Spanking new to welding

[MasterAuron]

Hey guys, today is the first time I've ever picked up a welder of any sort, so be gentle please

I've got a Clarke 135TE and was welding 1mm mild steel with 0.6mm wire and CO2 gas. At first I really struggled as I was welding outside and the wind kept getting up, so the really bad ones with all the spatter are from that I think. Also was having trouble with the wire, due to the reel not being on tight enough, so there was no braking. (I think!)

I cleared out and moved into my shed. I was using 1 Min and varying the wire speed between 2 and 3. What can I do to reduce the brown colouration? I'm waiting on a Sif-lite helmet so for now I'm using the crappy handheld one and one hand. The metal has warped quite a bit as well, but is this just because I didn't do little runs at a time as I'm impatient?

Please critisize!

 

[MasterAuron]

Like A COMPLETE DUMBASS, I've just noticed that there is a round hole AND a white mark on the wire speed dial. So I've actually had it on 7 or 8 and not 2 or 3 like I though, because I was using the round hole as marker!

Is this why all the welds above are very high and don't seem to penetrate very far? So, after turning the wire speed down to 6, here are two more welds that look a bit better imo. Any help would be much apperciated.

 

[Sparkey]

Hi and welcome!
I really think you should try and get some thicker steel to practise on! it makes life a lot easier!
Once you master that you can give the thin stuff a go!
What's the minimum amps on your welder?

 

[zardoz]

Sparkey is right it will be easier to practice on 3mm steel. However if you are planning to weld on car bodywork then welding 1mm is a good practice. As for the welds they are not bad for a first time welder trying on his/her own. Try to do some longer runs, it is with those that you will learn to watch and eventually control the weld pool.

Follow the tutorials on here and ask for advice and you will be fine.

 

[Arsonista]

That's it, you're lost now. Welcome to a world of welding catalogues and checking out the welds on everything you see. There is no cure. Good first try.

 

[MasterAuron]

That's it, you're lost now. Welcome to a world of welding catalogues and checking out the welds on everything you see. There is no cure. Good first try.

Lol tell me about it. I've been looking at plasma cutters and all sorts!

Thanks for the warm welcome. Minumum amps is 30 I think and yes I'm learning mainly for car bodywork so I thought I'd try with the thickness I'm going to be using. I'm a Thermal Insulation Engineer/Sheet Metal Worker by trade, so I have access to the electric gilly's, rollers, swages etc.

I'll get hold of some 3mm then and do some long runs as you recommend. The heat spots seem to be very big around the welds, is this due to doing too big a weld, rather than letting it cool? Is there any way to reduce the browning? And would using an Argon/CO2 mix rather than pure CO2 be any better?

Thanks again.

 

[Biscayne]

Argon/CO2 made a BIG difference when I first started with my Clarke 151te. I started off repairing a mower deck and made a real hash of it with the CO2 supplied. Changed to the Argon mix and wow! I can weld (ish)

The mower deck was good practice for welding to pitted metal, as the rust 'spits' if you find it and that seems worse with straight CO2.

 

[disco_monkey79]

That's it, you're lost now. Welcome to a world of welding catalogues and checking out the welds on everything you see. There is no cure. Good first try.

Haha, how true that is! My office is in a converted warehouse with lots of exposed beams etc, and I can't help but check out the welds!

Master - I'm new to this too, good luck and keep at it! It's great!

 

[Rusty]

Some good welds there , just keep a steady hand

 

[Barkychoc]

I have a clarke 160EN whch is a similar machine.
The wire feed dial on mine is really VERY sensitive - to get it right you have to master welding with one hand while you finely tune the wire speed knob with the other to get it just right - the sound it makes when its right is pretty obvious with my machine.
I've always used CO2/Argon as I found this website before I bought anything.

Once you have the wire speed right you can leave it alone for that power setting - its worth noting it down as a rough guide for next time.
I say rough guide as it may not be the same next time - how tight you do up the wire feed wheel and the state of your torch liner etc will influence the feed speed.
I found you soon get the hang of setting it anyway, and I've only done a small amount of welding.

Considering you're welding on thin stuff thats way better than I managed at first.

 

[peterd51]

Hi,

note that it'll change anyway as the welder warms up if you weld for more that a few minutes.

Once set for a particular power setting,it's supposed to auto-adjust for other power settings and it does to an extent. You just need to be aware that it's a dynamic process and with a bit of practice you can slightly change your torch angle/hand speed, etc, to compensate.

Regards
Peter

 

[MasterAuron]

Thanks for the advice everybody, some very helpful stuff there. I haven't had chance to do anymore welding practice as I'm working so much lately! I've got some 2mm plate though so maybe tomorrow after work if I get time. I'll report back with pictures or review when I do lol.