For those who want to learn to Weld

[Joel_BC]

A small welder (Hobart Handler 135) will weld 1/4" plate but not much thicker unless you use more than one pass. I have a Lincoln MiG 216 and that will weld 3/8 " in one pass as well as probably 1/2". It has to do with the amperage of the welder. The more amperage, the hotter the weld and the deeper it will penetrate. Stick welding really should NOT be any different than wire feed but wire feed is so much easier for the amateur to do. Lighting a stick takes much practice. Lighting the wire takes squeezing the trigger and you are "in business". Frankly, the wire feed welder is so much easier to use that stick welding has become nearly obsolete in certain situations.

Fair enough.

I was at a friend's place the other day. He's just recently gotten into welding & has a bulky MIG rig, bought second hand. I noticed one project he was working on, a blade he'd acquired that he was adapting to a different tractor - hence, it needed new mount brackets. He'd welded them on. The plate involved was no more than 5/16", and some of it 1/4". Some beads looked good and looked strong to me, others did not. Maybe 30-40% looked good. Other stretches (60-70%) looked uneven and at times porous. None of the beads looked as good as stick welding tends to look.

Possibly, this just indicated his level of technique. Possibly he just moved too quickly.

I couldn't tell how the penetration had worked out. Maybo okay, maybe not.

 

[the_whingnut]

Easy to learn to weld. Just remember proper safety. Shade 10 minimum for your lens. Circle - bacon for stick. If you are welding smaw ( stick) keep the electrode a distance equal to its diameter from the base metal. If it sounds like bacon sizzling and the molten puddle is round you are good. Just set the machine to the rods specs. Each rod has a range of amps, based on size(diameter ) and positions of use. Any welding questions just ask. I teach welding and i have been welding for a decade. Im not the best out in the world but i am proficient.

 

[Joel_BC]

Easy to learn to weld. Just remember proper safety. Shade 10 minimum for your lens. Circle - bacon for stick. If you are welding smaw ( stick) keep the electrode a distance equal to its diameter from the base metal. If it sounds like bacon sizzling and the molten puddle is round you are good. Just set the machine to the rods specs. Each rod has a range of amps, based on size(diameter ) and positions of use. Any welding questions just ask. I teach welding and i have been welding for a decade. Im not the best out in the world but i am proficient.

Good comments. Welcome, wingnut. I'd like to encourage you to post pictures of some of your projects.

Not that you should limit pics & posts to this one thread, but do have a look at the Upcycled/Repurposed thread (in the Do It Yourself subforum)... I'd guess you just might have some projects to post about there.
http://www.sufficientself.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=11875

 

[DeniseCharleson]

...he ... told me that a woman of child bearing age had no business messing with welding. Uh, what? Is there really a big risk for that demographic? It doesn't sound like it but just to be sure...

A good overview of the hazards of welding can be found at http://www.lindecanada.com/en/files/pdf/Safety_Hazards.pdf

I see nothing there that would apply specifically to a pregnant woman (or one who might be pregnant) except for radiation exposure during electron beam welding.

 

[the_whingnut]

Great website to learn a lot from www.weldingtipsandtricks.com check out the welding competition section! The ladies will like it.

 

[the_whingnut]

Oh while I'm on it Mig welding is fine for small stuff or low load welds. You are trading ease of use for less penetration. Not a lot of difference in penetration but enough tomake you think about what you are going to do with it. Also you have to change spools of wire to change what metal you are welding. With stick you open a tube. All processes of welding has its own pros and cons. Stick is the most widely used and has a more ready supply of filler world wide.

 

[baymule]

Great thread! I am female and worked in welding and machine shops when I was younger. I learned enough welding to make things stick together lol. My jobs were running machinery, loved it. I can braze enough to put something back together, and played at stick, TIG, MIG and aluminum. When stick welding, I was told to make smileys with the puddle in order to get a good weld.

 

[Dirty Harry]

I am a certified welder and made my living off it for years. I find many of these comments amusing. The warning to women is not a sexist comment. The flux or coating on welding rod gives off many gases. Also used metal can have many chemicals on it. The coating on some metals, such as galvanized, are dangerous when welded. Welders will often have high levels of heavy metals in their system. Everyone should use caution to avoid breathing welding gases, especially young women.

The penetration of welding is not primarilly determined by the amount of amperage you use. It is determined by the type of rod you use. The type of rod also determines the strength of the weld. 6011 is a good rod to use around the farm where you will encounter rusty, dirty metals, usually fairly thick steel. For hard steel or cast steel, like tractor parts, etc. you want a low hydrogen rod like 7018. 6013 is a good rod for thin sheet metals. I will give you a little free info about welding rod. The first two (sometimes three) numbers refer to tinsel(sp) strength, or the force needed to stretch or break the steel. The second from right number is the welding position, and the last number is the type of coating. So 6011 would be 60,000 pounds tinsel strength. The 1 (second from right) means it's all position. And the last the type of coating which indicates the penetration. In this case deep penetrating. If the third number is a 2 this means it is for flat and horizontal welding only. If you try welding up, down, or overhead with it you won't like what happens. Once again the sound made while welding is largely determined by the type of rod you use. Also how smooth the weld looks depends on the type of rod.

Another point, some have said that wire welding is for sheet metal. Once again this is determined by the type of wire you are using. There is one big difference between wire welding and stick welding. With stick welding the heat or voltage varies by the distance you hold the electrode from the metal. If you need more heat, pull back. If you are burning it, get closer. That is not to say that you don't need to have the welder on the proper setting. There is a limit to the variation of heat you can obtain with each setting. With a wire welder the voltage is constant, it doesn't matter how far away or how close you hold it. Try welding a vertical up weld with a wire welder. This will show who the real welders are in a hurry. For those of you trying to weld with a torch I will tell you that you will not get a good weld on thick metal because the filler metal you weld with is just soft metal. When I worked in a repair shop we had uniform service, so there was always a lot of coat hangers on the rack. We did most of our torch welding with a coat hanger for the filler. Works just as good as the expensive rod you buy. I could go on and on but I can't remember if there were any other comments I missed, so I will quit for now. Perhaps I will give some pointers on welding later.

 

[Icu4dzs]

How interesting to read this latest entry today. I just finished using my Hobart handler 135 because I ran into a really interesting problem with my wind turbine guy cables.

What happened was I had bought an eyelet that was three-quarter inch steel but it wasn't completely welded shut. On Several days the wind was really strong and the wind turbine motion was so strong that the cable actually bent that eyelet. I had to find some way to repair that so I took my Holbart 135 which runs on 110 and was able to use a number 10 wire extension cord out to where the tower is and welded those eyelets shut today. I had to cut a piece of re-bar to extend from tHe end of the eyelet to its othe side!

While I don't use that little welder very often, it certainly is rather convenient to be able to operate it out on the farm with a long extension cord. I certainly don't think I could've gotten my stick welder or my large mig welder anywhere near that place because of the lack of power. I'm not going to sit here and tell you that it made the worlds best weld but I can certainly tell you that I welded enough metal that it will take a long time before that breaks apart.

Saepe Expertus, Semper Fidelis, Fratres Aeterni
Trim sends
//BT//

ET correct spelling

 

[Jimmy__]

Last year was the peak of my fascination on welding. I tried watching from you tube and observing actual welding but it wasn't enough. So I decided to take welding classes here in our area. There were additional inputs and new techniques being taught on class which was great. But the "pre-welding" sessions I had with my friend, did help me a lot.