Some test with Eastwood mig 175 and 100% Argon

[Alexccmeister]

Hi All,

Here is a weld test I did with 100% argon on steel. Not very clean steel but the area I test welded I had it grounded to clean metal.





Got some porosity in the weld but not much. I am currently welding up a welding cart for my tig and mig. Got a lot to learn about welding nice beads.

What do you guys think? I am planning on using argon for now as I can't afford two tank of welding gas atm.

Alex

 

[marlinspike]

Looks ok to me, especially the top weld on the bottom pic; that looks nice and wide.

 

[Alexccmeister]

Thanks for the comment. The wider weld bead was done with a cursive e motion. It was all good with test beads but when it comes time to welding the actual pieces together, as Jody would say it, the weld beads look like FIDO's butt.... .

I have just weld up the top portion of my welding cart and will be putting on the base plates next for the welding machine to sit on. Wheels will go on soon. I will post up some pictures tomorrow. The welds aren't good and I had to grind them down. I think it had to do with my hand movement. Just can't get a smooth enough travel. Guessing more practice coming up.

 

[marlinspike]

I am just the same. Did some great practise welds yesterday. Started on the car and it all went pear shaped.

 

[chriso]

Thanks for the comment. The wider weld bead was done with a cursive e motion. It was all good with test beads but when it comes time to welding the actual pieces together, as Jody would say it, the weld beads look like FIDO's butt.... .

I have just weld up the top portion of my welding cart and will be putting on the base plates next for the welding machine to sit on. Wheels will go on soon. I will post up some pictures tomorrow. The welds aren't good and I had to grind them down. I think it had to do with my hand movement. Just can't get a smooth enough travel. Guessing more practice coming up.

I don't do enough welding to ever become really proficient so I have resort to what is probably bad practice.
MIG - I often rest my left elbow and use my left hand to support my right wrist while travelling.
Arc - I always bend the rod in some manner and support the rod with my left hand.
TIG - I hold the torch with fingers around the back cap and the gas cup - no way I can hold the shaft of the torch and do anything but dip the tungsten.

I have two high power magnetic base LED lamps and a halogen flood so I can see what I'm doing.

Also have a plumbers heat mat and a TIG finger so I can rest on hot work.

Also have my auto helmet set to minimum darkness and keep a good supply of front shields as it's easy to leave spattered shields on far too long.

There always seems to be an assumption that whatever arc you are producing will illuminate your work - it rarely does.

 

[Alexccmeister]

I am just the same. Did some great practise welds yesterday. Started on the car and it all went pear shaped.

I don't do enough welding to ever become really proficient so I have resort to what is probably bad practice.
MIG - I often rest my left elbow and use my left hand to support my right wrist while travelling.
Arc - I always bend the rod in some manner and support the rod with my left hand.
TIG - I hold the torch with fingers around the back cap and the gas cup - no way I can hold the shaft of the torch and do anything but dip the tungsten.

I have two high power magnetic base LED lamps and a halogen flood so I can see what I'm doing.

Also have a plumbers heat mat and a TIG finger so I can rest on hot work.

Also have my auto helmet set to minimum darkness and keep a good supply of front shields as it's easy to leave spattered shields on far too long.

There always seems to be an assumption that whatever arc you are producing will illuminate your work - it rarely does.

Chris, I think you made a very good point about the lighting issue. I also had to lower my shade down to minimum and still couldn't see the weld pool properly. I guess the only way is have a lot of light shine on the work piece. Will try this out the next time I am welding.

I have a couple of tig fingers but haven't used it yet as it turned out I am migging more than I am tigging. The thick lather welding gloves I use are enough to prevent the heat from burning my hand.

 

[Alexccmeister]

 

[Lawnmowerboy]

I only use tig gloves for migging unless it's about 200A plus.
One question, why are you using pure argon for m/s MIG?

 

[Alexccmeister]

I only use tig gloves for migging unless it's about 200A plus.
One question, why are you using pure argon for m/s MIG?

Ya, I really should be using C25 but currently have a tank of pure argon. Will see how it goes and splurge out on another tank of C25. Maybe my weld will look better. Hehe.....

Got myself 2 pairs of caster wheels. Will be putting that on soon. Planning to get some sheet metal first and weld on top of the frames to sit the two welding machines. Will post up more pict soon.

One thing I should have done better is do some exact measurements and get the welding cart down in terms of width. The thing is kinda wide for my liking. Ah well!

 

[shenion]

When I asked Air products for MIG gas, I was given pure argon. It worked ok but the weld profile was high.

Then I got a TIG welder and needed pure argon so I stuck with it and upgraded to a bigger bottle. I picked up a CO2 bottle for MIG.

I can mix them as needed but CO2 works fine and is real cheap. I only mix it when doing thin metal, usually 80/20%.

 

[bull]

Co2 is cheaper and welds just as good on mild steel. Keep welding

 

[LuckyXie]

Could you please show me what welder you are using to get this welded ?

 

[Alexccmeister]

Here is the website of the seller. Its an Eastwood Mig 175.

http://www.eastwood.com/mig-welders-175-amp-mig-welder-w-spool-gun.html

I got mine from Amazon but shipped from Eastwood. Went through IPSPARCEL. Eastwood won't ship outside the States. You can get from Frost UK. Can have Parcel2go ship Fedex or DHL for you. Unless of course you can find the manufacturer in China but I doubt they will sell to you direct.

 

[Alexccmeister]

Here is what I am going to work on next. A proper cart I copied off the web. Tonnes of example in the net but found a cart that I like. Will be using 1" x 2", 0.5" x 0.5" and 1" x 1" MS hollow section for this. Will add 2mm thk steel plate on top.

 

[Alexccmeister]

Will probably put another steel plate under the base just to reinforce the lower section. The 1/2" RHS seems abit small but will see once the cart is built.