Technical welding, whats needed, and how is it done best with a budget?

Every time I flip my helmet down, I weld my piece to the TABLE

 

Then an auto darkening helmet would probably be a good investment for you. You set up the welding job, pull the helmet down, and pull the mig trigger and its instantly just the right dark shade (that shade is adjustable). Then when you let off the trigger, its instantly light again. You can see to move stuff, reposition, and be ready to go without ever lifting the helmet, and when you pull the trigger, its the right shade of dark instantly. No helmet flipping required.

When you buy that auto darkening helmet, don't buy the cheapest one you can find, be sure you get one with replaceable batteries, and an "ON" switch (most have a timed shutoff, for so long after the last arc was struck, cheap helmets have the nod to turn on, and that is what you are trying to get away from). It may well be worth dropping the extra $$ to get one with the "clear view" lens. I also prefer to get the largest lens available (if there is a choice). There will be times when you will have to watch the weld at the outer edge of the lens, that larger lens is a great addition.

 

I got one, improved my welding 1000%

 

I got an auto-darkening helmet a few years ago, and it didn't help as much as I thought it would. I need my glasses for close work, and tried both with them on and without. Nothing helped much. I went to see an old friend of mine who was a union pipefitter and had been welding forever. I got two important tips from him. The first was to keep your lenses scrupulously clean and replace the cover lens if it's get pitted or damaged in any way. The second was to find a set of "cheaters" at the Dollar Store that suited you for close work. Then go to a welding supply store and get an inside lense with the same correction. It helped me a lot. I think the "cheater" lens has been mentioned, but I think it is important for use without perfect eyesight.

 

I jumped to the last page, what was a thread going on helping and advice on welding sure has turned.
Well the young man has schooling in electrical, I don’t believe he’s gonna chuck that knowledge and want to be a professional welder, but as I understand he’s short on $$ to buy a auto darkening helmet.

yep, the cheater lens is the ticket. Broke mine once, had to put my magnifying glasses on, makes it tough, never seem to have all things lined up comfortably.

 

My 15 year old snap-on auto helmet died this year. Dang it.
Having to use a HF back up.
My old school flip is an absolute last resort.
economical tips?
Poster board is cheaper than steel. A poster board pattern can save ya $$$$
Got a decent old style helmet? Use it. But I’ll pass unless absolutely necessary.
I like a shade 10 for mig.
A magnifying lens can help ya even if you don’t need glasses.
Clean steel welds better than dirty/rusty steel. Take time to clean as much as you can. Both sides.
Tight gaps are easier to weld than wide gaps. (Sheet metal). Uses less material, less grinding and creates less distortion. Saves time and $$$
Straighten damaged sheet metal first near areas you are replacing before welding.
You spend a lot of time cutting sheet metal. A decent pair of aviation shears is better than cut off wheels in my opinion. Red and green handle ones. The yellow is for straps or HVAC work. I hate em
I bought a 10 inch bench shear for around $110. Cuts up to 1/8th. I figure I’ve made that $$$ back from buying a lot fewer cut off wheels.
Good sheet metal work also included hammers and dollies. Cheap ball peen hammers can be used as both

 

Just for help of others out there...This is the result right here of too slow of wire speed and too high of voltage. It arc pops as its blowing out the spool wire that its arcing before getting more wire to keep it going.

You are limited on voltage it seems, so Crank the wire speed up from here and it should get to bacon sound...

If cranking wire speed does nothing, then it may be worth looking to see if the hold down for the welding wire is too loose and slipping, if the wire slips then it will barely move as yours is in these videos.

Recommended setting from me is half way on the wire speed... 1/2" nozzle pull back, and your shielding gas should be 20 cfh flow rate. No fans blowing on you or the welding area. This will make shielding gas worthless. If windy, cranking shielding gas flow rate up can normally get you there... Max about 40 cfh flow in windy situation. This is best way to get a basic weld down then start dialing it in. Also, the ground surface must be clean, the welding surface must be clean. So Wire brush rust off, hit it with a grinding wheel to get bright steel finish.

A pretty good dialed in welder will sound like this ....
https://youtube.com/shorts/S39iN3CDOZ4?si=bhuq5KCYn5bAch4u

Good little basic troubleshooting video.

 

My experience seems to indicate when the helmet acts funny, replacing the battery either fixes it or the helmet has failed. Thats why I replaced my Miller auto-dark. Maybe I just didn't know how to fix the problem. BUT the silver lining was that the newer "clear view" auto-dark had come on the market and it forced me to buy one from Lincoln for a reasonably decent price. I will say that welding outside on a sunny day without something to shade the work area can be difficult.

What I have found (apparently ?) is that my eyes don't have the ability to focus as well at different distances. Thats after cataract surgery and lens installed. If I want to change focus on things close to me, I need to change the strength of the glasses I'm wearing. Try reading a book or newspaper (UGH) and move it slightly closer and farther and see if you don't have to get a specific distance to read it. Then we use the same reader prescription and try to weld with them......but at a different distance. I think its best to get several cheap pairs of "readers" with different strength. Then depending on the welding and how close or far your head is to the weld, you can use the pair that works best. I like them better than the helmet magnifiers......unless you buy more than one strength.

Also, consider the darkness of the helmet lens. Those of you who want to use a fixed lens usually leave the same lens in all the time. Maybe you only have one lens. I was Tig welding some small parts yesterday and I noticed that the small torch flame was making it harder to see............so I turned the adjustable lens all the way down and could see much better. Quite honestly, one of the biggest problems in welding is not being able to see the weld or realize that you are not seeing the weld well. All I can say is that when I have things positioned where they are easy to weld and I'm not off balance or in a bind.......and I can see my weld good........my welds usually look a lot better.

 

I'd also add that in this scenario, that battery tray area of the inner fender well is available as a patch panel through EMS.

 

for 150 dollars, yeah.

 

Yeah, sounds like a less expensive option than to repair the damage that occurs when your battery falls into the spinning fan.

 

i have a metal hold down on the way, the brackets are fine, its just the underside of the fender thats rusty

 

I learned to weld using THICKER metal...until I learned to establish the puddle and how to move it from one piece of metal to the other. All this without worrying about melting/blowing thru.
Once ya get the basics THEN learn to work with sheet metal. I didn't learn to weld sheet metal my first attempt
Jus say'in

 

finally learning! thanks to @alanp561 s son.

 

homework this week is: lay beads on the other side and make it level

 

I learnded on thin first.
I guess that’s why I think thin stuff is easier

 

Get yourself a helmet that automatically darkens. Makes welding a lot easier.
self darkening welding helmet - Search (bing.com)

 

I haven't commented on this thread yet, so I'll throw in my .02 worth...

First thing I'll say is as being a retired electrician, having 'welder' on your resume is a plus. There were several times when that made the difference between working and being unemployed. We generally installed our own supports for pipe racks and gear, not all guys bothered to learn welding or liked to do it (I didn't either, but I also like to eat and live in a house...). It's a good skill to have if that's the trade you intend to pursue.

I bought my wire feed and arc welder about 25 years ago. Looking at the current market for welding equipment what struck me is the US-based manufacturers have mostly abandoned the 'entry level' market. Yes, they still sell some, but they're bare-bones machines. There were more choices when I bought mine or at least seemed to be. My MIG is a Century 90/110A 125V unit, and came with everything except the bottle for using gas. One difference this one has is that while the speed control is 'stepless' as most are, the amp control is also stepless, a feature I wouldn't willingly give up. Century was bought up by Lincoln a few years later and became their 'price leader' but all those features disappeared. A comparable unit from one of the 'name' brands now is about three times the cost. Same thing goes for my arc welder. I bought an entry-level Miller AC/DC machine for about $300. Both have been trouble-free, but I'll note that I've always been careful to observe their duty cycles. Failure to do that will shorten their lives.

And IMO, TIG is over-rated. Yes, you can do some things easier with it but given all the trick rods now available, you don't necessarily need TIG to weld them. I've welded a fair amount of stainless with stick rod, even thicker sheet metal. If you're doing major fabrication it may be justified, but for a hobbyist? Not this one...

Inexpensive offshore machines are everywhere today, many very fully-featured. Yes, the unknown quality/reliability of these machines can give you pause, but I wouldn't dismiss them out of hand. Check owner/U-tube/buyer reviews, they can't all be POS.

 

There you go, dude. See what 6 hours with someone almost as good as I am will do for you . Practice, practice, practice, then go back to Wayne and learn some more. One of these days before long, you'll be able to run a bead like that last one overhead.

 

The thing about welding sheetmetal is that you will most likely not be running a bead. You probably will be doing a lot of tacking or very short beads. If you try to weld a sheetmetal panel with a continuous bead, you will most likely get some warpage. That can be a lot harder to deal with. Once you get where you can run a bead, try welding two sheetmetal panels together with one long bead. See if its still flat. This may not seem like a big issue on the test pieces, but it can be on car panels because the expansion has no place to go.

 

He's just learning to strike and control an arc. My son Wayne is teaching him the basics and then will take him into the finer points of welding. Wayne isn't about to send him out without knowing what he's doing, I promise.

 

The metal you are practicing on is a lot dirtier than anything I'd ever weld on

 

stick is not very picky

 

I find it's a good practice to clean any metal I'll be welding, before welding it. Good habits lead to consistent welds.

 

Can I come and learn too? I had welding at Tech College, but I graduated in 1994 and do not get to practice very often.

 

@The_Cat_Of_Ages , the young guy learning to weld has a buzz box and a MIG machine that was his fathers. For right now, my son Wayne is showing him how to use what we call "farmer's rod", E 6011, E 6013 and E 7014 that are run on AC machines so that he can learn how to run a bead. There's a reason it's called "farmer's rod" and it's because we haven't known too many farmers who didn't start out welding rusty farm equipment with the cheapest AC machine they could buy rather than pay a good welder to do the job right. For what the kid is learning right now, rusty scrap metal works just fine. Hit it with a wire brush and go. The impurities will burn out of it. When he is able to control the arc and the puddle, Wayne will teach him the proper ways to weld plate as well as sheet metal. There's more to being a welder than being a shop rat in a climate controlled environment.

 

you said it all when you called the 6011--only thing nicer on rusty is 6010,prob not for ac tho--and doesn't dig as deep as 6011 either

 

Weld on clean metal.


Makes a huge difference

 

Couldn't agree more. When I was a kid, I learned to weld on a MIller "buzz-box" using the aforementioned "farmer's rod". With that, you could weld through rust, paint, and chicken shit. When I got my MIG, I had a lot of bad habits. It took a lot of time and a lot of work to break them. When I first got the MIG, everybody told me how easy it was to use. Not with dirty metal it's not.

 

Yep. There’s a time to weld up thru rust. Building cars isn’t one of em