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Nozzle is brass alloy? The cone shaped shroud thing is plastic (it will be fine) View Quote I didn't buy any, waiting to see if any came with the welder (no) and wanting to see what the manual said about what size I should get for what. (.30 I'm thinking, for my mower deck. But the practice steel I have is thicker. Looks like it doesn't matter.) |
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One tool you'll need to keep handy is a pair of needle-nosed pliers. Especially while getting settings adjusted, your wire will often shoot "whiskers" (3-6 inch pieces of wire) that short off at your base metal and tip at the same time as you try to start an arc. Sometimes these will stick or plug your tip where the wire comes out. THAT is what you need the pliers for. Also, even with the use of splatter spray you will get splatter build-up inside the cone and around your tip. It is advisable to check the inside every once in a while and scrape out the accumulated splatter- another use for the needle-nosed pliers.
A second tool I found VERY useful is a 10 or 12 inch bastard mill file. Grind the end into a chisel shape. It makes a great tool to scrape and knock splatter off after you have finished welding and will save a ton of time vs grinding. |
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Just skimmed through the thread, that wire wheel can be dangerous. I use Dewalt braided cup brushes (these)and wires still fly of...at 1000s of RPMs That style you have in your pic will be throwing wires like it's opening day
A face shield and leather apron are really necessary with grinders |
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I'm outside, trying to figure out a bench setup that won't catch on fire.
I'm making one out of boards for right now. Less than ideal, but all I'll ruin is some boards. Not much to clamp the ground to on a small practice piece... |
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I'm outside, trying to figure out a bench setup that won't catch on fire. I'm making one out of boards for right now. Less than ideal, but all I'll ruin is some boards. Not much to clamp the ground to on a small practice piece... View Quote They have since moved but I used to have a scrap yard in town. I would show up with a bottle of J.D. and get to pick as much as I wanted out of the yard, just saying |
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Time to pick up some square tubing, angle iron, some expanded steel for shelves and a piece of 1/4" or more thick plate for the top They have since moved but I used to have a scrap yard in town. I would show up with a bottle of J.D. and get to pick as much as I wanted out of the yard, just saying View Quote Stick is easier. |
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No, wire is easier. But you will know that soon enough View Quote I'm getting more a shorting-out-power-station sound than bacon frying. Several people have told me to go for the bacon frying sound, and when I watch videos, that's what I see and hear, but so far, it's all grease and no bacon. To be fair, I spent a lot of time trying to figure out the helmet settings. I started with it so dark I couldn't even see the arc, really. I'm still scared of not having it dark enough, so I'm not seeing what I'm doing. It started to get dark on me, and I'm tired and hungry (making supper now) so I quit for the evening. Kitties has a lot to learn. ETA: I picked up the welder about 2 pm. I picked up wire about 5 pm after reading the manual. I got the wire to feed. I struck an arc a few times. I got the helmet to work. I did not die. I did not catch anything on fire (okay a board was smoking, but I'm not counting that. I did not destroy my eyesight. I did not burn myself. I did not shock myself. Overall, it's probably not a bad day. |
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Just skimmed through the thread, that wire wheel can be dangerous. I use Dewalt braided cup brushes (these)and wires still fly of...at 1000s of RPMs That style you have in your pic will be throwing wires like it's opening day A face shield and leather apron are really necessary with grinders View Quote I looked at leather aprons at Harbor Freight and at TSC, but none had adjustable neck straps, and they're built for taller people I think, cuz It was not fitting well. I'll have to either modify one of those cheap ones (probably I will choose this option) or order an adjustable one. At the moment I am prepared to weld, not dig out the sewing machine. One aggravating skill at a time. |
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Sounds like you're tip is too far away or the wire speed is too fast or more heat or your moving to slow or fast Give it a couple seconds to get the puddle going then make small circles moving forward, don't be in a big hurry. There is a feel but some practice on scrap will help develop it. Under the side panel should have a basic guide line for the thickness of the metal. Don't be afraid to get your face right in there, scabs on the top of the coconut are a right of passage
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One tool you'll need to keep handy is a pair of needle-nosed pliers. Especially while getting settings adjusted, your wire will often shoot "whiskers" (3-6 inch pieces of wire) that short off at your base metal and tip at the same time as you try to start an arc. Sometimes these will stick or plug your tip where the wire comes out. THAT is what you need the pliers for. Also, even with the use of splatter spray you will get splatter build-up inside the cone and around your tip. It is advisable to check the inside every once in a while and scrape out the accumulated splatter- another use for the needle-nosed pliers. A second tool I found VERY useful is a 10 or 12 inch bastard mill file. Grind the end into a chisel shape. It makes a great tool to scrape and knock splatter off after you have finished welding and will save a ton of time vs grinding. View Quote Somewhere around here I think I have a bastard file. I may buy different one to grind. Based on the amount of spatter I had tonight...you know...ALL of the metal I laid down...I will do a fair bit of scraping. |
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You using flux core or gas? Argon mix or CO2?
Also you can spray an area with anti-spatter before welding to keep the extra work down. Kind of a personal question.................................. how big/what size are you? I might have a light "welding" jacket I can send you. It's actually a outer layer of kevlar firefighter jacket, but it works as a welding jacket nicely. |
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Sounds like you're tip is too far away or the wire speed is too fast or more heat or your moving to slow or fast Give it a couple seconds to get the puddle going then make small circles moving forward, don't be in a big hurry. There is a feel but some practice on scrap will help develop it. Under the side panel should have a basic guide line for the thickness of the metal. Don't be afraid to get your face right in there, scabs on the top of the coconut are a right of passage View Quote Without an instructor, I have no idea which it is. That's the thing...when I learned stick welding, the shop teacher was there over my shoulder, making sure my settings were right and helping me learn the motion. (I remember him putting his hand on mine and those of other students, guiding us through the motion that taught us to make that nice row of stacked dimes.) Now, I got just me and Arfcom. There is a guide on the inside of the panel. I have followed it. I don't really know what kind of steel I have. That's another question. The cool thing is that on a lark, today, I stopped by a local hardware and farm supply store up at the crossroads near me. He had nothing I needed, but said, "You need to go to this welding shop over on this other road." I'd never even heard of this welding shop. It does not come up in internet searches, and no other person or shop had mentioned them. Turned out this guy was welding up some stuff for the Corvette plant to use for some experiments of some kind in their manufacturing process. So..yeah... Also someone I knew just happened to be there, drinking a Coke and shooting the shit with the owner, and hiked his thumb at the owner and said, "this is the best welder in three counties." Hmmm...that may well be. Turns out the guy used to teach welding in a neighboring county. He took me back to his scrap bin and started digging stuff out for me. Carried a small pile to my car, put it in my floorboard, and would not take any money. I will go back there but will lay down a $10 bill and say, "I want some scrap, but unless you take that, I won't take any." Or something. Or hell, maybe I'll make them some brownies. Anyway, I don't know for certain what I'm welding. I will measure and take pics tomorrow. I do know that some of the metal I have in my pile looks to me like it's "softer" than the other metal in the pile. So he may have given me a selection. I don't want scabs on my head, but now that I think about it, in Rat_Patrol's videos, he was right freaking over the arc. Yeah, I wasn't nearly that close. |
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You using flux core or gas? Argon mix or CO2? Also you can spray an area with anti-spatter before welding to keep the extra work down. Kind of a personal question.................................. how big/what size are you? I might have a light "welding" jacket I can send you. It's actually a outer layer of kevlar firefighter jacket, but it works as a welding jacket nicely. View Quote I am starting out with a simple flux core welder. I just saw a video that mentioned the anti-spatter spray!!! I will look for it tomorrow. I am 5' 1.5" tall, and I weigh about 125 lbs. That's a wonderful offer, but I fear your jacket would be wasted on me. |
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Nope, you absolutely will love having a welding jacket. IM me a shipping address and I'll get it out this week. It is long sleeve, a neck protector, pockets, zipper and velcro sealed. Protects, keeps you clean, no welding sun burns, After an auto darkening helmet, it's the best thing I've done for accessories for welding.
For cleaning steel up I use flapper disks, you can also shape metal with them. But they work great for removing spatter and cleaning metal before welding. flapper disks |
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Nope, you absolutely will love having a welding jacket. IM me a shipping address and I'll get it out this week. It is long sleeve, a neck protector, pockets, zipper and velcro sealed. Protects, keeps you clean, no welding sun burns, After an auto darkening helmet, it's the best thing I've done for accessories for welding. For cleaning steel up I use flapper disks, you can also shape metal with them. But they work great for removing spatter and cleaning metal before welding. flapper disks View Quote I will say again, I'm not nearly enough of a welder to make use of such a gift. And a guy in the aisle at Harbor Freight sold me on the flapper disks. I got a 60 and a 120. The 60 looks like it will eat some serious metal, but I'm less scared of that than I am the flying wires from the brushes. I don't mean to sound ungrateful, btw. That's just a really awesome thing to have, to just give it away. |
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Relax, I got it for free. My son used it for a little while and now he has my shoulders, so it no longer fits him.
Trust me, knowing your clothes won't catch on fire or random burns happening WILL help your welding. It'll fit you loosely, but it will mitigate welding dangers and help your confidence. Not to mention, keep you a bunch cleaner. |
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Relax, I got it for free. My son used it for a little while and now he has my shoulders, so it no longer fits him. Trust me, knowing your clothes won't catch on fire or random burns happening WILL help your welding. It'll fit you loosely, but it will mitigate welding dangers and help your confidence. Not to mention, keep you a bunch cleaner. View Quote That's an amazing thing to offer. I will send you an IM. |
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For settings on that welder, have the voltage switch on 2 unless you are doing auto body.
Important: make sure the set screw on the knob is tight. Mine wasn't when new, and I almost brought the thing back because I could not get it to adjust for crap. Once I tightened that set screw, it was fine On this machine, I turn the feed down for thicker metal. You want to heat the metal as much as possible, just to the line before burning through. Know if you turn it down too much, the wire will "burn up" into the nozzle before it gets the job done, UN which case increase the feed just a bit, as in 1/3rd way to the next number on the gauge. While I do 1/4" thick, I would not exceed 3/16" until you get good and learn the machine. You can easily weld 1/8" all day with ease. You need your helmet bright enough to see the weld pool. You are looking for that pool to "take" on both pieces of metal. You almost always have to wander a bit from one piece to the other, I like to make rows if "C" s. It's like soldering actually. If the weld pool doesn't take, it bubbles, which you can see as you weld. This happens more on thick metal, or if your feed us too fast. Remember, welding us merely melting your pieces of steel, and while molten, adding fill material, which you also have to melt. If you don't melt one piece, the weld us just sitting on top, not becoming a piece of the steel. A welder just combines melting your pieces and adding filler. Keep playing with the feed setting, get your nozzle to about 1/2" or a bit less to your work, and keep the voltage on #2 unless your doing auto body type thickness. You can also crank the feed and weld fast on thin stuff while in voltage #2 |
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Bake that dude some brownies and ask if you can look over his shoulder next time he welds something up. Bring your helmet and some good shoes. That will give you some idea on distance and technique, and just flat out make you more comfortable with the whole process. I figure it's the same with my bees. I've never messed with bees before, and even though I'm suited up in full gear, watched all the videos, read the book, asked questions on the forum, I'm still apprehensive about screwing up. I should have gone to my cousin's house and worked his bees with him just to get a better feel for it.
So you're near Bowling Green, there ought to be some guys who can weld there. We loved the Corvette museum. |
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Joemama, there are plenty of guys around who can weld.
I figured since I'd welded for a year in school, that the wire wouldn't be THAT big an adjustment. But it is, and I haven't welded in a long time of course. I may have to go back to him and ask him what I'm doing wrong, but realistically, I'm just getting going. I think Rat's suggestions above may help quite a bit. |
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For settings on that welder, have the voltage switch on 2 unless you are doing auto body. Important: make sure the set screw on the knob is tight. Mine wasn't when new, and I almost brought the thing back because I could not get it to adjust for crap. Once I tightened that set screw, it was fine On this machine, I turn the feed down for thicker metal. You want to heat the metal as much as possible, just to the line before burning through. Know if you turn it down too much, the wire will "burn up" into the nozzle before it gets the job done, UN which case increase the feed just a bit, as in 1/3rd way to the next number on the gauge. While I do 1/4" thick, I would not exceed 3/16" until you get good and learn the machine. You can easily weld 1/8" all day with ease. You need your helmet bright enough to see the weld pool. You are looking for that pool to "take" on both pieces of metal. You almost always have to wander a bit from one piece to the other, I like to make rows if "C" s. It's like soldering actually. If the weld pool doesn't take, it bubbles, which you can see as you weld. This happens more on thick metal, or if your feed us too fast. Remember, welding us merely melting your pieces of steel, and while molten, adding fill material, which you also have to melt. If you don't melt one piece, the weld us just sitting on top, not becoming a piece of the steel. A welder just combines melting your pieces and adding filler. Keep playing with the feed setting, get your nozzle to about 1/2" or a bit less to your work, and keep the voltage on #2 unless your doing auto body type thickness. You can also crank the feed and weld fast on thin stuff while in voltage #2 View Quote I figured out that I needed to weld on 2. 1 just popped and cracked all over the place. Is your helmet from Northern Tool? Or from Harbor Freight? I'm wondering what setting you keep yours on. First I tried the feed about half way up the dial. Lordy Pete! Ran out some wire I had to cut off. Then I tried it at different settings, all the way down to 1. 1 was too slow. Ended up back at 2, but see..I'm going from one number up to the next. I'm not making those little bitty adjustments,. Somebody said that in the past--maybe you--but I forgot about that. So...do you position your gun over the work at the correct height, then pull the trigger to strike the arc? Or do you hold a little back and let the trigger feed strike the arc. Honestly that feels cumbersome, since I was used to having the stick, doing a very light movement across the metal to strike the arc, and beginning my bead. I keep sticking the wire to the metal, same as I did the stick the first time I ever welded. Part of my trouble is that I can't strike the arc without the trigger pulled, and then the wire is running like a lizard in a road race. I have tightened that screw. I will try again, hopefully today. |
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I've gotta go to TSC for wire. I didn't buy any, waiting to see if any came with the welder (no) and wanting to see what the manual said about what size I should get for what. (.30 I'm thinking, for my mower deck. But the practice steel I have is thicker. Looks like it doesn't matter.) View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted:
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Nozzle is brass alloy? The cone shaped shroud thing is plastic (it will be fine) I didn't buy any, waiting to see if any came with the welder (no) and wanting to see what the manual said about what size I should get for what. (.30 I'm thinking, for my mower deck. But the practice steel I have is thicker. Looks like it doesn't matter.) |
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My face shield was $15 or so. I use a face shield and safety glasses. It is nice when it gets hot out compared to a hood. I use a cheap, I think it was $18, Hobart leather apron from Tractor supply. I will say that one if not more fire extinguishers should be handy as in pulled out and place next to where you are working. Welding and grinding will send sparks a long fucking way. As the saying goes; https://i.giphy.com/JIUYwgWQ5INSU.gif View Quote |
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One thing that I heard a lot as I went down this same path a few months ago was to buy some quality wire (Lincoln, etc.). I don't know what TSC sells so not saying it's either good or bad, but maybe still worth being aware of. Apparently the stuff that HF sells is pretty worthless... but then again, that's not from direct experience, just the buzz. View Quote I think it's operator error. |
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If I can't get this going well, I'll go to Lowe's and get some Lincoln wire. I saw one video that the TSC wire wasn't all that great, but it's Hobart (I think) so I kinda thought it would fall in line okay. It's feeding just fine, best I can tell. I think it's operator error. View Quote As far as settings, other than the switch on 2, scrap whatever you learned on the dial yesterday since the screw was loose. Start over. Start from a high, and turn down until the wire isn't pushing into the steel anymore, but melting as fast as you are using it. |
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My set screw WAS loose!!! I figured out that I needed to weld on 2. 1 just popped and cracked all over the place. Is your helmet from Northern Tool? Or from Harbor Freight? I'm wondering what setting you keep yours on. Don't remember, but my setting changes all the time based on ambient light, how far away my head is from the weld (sometimes you weld in weird positions), if I have clear or sun safety glasses on (you should wear safety glasses behind your welding helmet as well), etc. First I tried the feed about half way up the dial. Lordy Pete! Ran out some wire I had to cut off. Then I tried it at different settings, all the way down to 1. 1 was too slow. Ended up back at 2, but see..I'm going from one number up to the next. I'm not making those little bitty adjustments,. Somebody said that in the past--maybe you--but I forgot about that. When its time to fine tune, you are only moving a very small amount to make adjustments, and that is really for adjustments between metal thicknesses. My dial never moves outside of a 15 or so degrees area. So...do you position your gun over the work at the correct height, then pull the trigger to strike the arc? Or do you hold a little back and let the trigger feed strike the arc. Honestly that feels cumbersome, since I was used to having the stick, doing a very light movement across the metal to strike the arc, and beginning my bead. I keep sticking the wire to the metal, same as I did the stick the first time I ever welded. Position your nozzle (which should be at 45 degrees to your pieces) and hit the trigger. Sometimes (especially if you weld on rusted metal, like I do) you have to get the arc somewhere close and then quickly, while the end of the wire is still molten and hot, get your bead going where you want it. Pretty much a non-issue on clean metal though. I'm not all higher than thou and wire brush all my metal before I weld it though. That would triple the time my projects take Part of my trouble is that I can't strike the arc without the trigger pulled, and then the wire is running like a lizard in a road race. If the feed is set right, it will melt as fast as it is coming out. Looks like a LOT is coming out, but it takes a lot of wire to make a weld pool. I have tightened that screw. I will try again, hopefully today. View Quote |
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Thanks.
You're spending an awful lot of time answering questions for me. Others are as well. I appreciate that very much. |
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How do you know when the tip is toast? http://www.fototime.com/28B47D8AEAE9DED/standard.jpg http://www.fototime.com/F326C642B18063F/standard.jpg Sorry this one's a little blurry. http://www.fototime.com/F9363D5939D1BFF/standard.jpg Hmmm...it looks a little gnarlier in person than shows in the photos. View Quote When there is so much crud built up that you cannot get wire through, or its eaten away pretty bad is when you change the tip. You can clean tips (they make small files to fit on the inside where the wire is) for a while if you want, but they are cheap enough I just replace when I have issues, which is 1-2 tips/year. |
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How do you know when the tip is toast? View Quote If your tip does clog, the first step I'd make is to pull the cone back to expose the tip and rub the tip hard across a rough piece of metal or a file. This will often break the blob free. Cut it off and go back to welding. If that doesn't work, unscrew the tip (might be hard to do because you'll be twisting the wire) and run out about 6 inches of wire. Cut it off long and twist/hammer/whatever to break the wire free inside the tip. Failing that, put on a new tip. |
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Did anybody ever mention to make sure you are using a 20 amp breaker circuit? If not, I did now.
You can get away with a 15 amp circuit if you don't have anything else on that circuit at the time you are welding, and weld in smaller runs. As in don't expect to weld constantly for 5 minutes, just a minute and give the breaker a chance to cool. I did that for years |
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I'm having a hard time comprehending where you are actually having trouble. It could be your equipment setup. It could be your weld area preparation. It could be your technique. It is probably a combination of all of them.
If you have cleaned your weld area down to clean bare metal, I'd consider that OK. Next, review your equipment setup. Is your mig gun assembled correctly? On the rigs I used, the outer cone extends past the tip (maybe 3/4 inch) and encloses it so that the gas protects the molten metal. Even with flux-cored wires, the molten puddle needs to be shielded from ambient air. Do you have a breeze blowing across your weld? If so, you might have to set up some kind of wind screen. Also, double check that you are getting a GOOD ground. Best if it is near the weld area (1-2 ft) and grounded to clean bare metal. If your ground spot is rusty, remove the ground clamp and hit a lick with your grinder, then replace the clamp. Sometimes you even need to clean off your ground clamp. Even if it is brand new metal, grind the ground area to knock off any mill scale. YOU WILL NOT GET A GOOD WELD IF YOU DON"T HAVE A GOOD GROUND. Finally, and least important for learning, is technique. Don't worry about making little "c"s or waves by working your gun, it will weld just fine by pushing your gun in a straight line. Once you get comfortable with starting, you'll find that you'll naturally weave a nice bead. With about 1/2 inch of wire sticking out, put your gun maybe an inch above your starting point for the weld, cover your eyes and pull the trigger. As you pull the trigger push the tip down towards but not quite touching the weld area. I'm guessing the tip will be about 1/2 an inch from the weld, maybe 3/8 of an inch but probably not closer. As your weld begins, adjust the distance in order to keep the bead flowing. You'll be able to tell if you are too far away or too close. Did you notice I said PUSH your bead? This is different than most stick welding, where you pull or draw the bead along. With a wire feed welder, you usually will angle the gun/tip about 45 degrees back from the direction of weld. eta: I forgot to mention wire selection. If you continue to have trouble, post the specs on your wire. Like rod selection when stick welding, it can be important to match wire to your metal. Also, I suggest you practice running a flat bead on some thicker metal (1/4-3/8 in) before attempting to complicate matters by sticking pieces together. It'll be a breeze once you get your starting touch down! |
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I'm having a hard time comprehending where you are actually having trouble. It could be your equipment setup. It could be your weld area preparation. It could be your technique. It is probably a combination of all of them. If you have cleaned your weld area down to clean bare metal, I'd consider that OK. This is new metal with zero rust or film on it. Next, review your equipment setup. Is your mig gun assembled correctly? On the rigs I used, the outer cone extends past the tip (maybe 3/4 inch) and encloses it so that the gas protects the molten metal. Even with flux-cored wires, the molten puddle needs to be shielded from ambient air. Do you have a breeze blowing across your weld? If so, you might have to set up some kind of wind screen. Also, double check that you are getting a GOOD ground. Best if it is near the weld area (1-2 ft) and grounded to clean bare metal. If your ground spot is rusty, remove the ground clamp and hit a lick with your grinder, then replace the clamp. Sometimes you even need to clean off your ground clamp. Even if it is brand new metal, grind the ground area to knock off any mill scale. YOU WILL NOT GET A GOOD WELD IF YOU DON"T HAVE A GOOD GROUND. My ground is clamped to the small piece of metal I'm working on. There's nowhere else to clamp it. Finally, and least important for learning, is technique. Don't worry about making little "c"s or waves by working your gun, it will weld just fine by pushing your gun in a straight line. Once you get comfortable with starting, you'll find that you'll naturally weave a nice bead. With about 1/2 inch of wire sticking out, put your gun maybe an inch above your starting point for the weld, cover your eyes and pull the trigger. As you pull the trigger push the tip down towards but not quite touching the weld area. I'm guessing the tip will be about 1/2 an inch from the weld, maybe 3/8 of an inch but probably not closer. As your weld begins, adjust the distance in order to keep the bead flowing. You'll be able to tell if you are too far away or too close. Did you notice I said PUSH your bead? This is different than most stick welding, where you pull or draw the bead along. With a wire feed welder, you usually will angle the gun/tip about 45 degrees back from the direction of weld. This is confusing. Everything I'm seeing tells me to pull the bead, not push it, if there is slag. Some saying I memorized at one point.."If there's slag, you drag"--I've gotten this from several different sites, so I'm not sure what you're calling "push" is what I'm thinking of by "push" Because flux core creates slag, I understand that this welder falls into that category. I may not be understanding correctly, but if I get information from several places, I figure it's reasonable to trust it. eta: I forgot to mention wire selection. If you continue to have trouble, post the specs on your wire. Like rod selection when stick welding, it can be important to match wire to your metal. All I see offered anywhere around me is flux core wire in two sizes. the 30 and the 35 (I don't remember where the decimal point goes) Since a professional welder knew I was welding with flux, and picked the steel out of his bin for me, I would assume I have the right thing. I don't know that, but according to my manual, I'm supposed to run only flux core wire in one of those two sizes, so not sure I have a lot of choices. Also, I suggest you practice running a flat bead on some thicker metal (1/4-3/8 in) before attempting to complicate matters by sticking pieces together. It'll be a breeze once you get your starting touch down! View Quote I may not get to attempt welding today, as rain is coming and I'm trying to mow, but will take all these thigns into consideration when I can try again. Thank you. |
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Did anybody ever mention to make sure you are using a 20 amp breaker circuit? If not, I did now. You can get away with a 15 amp circuit if you don't have anything else on that circuit at the time you are welding, and weld in smaller runs. As in don't expect to weld constantly for 5 minutes, just a minute and give the breaker a chance to cool. I did that for years View Quote Drop cord is 12 gauge. I was trying with the 25' because I thought I'd get less voltage drop over the run. I really need to use the 50' to get further from the house, but until I determine that something else is the problem, I will stick with the 25. |
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I used to have a 100ft 10ga cord I bought at Walmart, but everyone's gone bonkers on the price of those. Basically $1 foot. I would run that with a short 12ga cord on the end of it when I was welding up the fence at my first house. It worked great. I left it at work under my desk and the next time I went looking for it, it was gone. My Dad grabbed and used it to power one of our out buildings we were expanding into. 7 years later, it's still hanging up there, now directly wired into a 20amp GFI socket. It's not like we don't have rolls of 12ga wire and conduit laying around here.
I have a 3500 watt/4000 surge generator, it's kind of iffy to run the welder, it doesn't do well on the highest setting. But if you need something welded out in the field, it works in a pinch. |
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I used to have a 100ft 10ga cord I bought at Walmart, but everyone's gone bonkers on the price of those. Basically $1 foot. I would run that with a short 12ga cord on the end of it when I was welding up the fence at my first house. It worked great. I left it at work under my desk and the next time I went looking for it, it was gone. My Dad grabbed and used it to power one of our out buildings we were expanding into. 7 years later, it's still hanging up there, now directly wired into a 20amp GFI socket. It's not like we don't have rolls of 12ga wire and conduit laying around here. I have a 3500 watt/4000 surge generator, it's kind of iffy to run the welder, it doesn't do well on the highest setting. But if you need something welded out in the field, it works in a pinch. View Quote Now that I've tightened the set screw on the wire feed adjustment, I want to try again with very small adjustments to the feed speed and see if I can get it to lay down weld. I think I'll know immediately when I hit that sweet spot, because I'll not only hear it, but I should FEEL it. I remember how it felt, and I think the feel of laying down a good bead will be that same "floating on the molten metal" feeling. It's not that, really, but I don't have a better way to describe it. |
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How about pics of those welds View Quote Today it was not, and we were mowing like mad people, trying to knock the grass back. I mean we were mowing at the highest setting, then I will have to mow again tomorrow or the next day, at the normal setting. Sorry...no welding attempts were made this weekend. Hopefully in the next day or two. |
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I'm having a hard time comprehending where you are actually having trouble. It could be your equipment setup. It could be your weld area preparation. It could be your technique. It is probably a combination of all of them. If you have cleaned your weld area down to clean bare metal, I'd consider that OK. This is new metal with zero rust or film on it. Cold finished or cold rolled steel would be the exception, they would be shiny (or rusty) and it'd only be sheets, plates, or rounds. There are very few flats, channels, or angles that are cold finished out there (IE, none I have ever seen unless the flat was cut from sheet). Dull grey would also be a rarity, but could be a hot rolled P&O (pickled and oiled), but that is not commonly available except in sheet metal. |
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I didn't realize you were working with sheet / plate. Looking at that it could very well be pickled and oiled sheet steel (which would have a matte appearance). It COULD be plain hot rolled black plate, I've not seen enough of that to know for certain, but I don't think it is. If its pickled you should be getting a good ground (though it never hurts to grind a spot for a good ground as I've found with my plasma cutter). Looking at this picture ( http://businesskorea.co.kr/sites/default/files/field/image/hot%20rolled%20steel%20plates.jpg ) I am thinking yours is hot rolled. I always saw it full width so the blue edges were visible, but the center is grey since it can't oxidize as much when it gets coiled up. For structural items the scale is a lot thicker and easier to see.
I am not certain how to tell easily between HR and HRPO just by looking, you may not be able to easily. Don't feel bad, people who have been working with steel for 10 or 20 years THINK they know but most don't (seeing what is put out there on the forums makes your head spin with whats stated wrong). For farm work you won't really need to know much about it. I can sum it up for you: Grade: A36 - most common for shapes / structurals, plain jane steel, 36,000 yield strength (there are lots of others too but this is 90%+ of the market) CS-b / commercial steel / commercial quality - this is the common grade of sheet steel. For HR material it is around 35,000 psi yield strength, for cold rolled around 25,000 Rounds: Hot rolled - thick layer of scale Cold finished - nice shiny smooth surface, hard due to extra cold work Structurals (angles, channels, etc) Hot rolled only, RARELY pickled Sheet: Hotrolled (HR) - scale layer, can be thick like the blue edges in the above pic, or light gray HRPO (HR pickeld and oiled) - dipped in acid to remove the scale then oiled for rust prevention Cold Rolled - shiny surface, also typically oiled. Slightly weaker than hot rolled because it comes annealed (this is a common mis-conception that it is stronger, it is not) That is probably as much to it as there needs to be for 80-90% of what anybody might do. |
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The piece of steel I am using looks an awful lot like that picture you just posted.
So...does that mean I need to grind it clean before I attempt to weld it? And do you mean I need to run over it with a brush? Or that I need to grind down into the surface? |
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