first time welds help please

[Neil Rawlinson]

Hi,
I'm completely new to welding and have just started practising with my portamg 185. I am restoring an old Citroen 2cv van and as most of the bodywork is thin tin (0.8mm) I have been trying(!) to practice plug welding.
Machine is set up on the lowest setting with wire speed on number 5. I am using .6 wire.
As you can see from the photographs I am not doing brilliantly.
I have been trying to follow the tutorial recommendation, starting at the centre and working out with a circular motion.
I seem to get one half decent weld and then the others are all over the place.
any thoughts please?

First photo is the weld, second is the penetration.

 

[cumbriasteve]

The first thing you should do is get some thicker steel and learn the 'feel' of welding, the sounds and the results of changing power etc

Basically you are trying to run before you can walk

 

[octo0072000]

as said you need to learn how to weld first before even going near the 2cv
have a look on you tube loads of videos on set up etc

 

[Neil Rawlinson]

First welds help please

Thanks guys,

That sounds like good advice. Should I be trying plug welds with the thicker metal or just running straight welds?

 

[Sean]

Hi,
I'm completely new to welding and have just started practising with my portamg 185. I am restoring an old Citroen 2cv van and as most of the bodywork is thin tin (0.8mm) ..........

any thoughts please?

First photo is the weld, second is the penetration.

its more like 0.5 try practising on biscuit tin! trust me Ive done a few!

 

[octo0072000]

just try laying beads of weld first on flat plate till you get the hang of it
there are lots of videos here
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H3Qb9I03FCk
how to see better
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8pWWl0anhX4
have fun it gives you some ideas

http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/tutorial.htm

http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/butt-weld.htm

 

[cumbriasteve]

Thanks guys,

That sounds like good advice. Should I be trying plug welds with the thicker metal or just running straight welds?

Start on some 3mm, simply laying welds and getting used to holding the torch correctly, try some push and some pull welds..see the difference, alter the amps and note how the weld shape changes etc.

Drill some 10mm holes in the sheet and practice filling them in

Then get some 2mm and practice welding it together, you could try some plug welds on that

Then some 1mm and once you have gained some confidence you can say a prayer or two and head for the car..as mentioned you have probably selected one of the thinnest car body's ther is to repair.

The car repairs will probably have to be joined quick tacks rather than welds

You can improve your chances if you can get a heatsink behind the weld area, a copper block or even some old copper water pipe flattened will help to lessen the chance of burning through.

Take your time, practice and practice some more and you will find welding is more fun than frustration..except on a 2cv

 

[Sean]

With all of the above in mind I find that it works best to weld the car to the repair panel rather than the other way round , by that I mean have the repair panel behind the body work and weld through to the panel. You have no chance welding a .6 or even 1mm repair panel on to a 2cv at your stage, by the time you have a pool on the repair panel the original is blown all over the floor.
The other technique for spotting such thin metal is to use a 4 mm hole in the original clamp the repair panel behind and zap it on a higher power setting with the wire speed way down slow you can achieve a spot indistinguishable from the factory ones. But you MUST practice and practice on plenty clean good metal to get used to your machine.
The good news is just about every part is available as either original tooling full panel or heavier aftermarket panels so patching I can be avoided, much easier to let in a full panel with spot welds than try to run a bead on such thin metal.
PM me for specific 2cv advice or join us on 2cvgb.co.uk or international2cvfriends.com
Sean.

 

[logosweld]

One of the most important things to tig welding is trying to get everything in sync. Tubing probably wouldn't be the best place to start even though you have access to it. I would go buy some mild steel and practice with first running a bead on a plate trying to keep your puddle a consistant width the whole length of your weld, this will help out tremendously in the future. As far as cleaning just use the bench grinder and lightly run it across it to clean it up, you can also wipe with acetone and wipe your wire also.. This will also help later. When you get the hang of that try some T joints and some butt welds. When you get comfortable with that you can try the tubing. A good tip with tubing is go buy some cheap hose clamps and put holes in them to hold your tubes together "for tube to tube" and use the holes for tacking. When you get to that point cleaning is important but not nearly as important as running a backing gas. This will keep the weld clean on the inside of your tube. Any more questions just reply or shoot me a message