First timer after advice

[Lucky Luke]

OK, so I went down my local MM and bought a Clarke 130EN turbo, plus gas. How much ! but I am grinning like a cat that got the cream! finally I am learning how to weld.

So with that, I have attached some pictures for you to (laugh at!) give me some advice on. This is the very first time I have used a welder, so they aint pretty , but we all started some were.

The metal I am using is the rear fender off a Honda Rebel 450cmx, as I am building a bobber, and a lot of my work will be on motorbike parts / panels.

The first issue is making holes in the metal, I guess too much power!

Any advice you can give me (apart from give up ) will be very helpful?

Thanks in advance

Pic 1 gasless first ever welds
Pic 2 with gas setting 1 and min
Pic 3 edge weld with gas
Pic 4 welder setting

PS gas is Co2 & Argon

 

[Lucky Luke]

Just watched one of the videos, and can see I am holding the welding at the wrong angle, the documents say a 45 degree angle, yet the video show straight down on to the metal, so will give that a try next.

 

[jammy]

You can only weld gasless if you've got gasless wire. If you've got gasless wire then you shouldnt need to use gas too. Are you using the disposable bottles for gas from MM? These don't last too long, but you need to get it to around 10lpm so you might want to get a pee shooter to check how much you're flowing out of the gun. http://www.weldequip.com/gas-flow-tester.htm

Start off on low settings and turn then up as required. Remember that the wire speed is also the welding current, so low speed is low current and so on. Thin stuff need low current.

The 1, 2 and High, low switches are for voltage - Start off with everything on low and turn it up as required.

 

[gavuk]

Did you change the wire from gas-less to solid when you used gas?,gas is only needed with solid wire then theres no need to de-slag either...
Bobber you say?...is there any chance I work with you? ...if I do arrange one night and pop around here and bring your machine

 

[Lucky Luke]

Thanks for the advice, you are correct, in my excitment I was using soild wire with out gas!, so back to MM to buy more wire (ran out of the free stuff). I also turned down the wire speed, and I do have better welds on the surface but I am not happy with the penetration. I will post some pictures later today.

Thanks again

 

[Lucky Luke]

Bobber you say?...is there any chance I work with you? ...if I do arrange one night and pop around here and bring your machine

Gavuk, dont know! Do you work for a major pharmaceutical company with a high street chain? If you do then you know who I am, give me a call and we can sort something out

 

[Wozzaaah]

I won't say give up but those welds are truly appalling!
There's no consistency and they look like you've weaved from side to side which has made them far wider than they need to be.
You should be practicing running long, straight, parallel beads rather than short wide ones like those and you're a way off from attempting joints.
Think running before walking.
They also look more like you've used gasless wire, solid wire without gas gives horrible ridged, porous welds.
Either that or that metal you're using is coated, possibly with zinc.
Get some decent, clean metal to practice on, you're wasting your time and money using that rubbish!

 

[gaz1]

anyway do yourself a favour check out the gas suppliers on the forum and take a look at the boc offer on the gas the costs of the throwaways is costley

http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=14605&page=37

i have the same problem learning the welding in a straight line at a constant speed of movement

 

[gavuk]

Gavuk, dont know! Do you work for a major pharmaceutical company with a high street chain? If you do then you know who I am, give me a call and we can sort something out

No that's not me ....offer stands tho ...I'm 10miles further than Bath from A46..Pm me if you want a roadtrip...

 

[Lucky Luke]

Wozzaaah

I hope these might be a little more appealing to the eyes! I done these yesterday. Yes they are still short and fat, but I think "loosely" I have got rid of my initial welding nerves. As soon as I have some clean metal welds I will post some more images for advice.

Pic 1 top weld
Pic 2 penetration

 

[Lucky Luke]

anyway do yourself a favour check out the gas suppliers on the forum and take a look at the boc offer on the gas the costs of the throwaways is costley

http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=14605&page=37

i have the same problem learning the welding in a straight line at a constant speed of movement

Thanks for the link, and keep at it! We can get there

 

[redwine300]

Hi Lucky Luke,
Not to familiar with Gas/Gas less welders, but I seem to remember reading somewhere about changing the polarity when switching from gas to gas less.
Maybe contributing to your woes.
Maybe some of the more knowledgeably members may know.

By the way, welcome to the forum. Keep at it.

 

[mike 109444]

Welcome Lucky Luke. If you wan't to try just CO2 and have a suitable regulator you can get a Pub type cylinder from Whites celler supplies just round the corner from MM Bristol.
Cost with bottle < £50 then about £20 for refills.

 

[Lucky Luke]

Welcome Lucky Luke. If you wan't to try just CO2 and have a suitable regulator you can get a Pub type cylinder from Whites celler supplies just round the corner from MM Bristol.
Cost with bottle < £50 then about £20 for refills.

Sweet! thanks for the info.

 

[Lucky Luke]

Day 3

Ok, I have bought some clean metal, and laid down some long and thin practice welds.

This is using 0.6 wire with gas, on 1 min setting on 1mm sheet. Clarke 130EN

Pic one top
Pic two under

Now, reading the MIG tutorial, the penetration is not good enough, but when I changed my setting from 1 min to 2 min with low wire feed setting, i keep blowing holes, yet 1 max, medium wire feed still does'nt get the penetration am I missing the point somewhere?

Thanks

 

[jammy]

Asfar as I'm aware/can work out (I'm only about 20 welds ahead of you!) Changing the wire speed changes the current which should increase penetration. Increasing the "power" setting increases the voltage, this will increase how the weld lays down, certain combinations of metal thickness and wire feed rate (current) will require different voltages but the first thing you should change is the wire feed rate. When you're welding you'll know you're welding, you'll get a crackle that sounds right. if you find this then play with the power setting you'll see the effect of changing the voltage.

In my case with a 175TE on 1mm (I think) metal I've found that the lowest power setting works the best on a wire speed of 3.5

HTH

 

[mike 109444]

Luke you have penetration. The bumps on underside are the penitration! Any more on 1mm and you will get blowthrough.
Welds look ok to me.
Use the TMT "Thin Metal Technique".
The tutorial is aimed at thicker metal.
You will struggel to get long runs on thin metal due to heat buildup/blowthrough.
Once at the right sort of power level then use the wire feed to "Fine tune" It maybe as little as moving control from say pointing to a 1 O'clock to 2 O'clock position.
What gas are you using CO2 Ag mix or streight CO2?

 

[Lucky Luke]

What gas are you using CO2 Ag mix or streight CO2?

Co2 Ag mix