P***ed off.

[PaulMcElhinney]

Well I have just tried to butt weld together two pieces of 1.0 - 1.1mm mild steel sheet. I was using a Clarke 100E. I chose the settings suggested by Clarke in the manual. Brand new bottle of CO2/Argon. I clamped the two pieces together and backed the joint with a flattened piece of copper tube to act (supposedly) as a "heat sink". I tacked the joint together every two inches working from right to left (I'm right handed.) I then used the pulsing technique to weld a two inch section at a time. I allowed about 5 minutes between sections to allow the heat to dissipate. The result of all this careful preparation and execution? Holes that could sink the Graf Spee. It really is quite depressing. I watch my DVD tutor laying down beautiful seams and wonder where I'm going wrong. Oh well, looks like I'm back down to my local fabricator's factory tomorrow to use his guillotine to chop the sorry mess off and start again. Thank God for Hardy's Cabernet Sauvignon.

 

[mike os]

just got to keep on practicing... & playing with the settings, sometimes the manufacturer is not as accurate as we would like

 

[stuvy]

Il join in with you on the hardys, but practise and fiddling with the dial is the only way to carry on mate!

 

[GeorgiePorgie]

but practise and fiddling with the dial is the only way to carry on mate!

Yep I'll go along with that....play with your knob.

 

[cumbriasteve]

Ignore the settings Clarke suggests, start very low, even if the MIg struggles to melt the wire and work up slowly until you are getting a lumpy messy weld but not burning through...then very minor adjustment on the power and wire speed, even minor adjustment on the torch angle can help.

You will begin to 'hear' a nicer sound and just know you are closer to the right setting.

 

[MarkMG]

Paul, don't know how close to Gloucester you are, but I'd be happy for you to pop down one sat morn and run through it with you.

 

[PaulMcElhinney]

Mark, that is very kind of you. I'm in Brum so it's not far. I'll give you a PM when I've next got a Saturday off. I work shifts so I don't get every weekend off.

Steve, I must confess at one point today I had a sound that unlike "frying bacon" sounded more like a firework fizzing and crackling before the explosion. That section of weld was possibly the best.

I did of course make the fundamental error of not fine tuning on scrap before starting work on my workpiece. I now know why butt welding is so called. Don't do it right and it kicks your ****. ho ho...

Thanks for the advice gents. Your replies and the red wine have assuaged my stresses.

Regards,


Paul.

 

[PaulMcElhinney]

Progress...

Well I have today succeeded in butt welding together the two pieces of steel that previously defeated me. Many thanks to CumbriaSteve. Following his advice I went out to my shed this morning with the welder instructions. Using scrap of the same thickness as my workpiece I started off with the lowest setting 1,2, min. I then went up to 1,2, max. This is supposedly the setting for 0.6-0.8mm steel according to the manufacturer. However this was the correct amperage. I tacked the join every 2 inches then welded it just doing three quarters of an inch to an 1" at a time, allowing each weld to cool before doing the next. I used my flattened copper pipe heat sink along the back on the join.

As a newbie one thing I did find is that due to uncertainty, lack of confidence whatever I have a tendency to move the torch too slowly. I found that when I moved the torch a little quicker I got better quality welds and good penetration.

I have tentatively dressed my welds with a grinding disc. I am now off to the welding supplies shop to buy some flap/fibre discs.

Thanks for your help.


Paul.

 

[mike 109444]

Good on ya Paul for keeping at it I think this might be a good post to point new welders who are in you words "p**ed off with there first attempts to see that you need to practics, practice, practice. Most welders use to do an apprentiship of 4 to 5 years so you are doing well to stick to bits of metal togeather with a bit of kit you may have never used before with out there being an instructor guiding you best of luck with you furture projects and don't get roped into to many "freebe, oh could you just weld this up for me" type jobs