What have you made/created today?

My sister wanted a coaster. Carved from cherry with epoxy top.

 

From garage scraps and a piece of driftwood.
What was old is new again.
Please forgive the sloppy welding - still a novice : - )

 

Nice work! In this case I think the sloppy welding adds to the rustic "feel" of the hanger. Considering the materials and presentation if the welds were perfect they would look out of place.

 

Thank you. Wish I could say I did that on purpose : - )

 

You can...no one will know the difference. Or just call it a happy coincidence.

 

That is awesome, thank you for sharing

 

looks like you need to slow down, to about half as fast as you were moving, possibly up the wire speed

otherwise, they make a sticker for professional-hobbyist welders like me and you

 

nah, it just takes time. time to learn your machine, time to learn your own steps/misteps, time to learn different materials, and time to learn what should be happening and what shouldn't be happening. i'm into my 3rd full spool of flux core wire and just starting to understand what/how things should work, and where the settings should be. then bought a different welder...

my first reel of flux core that came with my harbor freight welder never worked right. people talked about 'welding sounds like cooking bacon', i never got that, it just sounded more like a wet sparking cable. was really hard to figure things out. my next reel suddenly all of the same settings started making the right crackling 'cooking bacon' noises, and things started making more sense.

many welders have a cheat sheet inside them to show what your amperage and feed speed should be for any given metal thickness-- it's usually a really good baseline to start with.

it also really helps to print out something like this and keep it near you as you weld. compare every pass you make with it to figure out if it's a setting-problem, you-problem, and what adjustments need to be made to correct it on the next pass.




i just cut up some angle iron for my brother in law to make this kit for his welding practice:
https://weldmetalsonline.com/products/inside-out-cube?_pos=2&_sid=446553b7b&_ss=r

easy project, but a bunch of welds, so a great spot to figure out what/where/when/how.

 

Soundman98 This i great stuff. Thanks.

 

You can ask questions here too

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/anything-welding.113957/

 

Mine always look like the first one but a bit more squashed down. I'm always wondering if I'm getting good penetration, mostly out of paranoia, but also out of inexperience.

 

Just crank the welder up and see what happens. That's what I do...


Although, cranking the 480V welder up at work just a little bit and you'll blow through 1/4 steel with just the MIG

 

Made from scraps. Finished it today.

 

Matches and toilet paper?
Deadly combination.
Wow…