i just got a welder about a month ago and just wanted to get into structural welding.i am requesting techniques and patterns.thankx in advance TROY
there's a monster garage book called, "how to weld damn near anything" it's like 10$ and worth every penny if you're just starting.
there is an excellent older text book available.....check out amazon or other sellers....it should still be in publication..... it is called "welding technology" ; 8X10X2" hardcover; 704 pages author is: Gower A. Kenedy mine was published in 1976...that is when i bought it.... ISBN: 0-672-20946-2 multi-chaptered and covers all processes, techniques, etc.....in easy to understand and follow manner.... best welding book I own or have ever come across.... IT WILL TEACH YOU ALL YOU WILL HAVE TO EVER KNOW AND A WHOLE BUNCH MORE!!!!!!!!!! HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!!!!!!!!!! SATISFACTION GUARANTEED!!!!!!!!!!!
The best thing to do is take a cl*** from the local community college. Other than that Northern Tool sells some videos that are really good and only cost around $25.
I second what flathead6 said, community college. You will learn more, faster from a good instructor. It won't hurt to play in the mean time though. Tony
flathead6, I just looked at your profile. Welding instructor huh? My boys both weld on steel buildings. My youngest has taken some of the welding cl***es at TCC South campus. Where do you instruct? Tony
If you have a bottle of co2 or co2/argon you are about set. You need some .025 and .030 MIG wire, not flux wire. Get some s**** steel to practice on. Anything about 1/8" to 3/16" would be good for practice. Clean the surfaces down to clean metal. At first just try and run a bead on one piece of steel, ie don't try to weld two pieces together. You are just trying to adjust the machine settings at this time. To begin with turn the power wide open and set the wire speed on about 5. Try to run a weld about 1" long. At first you can just work the torch back and forth in a zig zag while working your way along. If the weld is making a steady sizzling sound then you have the wire speed close. If the wire is trying to push the torch away from the work piece then the wire speed is too high. If the wire speed is too slow then the sound will not be steady, more like zzzz zzzz zzzzz zzzzz. Fine tune the wire speed until you have it welding good. For each wire diameter, every heat setting there is one very small wire speed range that will be correct. I always write down the settings on a business card and leave it in the side cover of the machine. The hot tip is to have an experienced mig welder come over and give you a few minutes of instruction. As you get the hang of it start looking for the arc at the end of the wire. When you are welding a joint you want this arc to sweep both pieces of metal. With mig it is very easy to have a 'cold joint' or 'cold lap' where you have good penetration on one piece and almost none on the other side of the joint. When you first start welding you have to weld up practice pieces and then clamp them in a big vise and try to break them apart. This will allow you to see if you have cold laps. WEAR SAFETY GEAR !!!! Leathers and a helmet, not just goggles. The arc will give you the equivalent of a bad sunburn. Years of this can spell skin cancer.
the way i always figure out if the welder is set right is if the bead sounds like bacon frying.. its stupid, but it works alot
Best thing is to take a cl*** at a community college or trade tech school. You will be happy you did. some good info can also be found in a book called "Welders handbook" you can get it on Amazon.com.
Someone else said it, but the best way to figure it out would be to get a guy with some experience over to teach you the basics. I showed my Friend how to weld in about 10 minutes. I left him alone and he did some damn good welds after just a little while. I was a proud teacher. Once you get the hang of it you'll see just how important hearing what you're doing is, some of the guys already said that too. Just get some junk and start welding it together. Good luck man. Josh. PS I always wear earplugs when I weld to keep those hot bouncing BBs out of my inner ear.
get an instructor to teach you - anyone bozo can pick up a mig and can pick it up in 10 minutes when your messing about but how do you know your welds are structurally sound? you also need to learn what g***es to use when welding different materials and how your technique differs for different materials because they aint all the same. if these welds are on car parts you need to know what your doing is technically correct - other peoples lives depend on it!
The correct choice of shielding gas is paramount to MIG welding performance and results and greatly affects metal transfer through the arc. For welding steel, gases begin with straight Co2 (100%) which is the least expensive and progress into the Co2/Argon mixes.... In very basic terms, Co2 runs coldest....as the percentage of argon increases so does arc stability and arc temperature and the efficiency and stability of metal transfer. The greater the argon content, the smoother/flatter the bead profile; the greater the fusion & hotter the puddle and the less the spatter. Of course argon mixes cost more HOWEVER the greater the argon content, the heavier the gas is and the greater its ability to cling around the weld zone and keep out contaminents and resist moving off due to draft. As well, the greater the argon content, the higher the weld temperature at any given wire speed setting. Because of this, high argon content mixes end up being cheaper than straight co2....due to its weight and cling the CFM of flow can be quickly reduced as the argon increases. I have been using 92% argon w/8% Co2 for last 28 years exclusively for all the above reasons: superior weld result/appearance...better heat transfer thru the arc and arc stability...no 'cold lapping'... with 50% or more flow reduction from 35/45 cfm w/strt. Co2 to only 12/15 CFM with 92/8 mix....little or no spatter to clean up....the ability to mig weld outside the shop w/out the gas getting blown away from weld zone (this cannot be done w/straight Co2 without porosity occuring in the weld) (not on a windy day mind you, all gases will move off w/wind but 92/8 has good draft tolerance)... And when turning down machine for thin sheet welding, high argon again allows for a better more stable arc (no sputtering) and even current flow.....very important when running thin wire... Voltage setting also is critical to welder performance...w/92/8.. you can go into "spray transfer" as you crank voltage up....and weld thicker material than w/a lesser mix using the same welding machine... (the welding heat output capacity of the machine increases w/argon content)... Summary: run the very best gas for the very best all around results and play w/your arc voltage settings at any given wire speed to fine tune the puddle and weld fusion/appearance.... the choice of filler wire also comes into play...I recommend ERW70S6...70,000 psi min. tensile as deposited and has the highest level of deoxidizers (s6).... Make sure that your gas type is correct and your arc voltage is not set too low..as these are common parameters that lead to poor mig performance and arc instability and even maintaining w/out short circuit... I hope this helps you out...........Ian
I also want to add that welding correctly and soundly takes years of learning and practice. It only LOOKS easy. It is one thing to lay on a bead.....easy as squeezing toothpaste from a tube! It is quite another thing to get proper fusion! (not penetration, I'm talkin FUSION here).....where the metal properly bonds as one and will stand up to dynamic forces and reversals of stress. And there is a lot to learn about proper joint prep. and technique. Start by gettin the Kennedy book I mentioned and study it thru.... And start with fixing broken chairs..... Welding auto stuff is critical.....that takes a properly trained and certified person. Scares me to see what rodders are doin out there after being a fully trained and certified welder for 30 yrs. now and knowing just what it takes to weld metals correctly and safely....
TR12, Don't let these guys scare you into thinking welding is like rocket science, it's not. Just get a guy with a lot of years to show you the ropes. That's the best advice I can give you man. Then practice, practice, practice. Have the guy come and look at your welds. He won't have to X-ray the sum *****es to know if they're good or not. Later Josh.
Hey Vinnie Thanks for the link, one of the best tutorials I have seen so far. This is going to help me out tremendously.
"just get into structural welding"??? I don't think you understand what structural welding is. What is it that you want to weld? I always advise people that ask questions like this not to weld anything that will kill you if it were to break. Take the advice of the collective... either take a cl*** or find someone with experience that can give you a honest ***essment of your capabilities. Not bragging... just to put it in perspective for you.... I had been welding for 20 years. The first 5 were spent messing around with mig & stick with a few cl***es here and there. I didn't really learn how to weld until I had to become structurally certified in all positions along with multiple certifications for high pressure applications. Within my first 5 years I may have thought I knew what I was doing but I really didn't. (maybe I am a slow learner?)
Go to anyplace that sells Haynes Manuals and get the Haynes Tech book on welding covers all types of welding in basic language .If they don't have it on the shelf they can get it for you .It offers step by step projects for beginners the last project being a utility trailer. When I bought mine a few years back it was around 10$I got it for my grandson to start him in welding.The book is on the rack at my local NAPA parts store.I've been a weldor since 1968 and I like the book as a beginners tool just my .02
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