Complete beginners first go striking an arc!!

[bhorth]

Hey folks, this has been a long time coming but finally I got to use my Static Arc MIG 200 for the first time today. I’m starting with stick welding to try and get this nailed down and ultimately make my own welding table. I practiced striking and arc mostly which I’ve found striking like a match then changing direction back the way seems to work well for me after many many and many more attempts… this was my final test piece of metal which I tried to run 2 lines across. Steel is 3mm, rods were 2.5mm and I was on 80 amps.

Would really appreciate any feedback on this, can’t wait to go spend more time with the machine again, need to cut and prep lots more metal

 

[Misterg]

need to cut and prep lots more metal

Not really - there's the old apprentice's exercise of padding beads. Just one piece of metal needed, but you'll get sick of the sight of it!

Really good talk about it fairly recently from Jody:

 

[gaz1]

facing towards back of the vice 1st row your rushing the second line you rushing and then when near the left side you8 slow downed to where its just about right

now get a piece of angle iron and weld into the corner edge go slow enough like the second row
now do 2 rows and then 3 rows and 5 rows pre rod

angle iron gives you chance to learn multi welds as well as welding in a line

 

[gaz1]

this will give you an ides of multipass welding

2 pieces of angle iron can make this for practice welds then you get to practice multi fillet welds as well as welding

 

[tom2207]

your off too a great start from here on in its just practice and patience ,,, keep a few bits of angle about too , its nice to join things together from time to time too , padding beads gets boring , but joining things together gets addictive ,,, I promise you will never look at the world the same way again ,,, you start looking at how things are made , how they are put together , how good the welds are ,,,, etc etc ,,,, you will see ....

 

[chrismac]

Hey folks, this has been a long time coming but finally I got to use my Static Arc MIG 200 for the first time today. I’m starting with stick welding to try and get this nailed down and ultimately make my own welding table. I practiced striking and arc mostly which I’ve found striking like a match then changing direction back the way seems to work well for me after many many and many more attempts… this was my final test piece of metal which I tried to run 2 lines across. Steel is 3mm, rods were 2.5mm and I was on 80 amps.

Would really appreciate any feedback on this, can’t wait to go spend more time with the machine again, need to cut and prep lots more metal

wear gloves and hold the rod as well as the tongs, your 2nd hand holding the rod really steady's things up, just be ready to let it go when its starts to get hot!! if your using 7018's keep the arc short. not bad for a first attempt I would say.

 

[fizzy]

Hey folks, this has been a long time coming but finally I got to use my Static Arc MIG 200 for the first time today. I’m starting with stick welding to try and get this nailed down and ultimately make my own welding table. I practiced striking and arc mostly which I’ve found striking like a match then changing direction back the way seems to work well for me after many many and many more attempts… this was my final test piece of metal which I tried to run 2 lines across. Steel is 3mm, rods were 2.5mm and I was on 80 amps.

Would really appreciate any feedback on this, can’t wait to go spend more time with the machine again, need to cut and prep lots more metal

Not bad at all. What rods are you using? Some are far more forgiving than others!

 

[bhorth]

Not bad at all. What rods are you using? Some are far more forgiving than others!

Thanks for feedback everyone some really useful information here, I was using static arc’s 6013 2.5mm rods. Think I went through about 9 rods in total so have another 5kg pack on the way

 

[Richiew]

Stick at it. Ba dum, tish. Slower travel speed.

As suggested, just run a pad and burn through the whole 5kg. Slow your travel down, review each rod and adjust accordingly. You will get there. Keep a tight arc, you can keep the rod pushed in for these type of welds.

 

[bourbon]

Auto darkening mask? They give you a hand back

 

[addjunkie]

If you need reading glasses try them under the mask, being able to see the action end clearly makes all the difference.