A Biginners MIG Adventures

[EdK]

I thought I would start a new thread since the title of my previous thread was about craters at the end of the weld beads and that thread had gotten off that topic.

I plan on trying some 'T' welds tomorrow with the 1/8" steel and .035" flux core wire and could use some tips on how to do such a weld. Do I run a fillet on both sides of the 'T' or just one side?

Is it OK to use those right angle magnetic clamps to hold the upright into position until there is enough welded to stand on its own? I read somewhere not to use those magnetic clamps because they can mess with the arc. Is this true or just a bunch of BS?

Any other tips would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Ed

[steamin10]

In my experience , the arrow type magnets do not effect the arc in any noticable way, and I tend to leave them on until finished or they get in the way. Maybe I have never looked for the effect.

Once you tac up a piece of metal to any angle, you will have to guess at spreading the weld forces, as it will tend to pull out of square, watch for it, and you will see. Tac up both sides for more stabilty. Work with it, you will see some of the adventures.

[EdK]

Large David,

Thanks for the advise.

Here's what I accomplished today in my practice session.

Welded 3 more coupons and welded my first T joints. Coupon3 is the short one that was a vertical weld. I welded downhill and couldn't see the bottom of the angle iron so blew a hole through. I should have welded uphill so I could see where the angle iron ended. The red lines in the T joint pictures indicate where I stopped one bead to examine it before I laid down another bead next to it.
I think I'm going to go ahead and attempt to make the bracket I've talked about for the lathe DC controller. What do I have to lose but a few dollars worth of angle iron and some time? This bracket has angled butt welds so it should be interesting. The biggest battle will probably be figuring out to hold the pieces together for welding.

Thanks for looking.

Ed

[steamin10]

From what I see, your welds are not too bad. What you lack most is even speed.

Next time you set up a T, try backing off on your feed and heat just a tad, and make acircular motion with your wire. Kinda like drawing fine little piggy tails that overlap. Something like 1/3 up on the previous puddle, and then running the circle out into new area, and back around, about 1.5 loops per second, and see if it looks better. Many welders use this on steel and aluminum in particualr for heavy welds on plate of 1/4 or 3/16.

Practice and learn. TTFN

[EdK]

What you lack most is even speed.

Practice and learn. TTFN

Big Dave,

I absolutely agree with you. Inconsistent gun movement. I'll try again tomorrow using your suggestions and see what happens.

Thanks,
Ed

[EdK]

I finally got back to some more welding practice after constructing a bracket for my 9x20 lathe DC motor controller.

Did a T-weld again and the welds look reasonable.

Ed

[EdK]

Here are a couple of pictures of my bracket put to use. The very first welding project that produced something useful.

Minor, I know but for a beginner welder it is nice to see the fruits of ones labor no matter how small.

Ed

[EdK]

Any tips on welding thinner steel? I'm getting decent welds with 1/8" steel but now have switched to 14 gauge which is .0747" thick. I can't seem to hone in on the right settings. I'm just wondering if that's too thin for flux core welding. I've read that flux core is not very good at welding thinner steel but have never seen a definition of exactly what thickness "thinner steel" means. I'm using .030" wire. Anybody know what the lower limit is on flux core wire? Is it time for me go invest in gas for the MIG welder? I'd rather not but if that's what's required to get good welds with the .0747" thick steel then I'll bite the bullet and spend the money on the gas.

Thanks,
Ed

[calgator]

Ed,

The lower limits of flux core welding is 20 gauge, and Mig is 24 Gauge with .025” wire (I will now qualify that by saying I’ve watched my father weld 24 gauge with .035 wire but it is fast welding and not worth the headache, leave it to the masters). Keep in mind with flux core; you do not have to worry about wind like with MIG.
I will now say that when welding it is “easier” to weld thin with MIG than flux but give yourself a couple of hours to practice your speed with a .030” wire of a 110V machine and you will do fine (it will be harder with a 220V).
On the need to upgrade to MIG, the question is what are your future welding needs? If they are cosmetic and you will be doing a lot of them say the frame of a highboy roadster, MIG will give you good clean and production welds (with even a 220V machine) but these are thicker welds of 1/8” or greater, or sheet metal like the body of said roadster the MIG is the one to go with. If your welds will be in small amounts where cosmetics is not an issue then stay with using the flux unless you will continue to weld smaller than 12 gauge.

On advice for welding, use strips of 1/2” by 4” long for practicing 14 gauge so that you can cut them after you weld to see your penetration, it is the best way to tell how well your welds are. Another idea is to relax and hum a tune as you weld. Use the rhythm of the music to control your speed if you’re moving too fast slow down the song and your movement. My favorite song for welding is a remake of an Elvis song done by Cheap Trick “Don’t be Cruel”. I can adjust the speed and to make a good weld, my father likes Louis Armstrong (and who doesn’t like Louis). And if you are not using an auto darkening helmet get one and don’t go cheep my father still uses a standard helmet even though I’ve bought him a nice auto dark, old habits die hard I guess.
A couple of safety items if your are welding flux core make sure you are in a well ventilated area because of the gases created, other than that practice and have fun.


Hope that helps,
Charles

[EdK]

Charles,

Thanks for all of the advise. My welder is a Millermatic 180 which is a 220V welder. I don't foresee me doing welding that has to be visually perfect so I would rather not get gas if I don't need to. I don't like the idea of a highly pressurized vessel stored in my garage. Despite others claims that it's hard to see the puddle when flux core welding, I don't seem to have that problem. I do have an auto-darkening helmet that works very nicely. I can't imagine welding without it. I weld in my garage with the overhead door opened about 3 feet for ventilation.
Last evening when I was trying to weld the 14 gauge steel I had the voltage and wire feed turned down quite low and was still getting an occasional blow-though. Maybe I need to go lower yet. I guess I'll just have to keep practicing until I get the settings to where it works for 14 gauge.

Ed

[EdK]

Ed,

On advice for welding, use strips of 1/2” by 4” long for practicing 14 gauge so that you can cut them after you weld to see your penetration, it is the best way to tell how well your welds are.

Charles

Charles,

At the risk of sounding like an idiot, what should I be looking for when I cut the welds in half to inspect for penetration? I did that on a few of my earlier practice welds and couldn't see any difference between the parent metal and the weld. No difference in color or texture that I could detect and no visible line differentiating the weld from the parent metal.

Thanks,
Ed

[calgator]

Ed,

You cut the weld to see how much penetration you have. The goal is to get penetration all the way through (I’m referring to the butt joint since that is where we start when welding), if you can see it when you turn it over. Then the next question is how much area is involved in the weld. If you are welding say 1/8” mild steel and penetrate all the way though your width of the weld should be about 3/16 to ¼” wide at the top. Of course you need to grind a fillet on the metals prior to welding for maximum penetration.

I would look at getting more ventilation in the garage and the blow through is just when you are putting too much heat on one location just practice moving with your rhythm. You should also be pushing not pulling; this should help control the heat concentration. Other than that keep practicing you will get it.

Charles,