More first welding attempts (1 Viewer)

[alia176]

It's been said already but it's an important point to reiterate: support your upper body. As in, the upper body need to be rock solid with only the hands moving. Wedge your knees against the work table, use one elbow to rest against the table and use both hands for holding on to the gun. Sit on a stool rather than stand. This way, you don't get tired and produce erratic welds. I am an amateur so I use one hand to simply hold the gun onto while the other one squeeze the trigger and manipulate the tip. Welding is simply muscle training. Everyone has their own way of course!

Also, move your head close to the weld site so that you can see w/o any obstruction. I'm talking about a distance of about 12"! This is where a welding cap prevents your hair from burning.

As stated above, push the gun rather than pull it. Push the wire into your puddle as you weld, rather than drag away from it. You're trying to deposit material into the puddle while continuously moving the tip. This is a very contentous point but that's what I was taught!

Keep it up!

Ali

 

[Pin_Head]

Practicing includes testing. For butt welds bend it back 180 degrees across the bead and see if it cracks. For flange welds bend it over 90 degrees. When you can make 100% welds that bend but do not crack, you have that particular weld figured out.

Take the welding class at Sacratomato City College. (I took it 30 years ago, so I don't know if they still offer it). Maybe they offer it ar ARC or Consumnes too. Besides the welding technique and testing, they will teach you useful stuff like joint design.