First attempt - Comments and Recommendations please :)

[ThE.gRiZzLe]

Hey all,

Great forum you have here and ive been looking and learning for the past few days and today i got given a regulator to fit to my mig which saved me a good few quid

So i got started anyway using my new SIP T105P (I know its poo before anyone mentions - Mum through the box away just before i found out how bad SIP are ) and today i picked up a hobby size bottle of gas from adams gas (great service and cheap)

Anyway down to business, i started practicing my welds on a 1mm thick piece of steel sheet and i thought it went quite well...

It was going well, and i have figured out most of the problems now and i know gas coverage was low where the brown marks are, and i held it more upright...

The only problem i have is i keep blowing through when trying to achieve good penetration by upping the power settings, i am keeping the same pace as much as i can but i just get the odd blow through, but if i slow the wire speed even a tiny bit the arc just jumps back to the tip and doesn't penetrate whatsoever.
I can get a nice arc going in a straight line and then thirty seconds later they arent anywhere near as good!?!?

Could the welder be getting too hot?

Or does anyone have any recommendations to improve my welds?

Front


Back


Thanks All
Ahmet

 

[malcolm]

One of the lower settings, maybe the lowest or second setting would be used for 1mm plate. A close up of the weld would help, but it looks like your travel speed is too fast. Try a narrow weaving motion and slow down to get the penetration.

It is tricky to find the correct setting for the SIPs. If the wire burns back to the tip either the wire speed is too low or the torch too far away from the metal.

 

[ThE.gRiZzLe]

I am using the lowest and second settings still having a play, but the wirespeed is the bit making life difficult.

Though i am trying to use a weaving motion i am still trying to get the nack for it...

But thanks for the reply and heres a closeup of the worst bits...

 

[Sparkey]

Hi Ahmet!
Why don't you try welding on some thicker metal just for now, so you can get the feel for it!
Thin metal isn't easy to weld at all!

 

[Hitch]

Ahmet, most of that looks fine.
You are more likely to get problems when you are doing the lettering, you tend to put a little more heat in as your likely not moving the torch at a constant speed.


Looks like youve got off to an excellent start, clean metal, proper gas.....more people should follow your example!


The straight welds look slightly narrow, perhaps slow the travel speed down very slightly.
A good exercise to practice constant speeds, put some chalk/marker pen lines every 20mm, then count in your head, 1,2,3 between each line.
Penetration, looks good.

Get your speeds constant, then try a few butt joints.

Excellent attempt though

 

[ThE.gRiZzLe]

Hi all,

Thanks for the advice and comments so far guys, unfortunately i havent got any access to any thicker scrap metal Sparkey, and i am trying to learn to weld for working on car body work so i thought id try throwing myself in at the deep end hehe

And cheers for the advice hitch, ill give it another crack in a bit and post my results but thanks for the comments guys

Ahmet.

 

[malcolm]

Throwing yourself in at the deep end isn't the best way. 1.5 to 2mm allow much more experimentation with getting used to how a weld pool works rather than having it drop through before it's got going.

Without the experience of messing with the weld pool you might keep the tenancy to move too fast. At the least practice using the very lowest setting.

The skills are transferrable back to 1mm and less, but like Sparks said, much easier to pick up on thicker stuff.

 

[ThE.gRiZzLe]

Hi malcolm,

I know it would be better to learn on a thicker metal, but as i posted before i unfortunately cant get hold of any thicker metal as i mentioned before, so i am stuck with this at the moment.

But i have been practicing again tonight and had a go at moving much slower and building a thicker weld using a weaving motion and my hands are getting gradually steadier and my welds are looking much nicer and thicker

Thanks though for the advice, i think ill try to get some thicker metal tomorrow

Ahmet.

 

[oz63]

Thicker metal 5-6mm

Hi malcolm,

I know it would be better to learn on a thicker metal, but as i posted before i unfortunately cant get hold of any thicker metal as i mentioned before, so i am stuck with this at the moment.

But i have been practicing again tonight and had a go at moving much slower and building a thicker weld using a weaving motion and my hands are getting gradually steadier and my welds are looking much nicer and thicker

Thanks though for the advice, i think ill try to get some thicker metal tomorrow

Ahmet.

Hi Griz,try 5-6mm thick metal,if ur new to mig weld and you've not got ur wire speed and amps right,welding on 1mm metal u will tend to blow holes..oz63