learning to weld

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slantscamp

slantscamp

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well ive finally got my hands on a welder. i have been wanting to take a class for the last year. but havent been able to because they are always scheduled the same time as my apprenticeship schooling. so one of my buddies came over yesterday and brought his welder and the old floorpans out of his 41 willys. im learning on floor pans because i need to put some patches in our metropolitan before i put the drivetrain back in. he said he would leave the welder at my house and i could use it as long as i want. he is also going to come back with some thicker steel to teach me some more. he just said practice, practice, practice. to practice, i have been taking my grinder and cut slits in the pans. then practicing tacking it back together, and practicing 1 inch beads. i know these pictures arnt anything great, but im pretty excited. ive always wanted to weld, and now im learning!

P7212862.jpg


P7212863.jpg


P7222866.jpg
 
Hey thats not bad.looks like you will get it together soon.Try to concentrate on 1/2 to 1" stitch.Keep at it you are looking good
 
I took a welders course almost 30 yrs ago and just purchased a Lincoln mig welder(on slae)lastyear.When doing a pass try doing a small bit of weaving with your wrist just to get the feel for the handle.Your friend is right,take your time and practice,practice.Once you learn you,ll never forget it.Good luck it takes abit of time,but you,ll get it.
 
CLEAN THE METAL!!! Use a zircon wheel and wipe it with acetone before welding. Get it shiny.

Of the welds you made, the top pic, far right row, third one done looks pretty good.

If you weld over that scale, you won't have a good idea of what's really happening. It's like paint over a rusty panel... no bueno if you want it to look good.

The door of the welder should have suggestions for wire speed and voltage. Try those and then adjust the voltage or W/S up and down to see what happens. Some guys like to weld slowly and others just rip along. How fast you move will dictate subtle changes to welder settings. In general, voltage dictates the width of your bead, wire speed the height.

Don't know where you are looking while welding, don't look where the wire is entering the puddle, watch the leading edge of the puddle and just push it along. Figure a technique that works for you, forward/back, circles, crescents, cursive e's, there's a bunch.

Keep wire stick out to about 1/4-1/2". Cut the snot ball off the wire before you start welding again.

Have fun
 
Looking good! Great start, nothing better then being able to melt metal together to open the door of endless projects!
Crackedback has thrown out some great info there for you. Clean metal front and back of plate makes a world of diffrence! I keep a small pair of dykes (or angle snips) at arms reach while welding to cut molten metal from the wire before each zap (snot ball)
Also be carefull what you use to clean with! http://www.brewracingframes.com/id75.htm read all labels carefully
 
crackedback said:
CLEAN THE METAL!!! Use a zircon wheel and wipe it with acetone before welding. Get it shiny.

Of the welds you made, the top pic, far right row, third one done looks pretty good.

If you weld over that scale, you won't have a good idea of what's really happening. It's like paint over a rusty panel... no bueno if you want it to look good.

The door of the welder should have suggestions for wire speed and voltage. Try those and then adjust the voltage or W/S up and down to see what happens. Some guys like to weld slowly and others just rip along. How fast you move will dictate subtle changes to welder settings. In general, voltage dictates the width of your bead, wire speed the height.

Don't know where you are looking while welding, don't look where the wire is entering the puddle, watch the leading edge of the puddle and just push it along. Figure a technique that works for you, forward/back, circles, crescents, cursive e's, there's a bunch.

Keep wire stick out to about 1/4-1/2". Cut the snot ball off the wire before you start welding again.

Have fun
Click to expand...

Geez, I wish someone had explained it that simply to me way back when. Great info.
 
I´m not a trained welder, but......
Very good advices. Also clean metal makes all the difference.
 
sweet I want to learn how to weld as well! looks good man keep it up
 
You are getting there. A little higher on the voltage, a littler lower on the wire speed and your welds will lay flatter. That way you will have less to grind.
 
toplscuda said:
You are getting there. A little higher on the voltage, a littler lower on the wire speed and your welds will lay flatter. That way you will have less to grind.
Click to expand...
i need to remember this one. im fairly new to welding too, i purchased a Miller 180 and been teaching myself, so far so good but not experienced quailty welds like a pro yet.
 
slantscamp said:
well ive finally got my hands on a welder. i have been wanting to take a class for the last year. but havent been able to because they are always scheduled the same time as my apprenticeship schooling. so one of my buddies came over yesterday and brought his welder and the old floorpans out of his 41 willys. im learning on floor pans because i need to put some patches in our metropolitan before i put the drivetrain back in. he said he would leave the welder at my house and i could use it as long as i want. he is also going to come back with some thicker steel to teach me some more. he just said practice, practice, practice. to practice, i have been taking my grinder and cut slits in the pans. then practicing tacking it back together, and practicing 1 inch beads. i know these pictures arnt anything great, but im pretty excited. ive always wanted to weld, and now im learning!
Click to expand...
Take a welding class if possible . Being taught by a welding instructor will save you countless hours of trial and error (lots of error). I was certified by the Carpenter Union of Chicago in vertical and horizontal /overhead stick welding. The teacher was a friggen expert....

the crackle/tone from his welding arc was super smooth with no variance in tone as he would lay down a bead. When he was finished his welds looked like a perfect bead of chaulk !!!

Learned more in six weeks of school than years of backyard experimenting. Also took the Union Tig class and liked that so much I went out and bought a nice Lincoln Pulse/Tig welder! This welder could probably weld a piece of aluminum foil to the side of a pop can !!! It's that accurate .

Eventually I hope to make a Ray Barton style crossram for one of my 440's .

I made a 10 quart oil pan out of the metal frame from a 2 bulb fluoresent light fixture to keep my 440's alive at 6500+ RPM's !!! So far so good .

Stick with it (pun intened) and you'll be able to do all kinds of fabrication .
 
lucky, i wanna learn how to weld, im thinking about buying a welder and trying to teach myself.
 
Great thread and very informative. I have been "sticking" stuff together yet, but seldom do I turn out anything that actually looks like welding.

Just last year, I finally got a real mig, with the argon gas.
 
thanks for the help. i will try all the tips you guys gave me. i will take a class. most likely it wil have to wait untill spring of next year. im in my last semester of a 5 year apprenticeship right now, so i kind of have to finish that. but it has been a relief to at least learn how to turn a welder on, and how one works. any other tips are welcome. and thanks for the compliments.
 
The main welder/fab guy at work was teaching me to weld after work the other day. Was teaching me how to run beads on some thicker steel and showed me some stitching on sheet metal. I practiced one time after work and then he called me over to weld these in. Now, it took me longer but the only way to learn is to do it hands on! And in this case it was on the tube chassis nova at work. Not bad for a first time I don't think...

Welding is fun isn't it!?

Wledingonthenova.jpg


Weldingonthenovaagain.jpg
 
And obviously in that pic I hadn't finished grinding the ones on that top part yet. Those were harder to get too and weren't as easy to grind, haha/ They weren't as pretty either.

I hope you dont mind me posting in your thread!
 
The most important thing to me is sound, and rythm. No matter what pattern you weld in, it could be back and forth, side to side, weave, circles. The easiest method is to start build a pool, then move forward a little, start a pool, then move forwad a little. with this method you can hear the two different different pitches in sound. The first beat should be longer than the second (oooone two, oooone two)
 
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