Pre-Welding for a novice

[Phred]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( So if your project plans and budget will allow it I would recommend getting a Lincoln, Miller, Hobart, or ESAB 175 class or larger mig machine with a 150 or 200 size bottle with 75% CO2 25% argon (which is sometimes called steelmix). I have been very happy with the mig and I’m sure you will be also.
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I agree with the chicken master. Get a 220V MIG and a good grinder.
I have a hobart 175 MIG and love it.
You will find that by the time you get good with the welder you will be very good with a grinder /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif
Flap discs are very helpfull on the end of that grinder.

Fred

 

[Soundguy]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( telling the man that he really didn't need to clean the weld area prior to welding,,,,,,,,well,,,thats not the way you teach somebody )</font>

Thingy.. I don't believe anybody specifically instructed the fellow to NOT CLEAN the welding surfaces. The comment made was that if you for some reason didn't or couldn't clean them properly, that a big beefy stick welder generally lets you burn thru anyway.. not that it was ideal.. but sometimes you have to buzz and run.. Completely & properly prepping a weld may be the difference in a few hours work.. and that could be the difference of a quick and dirty weld to get a tractor out in the field if you are expecting rain and the hay's flat in the field. Everythings a tradeoff. I've been in situations where there was no good way to get a part cleaned before a weld.. sometimes you just gotta do it.. In those cases.. the big beefy welding machines really stand above the lower amperage jobs.

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( telling the man to use d.c.e.n. if using direct current )</font>

If you are refering to my post.. you are directly misquoting me. I merely mentioned that you could either go for the cheaper AC only buzz box, or you could go for a unit that was DCEN capable if getting dc... a very few jobs are nicer with dcen.. I didn't claim DCEN was the only way to go...

Soundguy

 

[Soundguy]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( pot calling the kettle,,,,,here's some advice,,,,quit writing me quotin me and ,,and I'll shut up,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,on THIS thread,,,said all I need to say anyways,,,,,,,,,,,,,but will be reading these welding topics,,,and give advice as needed,,,IF I feel like it, )</font>

Gosh.. i think you should have been a politician.. you made a statement that has two completely oposing ideas.. and you said it in one sentence... </font><font color="blue" class="small">( I'll shut up,,,,but will ... give advice as needed,,,IF I feel like it )</font>

I think that kind of doubletalk qualifies you for at least senate work.. perhaps VP.. or even Condi-Rices job...

Thingy.. I'm trying to be polite when I say this.. .. but do you have to be so..um.. abrasive and rude when you talk to others??? /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif

Soundguy

 

[thingy]

Sounder,,,,,,you must have really went over that edge this time,,,,,got some advice for you,,,,,,,stick to sound advice,[man,,that has two meanings],,,,and leave the welding advice to others who know more about it,,,,,,,,if you did that,,,,you wouldn't be so upset now,,,,,now just calm down a bit,,,and lets stop argueing on this thread,,,,the man asked for some basic advice on welding,,,,,,,he's probably so sick of all this by now,,,he'll never want to try it,,,,,come on now!!!!!! I mean this has even went to far for me! the thing

 

[Soundguy]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( you wouldn't be so upset now )</font>

I'm not upset.. You are the one that criticizes everybody..

I'll make you a deal.. You stop being rude.. and I'll stop quoting those rude comments.. and then I won't be able to post any commentary about them.. /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif fair enough?

It's obvious to many of us that you are a profesional welder. Unfortunately.. many of us just need basic 'farm' welding skills.. I know that really gets you that we aren't perfect..

How about you lighten up on us a tad.... /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

Or at least go back to that 'other' forum and continue complaining about yanmar tractors.. or would that be "yanmoores,,,,," as you call them.... /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

Soundguy

 

[HammerFour]

My wife got me one of the small 110v Hobart mig welders for Christmas this year, and I love that thing to death.

I wish it was the slightly bigger size sometimes, and wish it was a 220 v sometimes, but honestly it has done everything I asked it to do so far and I have had fun learning.

So far it has fixed our older Dixon ZTR mower's seat mount, the tongue stand on the JD 14T Square Baler, mounted a gate ( while running off a 5500 watt generator ) for my FIL, and with a good bit of grinding and some 3/8 thick reinforcing pieces, got our old JD 894 hay rake back in the field when the old welds on the old cast iron broke.

A 110v mig welder, an auto darkening helmet ( I got a cheap helmet off ebay ), a bench grinder and a hand grinder ( with extra metal grinding wheels ) can really work out nice for a novice welder like myself.

And...I don't get the grease and paint off when I am crunched for time on a repair. I grind as needed to prep for the repair, make sure I have a good ground connection and go. If the puddle is hot enough to melt steel, it's hot enough to dispose of a little paint and grease.

/forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

 

[thingy]

Sounder,,,,,no deals for you,,,,except this one,[cause this has went to far on this thread anyways],,,you can have the last word here,,,,this time,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,the thing

 

[Soundguy]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( My wife got me one of the small 110v Hobart mig welders for Christmas this year, and I love that thing to death.
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Mine got me a little 110v stick welder.. CH ( cheapy ) for 89$ from wally-mart.. It will do 70a and burn 1/16 or 5/64 rod.

I've done all sorts of things with it. On the 30a setting with 1/16 rod it is great for sheet metal. i did alot of sheet metal restoration onmyallis chalmers G.. and it looks pretty minty now.

About the biggest thing I've welded was a 3/4" rod.. and I v-cut it down to nothing and ran a spiral weld.. it was a lift link arm on my ford 2n.. been holding for over a year now.. took a couple hours, and alot of 5/64 rod.

I liek to weld the little stuff.. brake clevis repairs.. etc.

For big welding.. like the 3rd ramp for my JD-b.. I go to work and use their big 220+a lincoln 'tombstone' welder.. I also use the plasma cutter to cut out projects, and have occasionally used the mig at work to make some chain liiters for my NAA.

Soundguy

 

[JasonL]

Hey -- Is it safe yet?!? /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif I didn't realize how passionate everyone is about their welding. But seriously, you all have helped tremendously. I havn't been able to find welding classes yet, and I may just find a cheap arc welder and start playing around. (I will attempt to weld on clean metal- thingy) Also, I have a brother-in-law in Ohio who does a lot of welding and I'll see him this weekend, so I'll pick his brain also. Thanks again, and I'm sure I'll refer to this thread often! Jason

 

[Soundguy]

I'd save the thread on your computer if you want it for reference. It's not uncommon for threads to get nuked...

Soundguy

 

[youfoundtheking]

i can stick weld with dcep or dcen, although as you say, dcep is the "normal" way its done.

if you were not supposed to weld on dirty rusty metal why would they make 6010? /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[Mith]

#pokes his head out of the bunker, looks around, jumps out and does a silent dance on the warground#
Thingys gone??
Safety, ahhhh /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
Dont you miss the commas /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif

King, welcome to the rust welders assn. (ooh, that and TBN) nice to have you aboard /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[txdon]

<font color="blue"> "...why would they make 6010?" </font>

They make the 6010s to weed out the new welding students. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[youfoundtheking]

haha, i hate to admit it, but the other day I was going to weld something, and it was so **** rusty i could not even get a ground on it. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif I had to bust the grinder out and make 2 shiny spots, on for the ground clamp and the other to start the arc, after that it was smooth sailing. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[thingy]

UH,HUH,6010,,thousands of miles of gas pipe line are welded with 6010,,no rust allowed,,thats why they are still in operation,,,and,,man,don't be so tickeled about me being gone,thingy

 

[ovrszd]

UH,HUH,6010,,thousands of miles of gas pipe line are welded with 6010,,no rust allowed,,thats why they are still in operation,,,and,,man,don't be so tickeled about me being gone,thingy

I'm new here and don't even know you. But since you brought back a thread that is 17 months old so I could read it and get to know you, I'm tickled you were gone and I wasn't even here!!!

 

[PBinWA]

It's interesting how egos get in the way of some good information.

If you look past the little personality squabbles then I have to say that Thingy has some really good sound advice.

Mith and Soundguy are right about the fact that you can be a backyard welder and have fun sticking rusty metal together but you should take all the advice that Thingy provides and try to understand it.

It's probably a good idea to know how to do something the right way so when you decide to cut corners you have a good idea of what the corners are that you are cutting.

If you aren't going to read a book on welding or take a course then I would suggest renting (SmartFlix.com) or buying one of the Wall Mountain Welding DVD's from NorthernTool.com. They are great learning tools

 

[Tom_Veatch]

...
If you aren't going to read a book on welding or take a course then I would suggest renting (SmartFlix.com) or buying one of the Wall Mountain Welding DVD's from NorthernTool.com. They are great learning tools

The videos are also available direct from Wall Mountain and are great for the novice "learn it yourself'er". Now if I could just get mine to work like they do in the videos.

 

[Egon]

Thingy is just jobbing you. Betcha he lays welding rod in the v and then goes over it with a bead to cover all the junk underneath cause he gets paid by the pound of rod used!

 

[gemini5362]

I can stick in my 2 cents worth here.

I have tried stick welding. definetly takes a lot of practice to learn I did not have the time to practice so I dont really know how to stick weld.

We have a tig welder where I work. I played with it some. You can weld stainless and aluminum with it so is nice for those. It is also very very slow and probably one of the hardest welders to use. and we have the miller that starts your arc for you. It is still hard to use.

Oxy- Acetyline kind of slow and not that easy

Mig- Gods gift to novie welders. turn it on close your hood put the trigger near the metal to be welded pull the trigger and start welding. I have welded
several items with a mig. I made tractor ramps for my trailer that held the 6000 pounds of my tractor. You can make welds that will hold pretty well from the beginning with it and as you do the welding you need done hopefully get from the point that they are not pretty but will hold to the point where they will hold and actually dont look to bad.

downside of the mig is that it is pretty expensive compated to a stick welder or oxy-acetyline

I hope this helps