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Sleeperstang1994

Welding Know-How

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Yeah I got the hole filled and sorted. I love to weld but I have to admit I lack practice and formal training. One of my biggest problems is my helmet. The batteries don't hold a charge and I lose the darkening effect halfway through a good weld and I screw it all up. If nothing else it might not be pretty but I know it's though!

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What kind of helmet do you have? I could see that being a huge annoyance lol, might be time to invest in a new one! Before you know it you'll be laying down dime rolls!

It's a auto darkening helmet from Cornwell tools. Bought it about 4-5 years ago. Prolly not a good quality one honestly. Any recommendations? The Snapon guy and I are on a first name basis and he's always eager to give me. Bill for 300$+ lol!

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I have a Miller Elite from about 5 years ago, It's a great mask but they are pricey now a days (I think $350 for the Elite Digital). Lincoln has comparable helmets, I think, for less money. The one thing that I really look for is the viewing area, which at the time Miller had the best available but now I think Lincoln's top mask has about 2 sq in more then the Millers. Also the technology in the Lincoln's is behind which is partial the reason the Millers are more expensive. No matter which brand you go with I'm sure it'll perform to your liking, especially since now yours is not working properly. I would say take a look at the Eastwood or Harbor Frieght (since they're so cheap) but they are heavier, uncomfortable and quality is sub par.

Lastly, personally I do not like wearing the welding mask without some sort of hat/bandana on. It is uncomfortable for me and depending on the position you're welding you don't want to burn your head up. Check out this site http://www.allamericanhats.com, they pretty much have everything you could ever want in a welding hat.

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I have a 3M Speedglas and love it, very comfortable and durable, on my 2nd year without replacing a battery yet.

http://store.cyberweld.com/3mspweheiceh.html

Great suggestion, I forgot entirely about them!

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ill have to look into that one! thanks. i feel like i have the "basics" ive pulled off some beautiful welds. I think the helmet will help. while we are on the subject [MENTION=21]Steve-Oh[/MENTION]. why do i have "pits" in the welds some times. it almost looks like there was an air pocket when the metal was still molten? i should start a welding thread...

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[MENTION=172]Sleeperstang1994[/MENTION], porosity (air pockets) is usually caused by lack of gas coverage. You'll get this if you're welding outside and a breeze blows through. It doesn't take much and you can usually notice while welding when it happens, it makes a quick crackling noise. I can also see this happening if you have your torch too far away from the weld and your gas pressure is too low. You may not have a regulator on your tank, I know mine doesn't so adjusting your gas pressure might not be available. I'll have to look at my machine tomorrow because I know mine doesn't have a regulator so there may be somewhere to adjust it, not too sure. Mines just a basic Lincoln 110 MIG machine, nothing special.

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[MENTION=21]Steve-Oh[/MENTION]. my welder is a miller,not sure of the P/N, made by MAC tools. the welder does have a regulator. im not sure where the pressure is set. i would suspect that my problem lies more in me being outside. it has been very windy lately with fall and the change of weather. I had no idea that would happen due to the gas. i honestly didnt know what the gas did! I will check my pressure tonight and see where i stand. Thanks for all the help. it this your profesion? I think i will make a thread for this. alot of good info! [MENTION=67]95riosnake[/MENTION] is there a way to take the past few welding posts and make them into a thread?

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@Steve-Oh. my welder is a miller,not sure of the P/N, made by MAC tools. the welder does have a regulator. im not sure where the pressure is set. i would suspect that my problem lies more in me being outside. it has been very windy lately with fall and the change of weather. I had no idea that would happen due to the gas. i honestly didnt know what the gas did! I will check my pressure tonight and see where i stand. Thanks for all the help. it this your profesion? I think i will make a thread for this. alot of good info! @95riosnake is there a way to take the past few welding posts and make them into a thread?

Yes the the wind will 100% do that with bare wire. You may want to increase your gas pressure slightly when outside but remember that too much gas can also be bad, you need to find that happy median. What I suggest is you have to block the wind somehow, we used to drape weld blankets as curtains or stand up pieces of metal (depending on the situation) to block the wind. Sometimes just adjusting your body in such a way or even your hand to block it can help a lot.

Long story short: yes, I welded as part of my profession. I'm in Philadelphia's Sheet Metal Union and the shop I worked at for the last 7 years was a specialty shop. We made everything from stainless pharmaceutical equipment to industrial metal columns and structures, and I've welded it all lol. Since the "bottom fell out" I haven't worked steady for the past (almost) two years, in fact I think it was 8 weeks total in the last two years. I supplement that by working part time for Nike helping sell golf equipment, hurray!!!

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that's what i thought the gloss black. Was not able to do the coat today due to the high winds :( Sandblasted some more of my Mazda wheels and the one 4 Valve cover [MENTION=67]95riosnake[/MENTION] you can move any of the welding specific posts. maybe start a welding thread under the gen tech section. i imagine alot of us weld...most of us are amateurs. I thought alot of that was good general info!

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[MENTION=172]Sleeperstang1994[/MENTION] got you a new welding thread, any questions you can post up here now! [MENTION=21]Steve-Oh[/MENTION], [MENTION=67]95riosnake[/MENTION]

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so heres another question i had. What does the size of the wire play, other than a larger wire lays down more metal? im currently using Hobart .030? thanks for this awesome thread [MENTION=5]Det_Riot[/MENTION]

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Speedglass and Miller are the way to go without a doubt. One thing to remember about cheaper auto-darkens is the cheaper the helmet, the longer it takes to darken. It may not seem like much (if anything) but if you do a lot of welding all it takes is fractions of a second over and over before your eyes get messed up.

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Anyone have any aluminum experience? I have been playing around with it and did a small line that didn't look bad but yesterday trying I melted the hell out of a tip. Using a millermatic 211 and a spoolmate 100

Tip is not suppose to be sharp on aluminum, suppose to be balled. Are you on the correct settings? How think was the aluminum? What tungsten were you using? Red 2% or green pure? A lot of stuff goes into this. You wanna protect the tip of the tungsten have it inside the cup a touch or even with it compared to with steel you want the whole sharp tip to be protruded

On going project, 94 cobra, r block, tfsr225, hp efi, vortech ys

Instagram [MENTION=584]Rolocut[/MENTION]

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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Yeah I got the hole filled and sorted. I love to weld but I have to admit I lack practice and formal training. One of my biggest problems is my helmet. The batteries don't hold a charge and I lose the darkening effect halfway through a good weld and I screw it all up. If nothing else it might not be pretty but I know it's though!

You don't NEED an auto darkening hood to weld.. As a matter of fact, you can see better with a regular glass lense. I have 3 speedglas's, and they have their uses, but, alot of the time I prefer a huntsman slider.

If I were to buy an auto hood for home or shop use, it would be a Jackson Nexgen.. They have a nice 4x5 lense so you can see really well, and you can find them online for about $250..

At work I use Speedglas SL's. They are ridiculously light and very adjustable, but have a very small lense, and I haven't had the best reliability with them, which kinda pisses me off.. The batteries do last probably close to 1000 hours of actual welding, but they're cheap so that's not really an issue anyway.

The pores you see, as stated above, are called porosity, and need to be ground out. They occur from lack of gas shielding OR poorly prepped weld surfaces. Steel isn't quite as bad as aluminum, but it should be ground clean and shiny before welding. There really is nothing people can tell you to make you a better welder. You have to practice, practice, practice, although having someone that is able to set your mig machine correctly is honestly half the battle there.. They have such a wide range of adjustment that you really need someone who knows what they are doing to get the voltage and wire speed set.. When you are welding, it should make a sizzling noise like cooking bacon on the stove.. When you've achieved that, you know you're close..

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Tip is not suppose to be sharp on aluminum, suppose to be balled. Are you on the correct settings? How think was the aluminum? What tungsten were you using? Red 2% or green pure? A lot of stuff goes into this. You wanna protect the tip of the tungsten have it inside the cup a touch or even with it compared to with steel you want the whole sharp tip to be protruded

On going project, 94 cobra, r block, tfsr225, hp efi, vortech ys

Instagram @Rolocut

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Again I am really new to welding anything. I am using a spool gun with aluminum wire, .030 I think it was. I think I had the gas up too high, wire speed a little low and not sure about the power...
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so heres another question i had. What does the size of the wire play, other than a larger wire lays down more metal? im currently using Hobart .030? thanks for this awesome thread @Det_Riot

With MIG the bigger the wire the less your wire speed has to be, this will come into play once you start welding thicker materials. You won't really end up needing anything bigger than .030 for most automotive welding.

Anyone have any aluminum experience? I have been playing around with it and did a small line that didn't look bad but yesterday trying I melted the hell out of a tip. Using a millermatic 211 and a spoolmate 100
Tip is not suppose to be sharp on aluminum, suppose to be balled. Are you on the correct settings? How think was the aluminum? What tungsten were you using? Red 2% or green pure? A lot of stuff goes into this. You wanna protect the tip of the tungsten have it inside the cup a touch or even with it compared to with steel you want the whole sharp tip to be protruded

On going project, 94 cobra, r block, tfsr225, hp efi, vortech ys

Instagram @Rolocut

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[MENTION=584]Rolocut[/MENTION], Scott's MIG welding Aluminum not TIG although your are correct about what you said lol.

[MENTION=61]ttocs[/MENTION], if I remember correctly all the times this would happen is when you don't have enough wire speed.

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Again I am really new to welding anything. I am using a spool gun with aluminum wire, .030 I think it was. I think I had the gas up too high, wire speed a little low and not sure about the power...

What's your material thickness, .060? How do you have your machine/gun setup?

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I like my standard, flip down helmet.cant stand auto darkening helmets. It's my opinion that you should learn with a flip down helmet. It makes it second nature to have your arms in a solid position before you start a weld. And to expand on that, when you're getting ready to start a weld ALWAYS do a few "dry passes" to make sure you can 1)complete the weld as you want and 2) get the feel for how you are going to have to move during the weld. This will help you get a consistent bead.

As for the gas pressure, it will depend on a few things. Tip size, position, mode of transfer to name a few. I almost always use 16 cfh for short circuit transfer (which is what you'll be using). If wind is blowing your gas away, you need to either shield the area so the wind doesn't do that, or go with flux core. People tend to think flux core is garbage compared to using gas, but they just don't know how to use it.

Larger diameter wire requires more amps to burn. Not ideal for sheet metal. I go for the smallest wire I can possibly purchase.

Id practice on some thicker stuff first. Get used to "the weave", make sure you are keeping the tip at the right angle and all that other good stuff.

I suck at sheet metal, the smallest stuff I weld at work is bigger then 1/4"

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I like my standard, flip down helmet.cant stand auto darkening helmets. It's my opinion that you should learn with a flip down helmet. It makes it second nature to have your arms in a solid position before you start a weld. And to expand on that, when you're getting ready to start a weld ALWAYS do a few "dry passes" to make sure you can 1)complete the weld as you want and 2) get the feel for how you are going to have to move during the weld. This will help you get a consistent bead.

Great advice!

This seems to be a regular debate, Standard vs. Auto-dark. Some throw out the theory that the fraction of a second it takes for the helmet to darken can, over time, affect your vision. This may or may not be true but I can see where it's plausible. On another note, when I first started a gentlemen who was just about to retire threw me this advice, never use a "whipping" neck motion to lower your shield. He along with others I know had multiple problems in their necks from constantly doing that over the course of 35-40 years. Were they just messing with me? Probably, but again I can see where it's plausible. I always use my hand to lower my shield, but this is very hard to do and get repositioned without an auto-dark helmet.

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I had been wanting too weld for years now and finally just decided to go buy a machine and see what happens. I was happy to score some scrap pieces from my local sheet metal place by just telling them I was looking for little crap to burn up(literally). My brother gave me the very basics but I think I might have already gone past what he ever did now after only a few months. I can't remember the exact settings I had it on I will have too go look. Problem I seemed to be having was that the aluminum didn't seem too want too stick to the material, so I thought it wasn't hot enough. Well that wasn't it as I burned through the material, melted the hell out of the tip(I am almost tempted too show a pic as a trophy), and didn't get a good weld. After some reading I think I had the argon up too high around 30-35, wire speed too low and probably didn't clean the surfaces enough knowing how important that is for aluminum. In reality I have only played with aluminum one other time and after a little while layed down one good bead. This is the first time I have actally tried to make something out of aluminum with welding. I scored some more scrap when I got my pieces cut to practice on. I am not sure about the settings. I was using the scale inside the cover and estimating everything from there..

Edited by ttocs
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@ttocs and everyone else for that matter. Miller has a great app for machine settings that will get you in the ballpark: http://www.millerwelds.com/mobile/

'

Interesting.. I tried some out.. It has a huge range that it gives you, but I suppose to an absolute beginner it could help

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Interesting.. I tried some out.. It has a huge range that it gives you, but I suppose to an absolute beginner it could help

Yeah it gets you in the ballpark and then you can adjust from there! Useful to some.

is that different from what is inside the panel of my miller?

Depends what is on the inside panel of your welder lol. I think the app is free so give it a shot, if it helps you out then you've gained a "tool", if not, delete and move on lol.

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Finally found some tips for my spool gun after the melt down and was feeling well enough this afternoon to try a little. Cleaned the aluminum with sand paper this time, turned my wire speed up, power down a little and concentrated on my technique and was happy with the last weld I layed down.post-61-13881839845506_thumb.jpg

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That'll hold :) When you first fire up, try starting a inch or so into the weld and then bring the puddle back to the beginning so you get a good hot puddle at the start, and when you finish, hold at the end for a second to fill the crater and leave enough heat to break it down, if that makes any sense

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That'll hold :) When you first fire up, try starting a inch or so into the weld and then bring the puddle back to the beginning so you get a good hot puddle at the start, and when you finish, hold at the end for a second to fill the crater and leave enough heat to break it down, if that makes any sense
Do you really mean an inch? I think I understand the idea but wouldn't an inch be a bit far in? Maybe more like a 1/4" in?
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[MENTION=61]ttocs[/MENTION] what does that spool gun look like? i was at home depot and picked up a roll of aluminum wire. [MENTION=21]Steve-Oh[/MENTION] can i use this aluminum wire on my mig? just swap out the regular wire? i would guess the heat would be to much for aluminum correct? just a thought

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@ttocs what does that spool gun look like? i was at home depot and picked up a roll of aluminum wire. @Steve-Oh can i use this aluminum wire on my mig? just swap out the regular wire? i would guess the heat would be to much for aluminum correct? just a thought
No it will not work with out a spool gun as the wire is basically like solder as soft as it is. It needs to be mounted on the spool gun to make the wire run as short as possible to keep it from bending/binding. You also need too use 100% argon gas. I have the spoolmate 100 series from miller. A lot of Mig will have the option too add a spool gun to it... http://www.amazon.com/MILLER-SPOOLMATE-MM-140s-180s-300371/dp/B003PJ9J8C/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1384680580&sr=8-1&keywords=miller+spoolmate+100
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Do you really mean an inch? I think I understand the idea but wouldn't an inch be a bit far in? Maybe more like a 1/4" in?

Yes I really mean an inch. You're going to weld right back over the little snail trail you leave.. With stick welding it's common to start a few inches away and back up.. No big deal.

But starting a little forward and coming back will get you a better start, everytime.

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No it will not work with out a spool gun as the wire is basically like solder as soft as it is. It needs to be mounted on the spool gun to make the wire run as short as possible to keep it from bending/binding. You also need too use 100% argon gas. I have the spoolmate 100 series from miller. A lot of Mig will have the option too add a spool gun to it... http://www.amazon.com/MILLER-SPOOLMATE-MM-140s-180s-300371/dp/B003PJ9J8C/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1384680580&sr=8-1&keywords=miller+spoolmate+100

Thanks for the link. Never thought about the wire being soft and pushing through the line. Makes perfect sense though!

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