Tips for welding

Tommorow I am going to my dad's shop and somemone there is going to teach me how to MIG weld. Any tips that may help me out????

 

Hold the torch at about a 45 degree angle.You want the sound when you are welding to sound like an egg frying this sounds means you are at the right feed for your heat range.make sure what your welding is clean oil free.
The rest will come with practise you'll do fine.

 

I would say don't expect to have perfect welds right off the bat.
There's a lot of things that all add up to making a good weld. As mentioned, sound is a big clue if you're doing it right. On my machine, a choppy sound means that I'm going to fast, and a fast "hissing" means that I'm too slow. A good solid "sizzle" is about right. Tip angle and distance play a big part. Learn what the guy has to show you, and practice, practice, practice.

 

I have better luck dragging the wire feed ahead of the weld. as in all welding, practice counts.

 

That's funny...I always thought it sounded like bacon frying You'll probably burn some holes in things, but not like you do when learning to stick weld . MIG is by far the easiest method of welding to learn, but can still take years to really master (I've got a long way to go ). It's a lot of fun though. Good luck .

 

The most important thing about welding is that you get good penetration. That means that the fill material (the wire) blends, for lack of a better term, into the metal being welded on. An unblended weld will show a slight space when painted, like a crack between the filler material and the piece being welded. Also, be careful about grinding down welds when finished. When you grind down a weld, you could weaken the joint. If you have a lot to grind, you probably had too high a wire speed. If the wire speed is too slow or the heat too high, you can easily blow holes in the material. Of course, one advantage to MIG is "gap" welding to fix little holes or areas that didn't fit properly. One trick for using higher heat on thin materials is to do shorter welds, which allows the material to cool just a little before you continue. I don't think it compromises the integrity of the weld too much.

Another thing to think about is MIG welding in the wind or under a fan. The nozzle creates a halo of sorts where the gases help provide for a better weld. Moving air in this case is not your friend. Nor is paint or rust.

And as others said: practice, practice, practice.

Have fun!

 

Since your fortunate enough for someone to take the time to teach you, PAY ATTENTION! a good idea if he doesn't mind take a small tape recorder with you and record his instructions and tips.
You'll remember alot but will forget some helpfull advice, and listening to it later when you can prctice by yourself you'll remember alot more.
Good luck and enjoy!

 

well I think i did well. I only blew one hole in a thin piece. Lucky me got the 50 yr. old welder (all others were in more important use), it ran too hot for the thin metal i was welding on apparantly,that's what he said. Still My welds looked good to me, at first i went to slow then to fast, finally i got the right speed down and then got the angle of the tip wrong , then was too close then to far. Finalley by the end i got the technique down and I understand how it is supposed to sound and look. I am on my way to welding lots of stuff. I was invited to come in on any Sat. that my dad goes in and practice, so I will definitly have a lot of time to practice. I still smell too, what is that smell from?????

 

Good for you. I've been welding for a long time and I still screw up occasionally. I learned to MIG weld using one of those old machines that couldn't be dialed down for the thin stuff but it was a good experience. It was great on thicker stuff, like 1/2" plate, but not for .095 roll bar tubing. The guy I worked for made me grind down my bad welds and do it right. The smell is most likely from the burning gases (CO2 or a blend) or from the use of one of those anti-splatter sprays if you used one.

 

I went to work at the international harvestor plant in memphis as a welder in the early 70's and all the old hands kept the migs turned up so hot to make production quotas it took me a long time to get usted to it also one night you might be welding 1/2" thick parts and the next night thin parts but at was valuable exp. but i wouldnt wish that job on anybody.

 

What is a good setting for the regulator on a 75% Argon/25% Co2 mix?

 

The material you are welding can dictate how much gas you use. I welded schedule 7 sprinkler pipe for many years and you couldn't use to much gas. On thicker plate or angle iron a high setting just uses up the bottle. Most guages are in LPM and a setting of about 20 is a good start for most structural steel. Keeping your tip clean as well as the right distance from your work can help alot. Every machine is differant, and when learning from someone pay attention to the sound and try to duplicate it. You really can tell a good weld by how it sounds once you do it enough.

 

In addition to the material another factor that determines the amount of barrier gas needed is the "wind factor".

If I'm welding in the shop with zero breeze I can go as low as 4; if outside on the driveway maybe as much as 15+ is needed.

Ken

 

I will be welding hat Chanel to the bottom of my cj2a, also it will be taking place in my garage!

 

Check out these sites:

http://www.millerwelds.com/education/tech_tips/MIG_tips/
http://www.millerwelds.com/pdf/mig_handbook.pdf

tommy b

 

Don't be cheap when it comes to wire! I just bought a 2lb spool of ESAB .030 flux core to replace some wire from Northern Tool and it's like night and day! I welded an engine mount plate and finished welding the frame for a BSR I'm building and it's a MUCH better filler metal, cleaner welds and less smoke. Although almost twice the price, in this case I got what I paid for!! One other thing is to use a spatter spray on the surrounding metal to prevent "slag balls" and use a spatter paste on the gun tip occasionally to prevent nozzle clogging. HTH!

 

One of the biggest things you can do to improve the quality of your welds as well as improve the use of gas is to keep the tip clean. Use the spatter spray if you want or just simply keep the tips cleaned out with needle nose pliers-or the MIG pliers you can get from the welding supply shop. Those things are great because they have needle nose and serrated indents that fit all of the parts of your gun.