The welders thread

[e9999]

if there is slag you drag... I would think that goes for flux core too.

And I've seen folks dragging on MIG too, but that's a choice, based on preference and needed weld profile and penetration I imagine.

 

[MrMoMo]

Yep, sorry, I missed that flux cored part, edited my post above.... You were just too quick!

Are you running a regular nozzle with flux cored? If you can get rid of the fat "gas" nozzle you should still be able to see ok from directly "above" if your wire stick out is sufficient.

Even from the wrong side, you should be able to see the width of your puddle... Quite often I weld by the sound.

 

[e9999]

no I had the specific skinny flux core "nozzle" on when I do ( well, try to actually) flux core, but still could not see where I'm going very well.

I think I had poor visibility problems in general, though, for one thing I didn't have good enough lighting I think. I'm going to try with a spotlight and see if that makes a difference. May even use soapstone or silver streak to help. That may just be all I need. And do mostly right to left dragging instead, feels more natural...

 

[Tredwards]

K so I have been playing with the miller 211. Blew holes in aluminum that's gonna take some practice. Steel is going much better. Here's a pic. Been watching welding tips and tricks on YouTube and it has helped some. Let me know what you think.

 

[Tredwards]

Here's another view

 

[UnderDawg]

100 series front bumper build

 

[Josie'sLandCruiser]

Hi all,

Thanks MrMoMo, the really hard part was welding two pieces of sheet steel together!
So easy to "blow through" if not paying attention! But, great opportunity to improve welding skills.

Regards,

Alan

Two methods to make it easier...
1)Don't try to run beads, just spot it all together.
2)If you want to run longer beads, focus the arc 95% on the tube (it's thicker and can take the heat) just melt the edge of the sheet metal with the edge of the puddle, that way it won't disintegrate. Don't make long passes, or it will warp from the heat. Be sure to start with a tack every inch or two, then fill in the spaces between...

 

[Josie'sLandCruiser]

Hi all,

Cool! Quite the project!

Regards,

Alan

100 series front bumper build

 

[Tapage]

I don't see whay you can't push fluxcore . .. I did altho I don't like it ( fluxcore ).

Poll for you guys ..

When fabbing a part / piece which involve thin metal and thick metal like body metal with 1/4 piece .. hwo do you set your machine .?

 

[GLTHFJ60]

When fabbing a part / piece which involve thin metal and thick metal like body metal with 1/4 piece .. hwo do you set your machine .?

Depends on the type of joint you're welding and the gauge of the smaller metal. I find that when doing something like this with a lap joint, it's a piece of cake. Excess heat soaks into the larger workpiece. A butt joint is harder. I try to position the workpiece so that I can keep the weld puddle on the larger gauge material, then as part of my stitch, take the top of one loop and touch the smaller gauge workpiece.

Does that make sense?

In general, I try to avoid welding dissimilar gauge materials together, unless you're in the heaver gauges. I'll weld 1/4" to 3/8" or 1/2" together without worrying much, but I'll stray away from welding 18 or 16 gauge to 1/4".

 

[chappysfj40]

Aluminum you got move fast.

 

[chappysfj40]

Also on flux core remember to change politary it makes a huge difference in the amount of splatter and quality of your weld

 

[Tapage]

In general, I try to avoid welding dissimilar gauge materials together, unless you're in the heaver gauges. I'll weld 1/4" to 3/8" or 1/2" together without worrying much, but I'll stray away from welding 18 or 16 gauge to 1/4".

Yeah I try that too .. just sometimes it didn't worth the extra weight or waste of good material if you don't need to ..

 

[MrMoMo]

Looking pretty good treadwards... With aluminum make sure it's freshly cleaned, strike the arc and start moving - you can't see temperature in aluminum like you can in steel, you you just have to watch the puddle size and position. Ah, and make sure you have the polarity right! (Should be pure argon as well) what alloy aluminum do you have, and what wire alloy are you using - some don't mix so well...

GLTHFJ60 - I'd say that's exactly how I would do it if the thinner stuff can't take the heat, just a little weave into it to pull the puddle to it, but not so much heat that it blows through. Alternately, if you can find the sweet spot, you can just run with the arc heat concentrated on the thick side. Also, it can help if you can position the thicker metal above (horizontal welds) and the thinner below as the heat in the material rises to the thicker part instead of the thinner.

Tapage, ¡que xopá! you always need to set the machine to have sufficient heat for the the thicker part, otherwise you won't get penetration into the thick. As GLTHFJ60 said, just "dip" or "weave" the puddle onto the thiner part for long enough that the puddle gets tied to it, then move back to the thicker part. Hoy en Gamboa no fue suficiente calor para soldar aluminio solo con el sol :cD but I did get a good sunburn!

 

[Tapage]

Hoy en Gamboa no fue suficiente calor para soldar aluminio solo con el sol :cD but I did get a good sunburn!

I will post a pic of the results last time I did it.. kinda did that, but lower the amp to have a happy medium .. I'm an slow welder ( slow wire speed ) so that's kinda advantage moving the puddle from and back ..

hey you gotta love the sun we have .. seguramente mucha envidia tendras de los que estan en el invierno back at home .. pero lo mas rico es que la humedad esta realmente baja ..

 

[GLTHFJ60]

I will post a pic of the results last time I did it.. kinda did that, but lower the amp to have a happy medium .. I'm an slow welder ( slow wire speed ) so that's kinda advantage moving the puddle from and back ..

Being slow can be a disadvantage when welding sheetmetal though. Dwell too long in one spot and you'll get burn-through.

 

[Tapage]

Being slow can be a disadvantage when welding sheetmetal though. Dwell too long in one spot and you'll get burn-through.

I've been learning how to adjust my amp to my " slowness " but I recognize it as disadvantage all in all .. working to improve that.

 

[Stevesnj]

I repaired my Bosal extra thin metal muffler and ended up down to 2 to 2.5 speed and A voltage with my Lincoln 140 MIG. Even though it was slow I did get better control of the welds. Plus it was Flux Core so MIG I may have to bump it to B Voltage. This was my first official repair and use of the welder for a novice. Lets just say Swiss Cheese doesn't have a chance compared to what I did to that metal..

 

[MrMoMo]

Almost ran into @Tapage today.... Right country, right city, right circulo de tráfico loco, right color of cruiser, just not quite "Tapage" enough (But it was a diesel and said for sale in the window!) he probably was confused why some weirdo in a tiny little Hyundai left a space let him in...

But since this is a welding thread, here is a pic of some soldadora de aluminio.... Done outside, in the wind. (Not by me thank god!) I've definitely seen worse, but I've also seen better. But I'm not going to complain, they got the job done and I could finish what I had to do... (Besides, I got to sit in the shade under the boat while they were working!)

Replacing/modifying the winch system to raise and lower the bow ramp on this boat.... Was previously 2 winches, now just one - no more issues with cables being out of synch...

 

[Tapage]

What they were using to weld under those conditions .?

P.S. HZJ105 of Jorge Lam don't like that fat body ..