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Beignner welding

Xtremegmc80

Xtremegmc80

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this is my first time welding, making my homemade rear bumper for now. what u guys think of my welding and hows the bumper look so far?
using a cheap habor freight welder with flux wire .030 wire.. i ran out of wire. i should have bought another roll.. which one should i buy or get same kind?.. let me know thanks.
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Dude, try and resize your pics. I use innershield from lowes. .035 if you change your wire size you must also change your tip size.
 
Two observations from a slightly-less-noob welder:

Clean the surfaces to be welded. Clean them well. Hit them with a flapdisc or even a grinder wheel, so they're nice and shiny.

You gotta work on your C's... they're supposed to look like a stack of dimes. (I can't claim that mine always do, mind you =))

You aren't getting much for penetration there, I don't think, and the above should help some. A welding machine like that isn't going to burn through thick stuff, but with good clean surfaces and a steady hand, you can prolly do better.

Did you weld brackets on the back, or did you start with the small stuff?

-- A
 
Umm, for comparison ... here's some welding on the bumpers I just did up:

rear-bumper-welding.JPG


fairlead-hole-1.JPG


brackets-welded.JPG


cut-and-bend-and-weld.JPG


What I said make more sense now?

-- A
 
Oh yeah, and clean the area where you put the ground clamp. I mean, would you put your battery cables on something as rusted as that? :deal:

Particularly look at the third and fourth pix I posted, you'll see great bloody swaths of grind zones there, nice and shiny.

-- A
 
What rods are those on the floor?? 6011's will penterate realy well but are realy messy. I think you should try turing your heat down about to reduce your splatter.You should grab some scrap metal and just practice some beads on top of the metal to get used to it and better control. The more practice you get the better you are. Try to keep your hand steady and keep a constant flow. What angle are you holding your rods at ?
 
Donno if you're talking to me or the OP, but I know I'm using gas-over-solid MIG, and I would infer from the "flux wire" in the OP that he's using MIG as well, i.e. wirefeed, not rod. :dunno:

-- A
 
looks like your trying to string your puddle out to long, slow down and let your puddle get abit larger and then start down your seam..w/each step forward let puddle burn in and try to keep puddle size more consistant...

looks a little cold to me also. mayb little hotter and little more wire speed...but like was mentioned clean metal shiny b4 starting, mayb even V the seam some... anything needing to be uber strong, i tig most of my stuff on root pass w/o any filler, just puddle together getting good penetration, then finish zipping it up with 7018 on any thing thicker than 1/4''... can make the 7018 as slick as mig, but use mig on thinner stuff..

when your welding, watch edges of puddle run in quickly w/base metal and fill in any under cut...i was always told if you mind the outer edges of your weld the center will mind itself

also if you can use solid wire w/ a gas shield, it is easier, as the biggest problem i've noticed people new to welding, is haveing trouble distingushing the molten puddle from the molten slag, w/ gas shield its all metal puddle, so you can see and control puddle alot easier...and practice,practice,practice!
 
thanks for the head ups guys.. yeah im using the mig, i have a arc too but was too lazy to hook it up.
i did clean the area where i put the clamp i just rubbed the clamp on and it welded good,
wanted to use a grinder but after 2 hours of looking for the grinder and swearing. my dad told me he let his friend borrow it and he never brung it back. so hes gonna pick it up today, tonight.
my dad is a expert with steel. part of his job, he say i didnt do a bad job. but i am gonna practice alot more. all i can say is its pretty solid, i took a wack at it with the big hammer and nothing moved. hopefully i get the grinder tonight so i can finish her up. ill keep a update. thanks ya'all!
 
Like they said, your moving to fast and you need to move in half moon shapes.

Also if you dont have a big welder (220v) then you can not weld 1/4" plate in a single pass. You will want to weld both the inside & outside seam of the metal to get decent penetration on both side. Or you can bevel the edges and do a multi-pass weld to get full penetration.

For welding heavy stuff like that your stick welder will be a much better choice.

How many amps is your mig welder?

Harley
 
Hossbaby50 said:
Like they said, your moving to fast and you need to move in half moon shapes.

Also if you dont have a big welder (220v) then you can not weld 1/4" plate in a single pass. You will want to weld both the inside & outside seam of the metal to get decent penetration on both side. Or you can bevel the edges and do a multi-pass weld to get full penetration.

For welding heavy stuff like that your stick welder will be a much better choice.

How many amps is your mig welder?

Harley
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the mig say MIG 100. the amp ill have to look, or its 100 amp? how do i weld the arc? cause everytime i do it the rod gets stuck on the metal. am i going too close or what?
 
Your welder is 100amp then which definitly won't do 1/4" in a single pass. Weld both sides of the bumper or bevel them. Also use good wire it helps alot. Get some Lincoln wire or something with a good name brand. HF wires is junk. Also switch to .035 Flux Core wire and .035 tips. It will burn a little hotter and help with penetration. Also make sure the metal isn't touching each other when you weld it. Having a slight gap will help increase your penetration.

My 135amp 110v Mig welder is only rated for 3/16" plate single pass and you have to have it turned way up.

Stick is about technique. If you are sticking it to the metal then you are to close. You have to learn to strike and arch and keep it at the right distance. If you learn to stick weld before you learn to mig weld mig welding is EASY.



Harley
 
Hossbaby50 said:
Your welder is 100amp then which definitly won't do 1/4" in a single pass. Weld both sides of the bumper or bevel them. Also use good wire it helps alot. Get some Lincoln wire or something with a good name brand. HF wires is junk. Also switch to .035 Flux Core wire and .035 tips. It will burn a little hotter and help with penetration. Also make sure the metal isn't touching each other when you weld it. Having a slight gap will help increase your penetration.

My 135amp 110v Mig welder is only rated for 3/16" plate single pass and you have to have it turned way up.

Stick is about technique. If you are sticking it to the metal then you are to close. You have to learn to strike and arch and keep it at the right distance. If you learn to stick weld before you learn to mig weld mig welding is EASY.



Harley
Click to expand...
thanks for the head ups abt the stick welding. ill try that probably tomorrow. and thanks for telling me abt the HF wires.. lucky i didnt buy a new one. ill go to hardware store to see if i can get lincolin ones. and get .035 and a new tip for that size. guess off to shoppin tonight. thanks again
 
As another newb welder...

The surface definitely needs to be cleaned. From what I've been told (and experienced) mig (even with flux) doesnt do well with surface dirt/rust.No welding does, but I hear rods are better for that situation.

100 amps seems a tad small with the thickness of metal your working with though. I only do thin stuff, so I've always been interested in how low I could go!:doah:
 
if its a 100amp crank it up and go slow and the previous pictured photos are good examples to follow. slow and steady as it doesnt look that steady use 2 hands one to run the trigger and the other to guide the tip. and if you can well both sides and the flap wheel it smooth on the front...on back make em big and leave them be
 
Try taking it off and welding it on the bench. Its easyer to weld in the flat position then it is in the horizontal especialy stsarting off.
 
K5-newf said:
Try taking it off and welding it on the bench. Its easyer to weld in the flat position then it is in the horizontal especialy stsarting off.
Click to expand...
exactly what my dad told me tonight. im takin it off tomorrow. it was left on the truck for measurment, putting it together thats all. its coming off so i can clean it up, paint it. well

tomorrow ill be practicing on scrap metal with the rod welder and i hope i do good. wish me luck:crazy:
 
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