Out of interest, if pulling rather than pushing (eg gasless or MMA), how does that affect the technique? I find doing small 'e's works well for gasless as it encourages the weld pool to move and melt both edges - but that could well be that I need more wire speed or voltage and I'm moving the...
Toparc 0.9mm is my current wire. Not badly priced and easily available from Amazon. Slightly easier to see the molten pool than Lidl stuff and is easy to clean the slag and brown dusty deposit off with a wire brush. I'm getting reasonable success doing lap and butt welds on 0.8mm mild steel now...
If as a novice I can weld 0.8mm steel with a Lidl gasless then you almost certainly should be able to with your more flexible gas setup. Try a lap joint with the series of overlapping tacks as per the tutorial linked above. Try just doing a short burst with the wire in one place, then varying...
Thanks - yeah, I'll do a few more flat until I'm happy that I'm getting it more consistent, then I'll clamp the metal at an angle. I don't actually have any need to work on car bodywork, but I'm finding learning how to weld thin sheets together interesting, and hopefully it's teaching me better...
Following the advice, I've got a lot better after a few more practice sessions. So now with the metal clamped to a block so the joint has nothing behind it (held with a magnet to to a tack at each end, then magnet removed). I've moved back partially over the previous spot before it cools and the...
Thanks for the advice. I will aim to overlap and angle a bit more to fill the crater and keeping it more consistent. I'm not going to invest in gas unless I know I'm going to be using it enough. At the moment I'm doing perhaps 30 minutes of welding practice a week and have no projects planned...
Thanks. I tried again but with it lifted up on a wooden lock (with earth clamp moved to the workpiece) so there's nothing behind the joint. First attempt I reduced the wire feed and power too much and it wasn't good. But increased them slightly and I've done a couple more welds that look similar...
I've been learning flux core gasless with an £80 Lidl Parkside unit for a couple of weeks. I never intend to do anything more than the occasional repair and am really welding just for the fun of it so it isn't worth me going for gas mig at this stage (but I may do in future). I've some previous...
A bit of wire brushing (in a grinder or drill!) and they'll look much better. Once you've cleaned off the slag quite often gasless welds doesn't look that different to gas ones. You can use a flap wheel or file to remove the slight spatter if you want too.
I've been learning flux core and after a few weeks I can now do reasonable fillet welds on 1.8mm steel without burning through. Like you I tried starting on stuff that was far too thin (1.0mm) - but that extra 0.8mm has made a massive difference. Also having a decent area of metal so the heat...
Anthracite ovoids here most of the time - just need to load fuel and empty ash once a day. Don't care what it looks like because it's in the kitchen and runs 12 radiators and the hot water cylinder. Wood tends to make the kitchen really hot but not put as much heat into the water as coal does so...
Looking nice. My LWB Pajero's boot is full of dog hair and smells a bit of veg oil ;)
A popular option on LWB Mk2 Pajero/Shogun are 'torpedo' tanks, fitted underneath alongside the chassis rails, one on each side. Or a toroidal tank in place of the petrol tank and a small petrol tank mounted in...
My Aldi air die grinder did something similar. I stripped it down and found a bit of dog hair had somehow found its way into the trigger valve. Once reassembled it's been fine for years.
However - another vote for ringing (or emailing) the helpline. I dropped a hammer on my compressor and...
LPG tank and pipework are now part of the MOT - but it's only a visual inspection of security and freedom from leaks. Insurance companies don't generally need to know anything other than it was installed by someone competent. They don't need to see evidence of servicing any more than they do for...
As it's likely to end up in the drain, then as said above you don't want to be putting anything toxic in deliberately or you could be prosecuted. So washing powder is a good suggestion - it'd be no different from you washing (a lot of) oily overalls in a washing machine. Cat litter and sand work...
I've seen a couple of engine cranes and straps used by one person to do this. If you're estimating the body weighs around 400-500kg, then with the jib at full extension on the average 1 tonne model you'd be within the weight limit (just) and be able to lift from the floor to head height. It's an...
Heh - my box of Fincords looks like that. And I manage lovely smooth runs with a buzzbox, with the slag peeling off or just needing a nudge most of the time.
Might be worth drying them a bit and storing them somewhere airtight though.