare metal and when you strike a arc, it will rip.
Other than that, looks.....ah......great!
Lol
Zim

 

Decent wire will work wonders for you. Avoid the stuff you buy at Harbor Freight or Tractor supply. Find some Lincoln NR211 or Hobart 21B Fabshield. Also be sure you are dragging the puddle, not pushing it. Decent wire can make flux core a pleasant process to utilize.

 

Having started off with an Amazon bought $90 flux welder 2 years ago, no not really. Now that I’ve used decent welding machines, the cheap flux ones are straight garbage. I hope this doesn’t come off as rude, but even now I don’t know if I could lay a decent bead with one of them.

 

If there’s slab, drag... that’s I remember when it comes to flux core stuff.
I’m picking up the harbor freight titanium 125 to use around the house. Played with one and it seems to be fine for most of what I need.

Sometimes the cheap stuff will have to do and I’ve seen some good stuff get made with them that would put a $1000 machine to shame. It’s all in the operator sometimes