New to welding - MIG settings about right?

[snoopy]

Hi everyone, this is my first ever time welding so go easy on me!

I own a Snap On 130T, 10L bottle of Argon/Co2 and running 0.8mm steel wire. Mask is a relic of my dads (new reactorlight on the way).
I hope to be welding car panels (rusty old beetle ) , my friend advised me that I would have been better with 0.6mm wire.

I have been practicing on 1.2mm sheet steel.
I feel that over the past week I have progressed - I am no longer blowing holes and I seem to be getting good gas coverage. Penetration seems alright - I cant pull any pieces apart!

So anyway, here are 2 photos, 1st is a butt weld. 2nd is an attempted tee that i did tonight.
At the moment I struggle to see whilst welding, hopefully the new mask will help.....should be here on thursday.


Practice practice practice!

Constructive criticism welcome Thank you

 

[keith19]

You're moving a bit too quickly on your butt weld, so putting it down a bit unevenly. This is natural when you start, because if you slow up some you are going to blow through on thin metal. Doing enough practice until you find the right combination of settings and technique and welding speed which you feel comfortable with takes time, and we've all seen a lot worse than what you've got there.

Re wire size, 0.8 mm wire should be okay down to about 1.0 mm with practice, but to go below that metal thickness many would say 0.6 mm wire is easier.

It's quite possible to do a seam weld with 0.8 mm on 1.2 mm, but to start off with you'd be better using the 'thin metal technique', short tacks an inch or two apart, then welding more short tacks back onto the ones you've already done, and so on, until your two pieces are joined by a continuous line of weld. When you get good at this, you can experiment by making the tacks longer, doing little runs without blowing through.

Re the second picture, you'll notice how you've tended to lay the most weld on the bottom plate, and hardly anything on the upright. Again, if you're doing this on metal as thin as 1.2 mm, there is a tendency for the side plate to get blown through at the bottom, as you have probably experienced, so you may be trying to compensate by holding the torch at too high an angle, so favouring the bottom plate, and again perhaps moving a bit fast.

On thin metal just tack up the job first, then try slightly longer tacks until you get feeling confident you won't blow through. You can try weaving a little on metal this thin, bringing the arc up onto the upright plate then quickly off again before it blows through.

But personally I'd be starting on metal a little thicker, around 2 to 3 mm, so you can just get used to welding without worrying about blowing through and other problems you can get using thin metal. When you feel okay on this thickness you can move down to 1.2 and 1.0 mm and even below.
Decent start, anyway; best of luck with it. You'll find it much easier when you get that auto mask!

 

[cumbriasteve]

They are as you say..your first welds, some bits ok..some not so ok, but thats fine..we have all been there, the lack of vision through the old helmet is showing so it's a bit unfair to judge the standard of the weld really

0.6mm wire would be a little easier on the thin stuff.

A new helmet will be a lot easier.

Get the helmet sorted, a little more practice and post up again...I will bet there is a big difference.

 

[cumbriasteve]

Someone always beats me but Keith is right..especially about learning on a bit of thicker stuff

 

[snoopy]

Thanks guys. Yeah I think the mask will help as I can't see when I'm straying from the joint. I've been getting my metal from work (BAE), where so you guys get bits of 3mm from?

Thank you

 

[cumbriasteve]

Thanks guys. Yeah I think the mask will help as I can't see when I'm straying from the joint. I've been getting my metal from work (BAE), where so you guys get bits of 3mm from?

Thank you

I got some from a srapyard, they had just got a skip full of offcuts, worth checking your local steel supplier, sometimes they cut to size for customers and have bits left.

Make sure you clean it up with a flap wheel or grinder, any surface rust or the scale that is left from manufacturing will affect the chances of a good weld.

 

[keith19]

Like Steve, I pick thicker metal up at scrapyards. Also offcuts from a few backstreet engineering workshops, and on industrial estates.
As much as you could carry for a few quid years ago, but they're more picky on pricing now, and some of them have closed down as the old guys who ran them retire, or work runs out.

Sometimes I used to cruise local estates on my way into work, looking in roadside skips to see what was free. But not now. I think the pikeys cruise through at night after most places have closed and take whatever's going.

 

[snoopy]

Just took the lens apart and cleaned it all out...it was dusty and misty!
I could actually see where I was welding, probably could of saved £40 and not bought a new mask! :-P

Managed to lay down a nice 6'' bead, perfectly straight. Also improved the tee joint, I can actually see where the tip of the wire touches the metal!