first time welder, what u think?

[jrsmith_2010]

hey guys, my dad recently bought a welder, so he taught me how to weld some. so here are some pics, now i kno they arnt the best welding ever seen, but this is the 3rd time ive welded. and i havnt grinded it or nothin, so here are some pics

them just layin in


the front



ready to weld



new welder



front welded (dont laugh)


doors (same)


how does it look?

[ton*loc]

dude you need to turn your wire speed and heat way down that is why it is popping like that

[jrsmith_2010]

the welder is an automatic wire feeder by the trigger, so i cant set it, and the setting was on 3

[d10s69c10]

for it being flux core wire you are using it does not look bad for a first timer at all.. it may be your speed and heat but it looks like the gun needs to be alot closer to its target. like 1/4"


if you plan on doing alot more welding i would highly suggest buying a argon tank and using a .030 size wire. will make the job 1000 times easier for you to learn how to make good quaility welds.

find some scrap sheet metal. and fine tune your welder. with flux core you need to take the wires brush and clean the metal everytime you make a pass.. being that your shaving stuff. be very careful not to get that metal to hot in surrounding areas.

Looks good tho Keep us posted.

[jrsmith_2010]

thanks man, yea i have an old tailgate ive been practicin on, i still need to smooth out the welds, it dark waay to soon now-a-days

[N2TRUX]

Something else I would suggest is a good quality extension cord. If the orange one laying on the ground is your power source, then it's too small. Eventually it will cause problems especially if you don't have a good ground.

[ont_guy_38]

fyi if you dont cover your glass up while welding you will be replacing it from the weld splatter

[d10s69c10]

ooh good point on the wire.. N2
and yes it does seem that the bright warmth of the sun is dropping faster than the stock markets these days.

[jrsmith_2010]

[ton*loc]

what is that blue nob on the welder ?

[jrsmith_2010]

the power level of the weld

[SnS C10]

not too bad for a rookie. I have seen those welders before i used to have one that was a little bit better. put it on the low power setting and drop that feed speed to 1-2. On that sheet metal it will burn through very quick. so, prepare that metal very very very well!!! it needs to be as clean as possible. another suggestion, the paint that you ground away right next to your weld, is too close. The heat from the weld will suck that paint/dirt right into the weld making it harder to lay down a solid tack/bead, it will also create more splatter. Being a good welder is all in the metal preparation and knowing/understanding how to set up the machine correctly. Once you learn that, you will be amazed at how good you get. keep workin on it!

[jrsmith_2010]

yea i agree, i was gettin anxious to try to beat the darkness, tomorrow when i do the other side, i will sand alot bigger area


thanks for all the comments guys!

[jrsmith_2010]

my dad also bought one of them auto-darkenin masks, they are amazing

[jrsmith_2010]

heres what i got done today

[74 C-30]

cool! im just learning to weld too, but just got we've got a crappy 80 amp schumacker welder, but its ok for now. my dad cant mig weld only arc so i learned a bit in school but its mostly self taught. best of luck to you!

[spr85gmc]

is that fiberglass? hope not

[70LonghornCST]

I didn't know this when I first started welding, but you should be able to adjust the wire speed where the spool starts feeding through the welder. On many of the inexpesive welders, there is a little dial that adjusts the wire tension, and controls the speed. It looked like you had an ok start. I would have grinded that area that you welded flush before putting any filler. You may want to consider doing so. The residue left from the burning of the welder will make for bad adhesion. Other than that and what advice others have given you, you are on the right track.

[jrsmith_2010]

yea thats fiberglass, its fiberglass resign, made by bondo. yea i made the area flush with a grinder before i but that fiberglass resign on

[ton*loc]

Originally Posted by jrsmith_2010

the power level of the weld

so it is adjustable

[jrsmith_2010]

yea the heat leavel is, but there is no wire feed adjuster knob

[jrsmith_2010]

here is what i got done today









had to modify the door panels

[d10s69c10]

your really getting on it.. Power to ya man.

[willis0107]

Not to burst any bubbles. It is absolutely important that when welding that you have both sides of metal properly cleaned ESPECIALLY WITH MID AND FLUX core wires. What happens when welding on a painted or dirty surface is that your heat burns the paint or foreign matter off of the metal this increases the heat and actually burns off your shielding gas when welding. All in all for a rookie welder and for a vertical weld it looks decent. Prep work in welding is one of the most important steps for both penetration and looks.

Keep trying and like I said clean off both sides of the panel at least two inches away from the area to be welded of all paint then take an alcohol based cleaner (rubbing alcohol) to ensure that you have no grease or oil on the surface to be welded and you will cut down on the amount of splatter from the weld.

some other useful info.

1. splatter shields are not needed (nozzle dip etc)
2. weld small tacks do not try to weld a bead on sheet metal
3. clean clean clean especially before welding and again after your tacks just wire brush in between welding and it will help again

[jrsmith_2010]

yea i agree, ill get some Gilette to clean the other side before i weld it up