Hello,
I'd just like to introduce myself. My name's Rich, I've been lurking on this site for a couple of months and thought it was time I joined and said hello.
I have a Clarke 151TE mig welder. Im very slowly building a locost car (Lotus7 clone) and I recognise a few of the names and avatars on here from the locostbuilders site. I did have someone to do the welding of the chassis for me but thats no longer the case so I'm having to learn myself and its an enjoyable challenge now I understand a little more about what Im doing. I recently managed to get hold of a large bottle of ArgonCo2 mix after practicing for a long while with the disposable CO2 bottles and bankrupting myself as it turned out to be a bit of a false economy.
Anyway, I'm much happier with the new gas and I'm getting much smoother and better welds. I've attached a pic of some of my latest practice welds. The pics show welds on 25mm erw square with a 2mm wall thickness. The settings I used were 3, min, wire speed about 6 or 7 on the Clarke 151TE.
The 2nd pic shows the remains of a 90degree joint using a smaller 19mm square tube of the same wall thickess which was tested to destruction with the hammer. The weld held up fine but I suspect I may have put a bit too much heat into the metal as the smaller tube broke above the weld a little bit too easily for my liking. Hey maybe I'm strong and it was a big hammer after all
I'm quite happy tacking the tubular chassis frame but I feel I may have to bite the bullet soon and start welding the remaining tubes properly once I get the get them cut. Fortunately for me the main chassis tubes were fully welded by my welder/plater contact before he left so I've just got some of the less important tubes to do.
The third pic should give you an idea of what I'm trying to do. It shows the rear of the transmission tunnel that I made over the weekend.The new non tarnished tubes in the middle are set up in place but they aren't even tacked yet, its just a mock up to see how everything fits. The chassis build took a bit of a pause for a few years due to the loss of garage space thats why the outer frame looks a bit tarnished but I'm hoping to get a bit of a move on soon with the build.
The chassis is constructed from mainly 16 gauge steel although there is a bit of 2mm wall used in places as sometimes I find the thin stuff in 19mm erw square is hard to obtain locally. On the 16 gauge tube I have been using the settings 2, max with a wire speed of about 7.
Thanks for taking the time to listen to me prattling on. All observations and criticisms of my welding are gratefully received as I'm here to learn. I was fiddling with settings on a few of those practice welds and I realise and appreciate that a couple are a bit "high" due to not enough power and all the weld sitting on the top (Mainly on the second pic) but I think I got my settings right in the end.
I am right handed and am pushing the weld from right to left. It may look like I'm dragging the weld in some of the photos but I kept flipping the tube around, over and generally moving it in order to keep myself in a comfortable position in a cramped garage. There isn't an awful lot of room for me to move so the workpiece moves instead.
I apologise for the lousy photos but at the time I took them I hadn't anticipated putting them up for public consumption.
Cheers
Rich
I'd just like to introduce myself. My name's Rich, I've been lurking on this site for a couple of months and thought it was time I joined and said hello.
I have a Clarke 151TE mig welder. Im very slowly building a locost car (Lotus7 clone) and I recognise a few of the names and avatars on here from the locostbuilders site. I did have someone to do the welding of the chassis for me but thats no longer the case so I'm having to learn myself and its an enjoyable challenge now I understand a little more about what Im doing. I recently managed to get hold of a large bottle of ArgonCo2 mix after practicing for a long while with the disposable CO2 bottles and bankrupting myself as it turned out to be a bit of a false economy.
Anyway, I'm much happier with the new gas and I'm getting much smoother and better welds. I've attached a pic of some of my latest practice welds. The pics show welds on 25mm erw square with a 2mm wall thickness. The settings I used were 3, min, wire speed about 6 or 7 on the Clarke 151TE.
The 2nd pic shows the remains of a 90degree joint using a smaller 19mm square tube of the same wall thickess which was tested to destruction with the hammer. The weld held up fine but I suspect I may have put a bit too much heat into the metal as the smaller tube broke above the weld a little bit too easily for my liking. Hey maybe I'm strong and it was a big hammer after all
I'm quite happy tacking the tubular chassis frame but I feel I may have to bite the bullet soon and start welding the remaining tubes properly once I get the get them cut. Fortunately for me the main chassis tubes were fully welded by my welder/plater contact before he left so I've just got some of the less important tubes to do.
The third pic should give you an idea of what I'm trying to do. It shows the rear of the transmission tunnel that I made over the weekend.The new non tarnished tubes in the middle are set up in place but they aren't even tacked yet, its just a mock up to see how everything fits. The chassis build took a bit of a pause for a few years due to the loss of garage space thats why the outer frame looks a bit tarnished but I'm hoping to get a bit of a move on soon with the build.
The chassis is constructed from mainly 16 gauge steel although there is a bit of 2mm wall used in places as sometimes I find the thin stuff in 19mm erw square is hard to obtain locally. On the 16 gauge tube I have been using the settings 2, max with a wire speed of about 7.
Thanks for taking the time to listen to me prattling on. All observations and criticisms of my welding are gratefully received as I'm here to learn. I was fiddling with settings on a few of those practice welds and I realise and appreciate that a couple are a bit "high" due to not enough power and all the weld sitting on the top (Mainly on the second pic) but I think I got my settings right in the end.
I am right handed and am pushing the weld from right to left. It may look like I'm dragging the weld in some of the photos but I kept flipping the tube around, over and generally moving it in order to keep myself in a comfortable position in a cramped garage. There isn't an awful lot of room for me to move so the workpiece moves instead.
I apologise for the lousy photos but at the time I took them I hadn't anticipated putting them up for public consumption.
Cheers
Rich
