New to welding and have learnt a lot from reading all the threads on this site and having spent the evening practicing, now understand why people show their welds. (or in my case why I am not going to show them). However I'm now getting a reasonable bead and penetration using just flat plate and feel I understand the the effects of speed,current and forgetting to switch on the gas
Have now progressed to butt joints. I have 4 issues:
1. I have a standard helmet and find everything a bit dark so my starting point can be a little random. Should I floodlight the area more or bite the bullet and buy a self darkening helmet - if the latter can someone suggest a reasonable value helmet.
2. Linked to the above I find that when welding I can miss my line, so if welding along a joint I wander off line which is a problem - any tips or trick on how to avoid this? I did a great butt joint last night only to find my weld ran along the side of the joint. Maybe I should keep my glasses on.
3. At the the end of my run and when reaching the edge of the plate I blow a hole - should I reduce the current or increase the speed that I am moving along the joint when I get to the edge of the metal sheet.
4. What do I use to grind the welds flat. Tried one of my flap wheels and gave it a nice polish but little else.
One reason I have taken a while to start welding has been sourcing gas - again this site has been a great resource but I found no independents in the Guildford area (home of BOC) and I did not want to pay an annual rental for the small amount of welding I will do. Anyway a company has just set up selling Albee - which seems a good compromise between the disposables and big bottles. Not sure whether I can advertise the company here ( based between Guildford and Woking) but have asked the moderators to add them to the list and if sent a pm I will send the link. Or they can be picked up from the Albee website
Thanks for any advice.
Jonathan

1. I have a standard helmet and find everything a bit dark so my starting point can be a little random. Should I floodlight the area more or bite the bullet and buy a self darkening helmet - if the latter can someone suggest a reasonable value helmet.
2. Linked to the above I find that when welding I can miss my line, so if welding along a joint I wander off line which is a problem - any tips or trick on how to avoid this? I did a great butt joint last night only to find my weld ran along the side of the joint. Maybe I should keep my glasses on.
3. At the the end of my run and when reaching the edge of the plate I blow a hole - should I reduce the current or increase the speed that I am moving along the joint when I get to the edge of the metal sheet.
4. What do I use to grind the welds flat. Tried one of my flap wheels and gave it a nice polish but little else.
One reason I have taken a while to start welding has been sourcing gas - again this site has been a great resource but I found no independents in the Guildford area (home of BOC) and I did not want to pay an annual rental for the small amount of welding I will do. Anyway a company has just set up selling Albee - which seems a good compromise between the disposables and big bottles. Not sure whether I can advertise the company here ( based between Guildford and Woking) but have asked the moderators to add them to the list and if sent a pm I will send the link. Or they can be picked up from the Albee website
Thanks for any advice.
Jonathan