...and wanna show me how?!? It's time for me to admit I don't have a clue what I'm doing with that stupid MIG...I've read books and I try to do what they say but I just don't get the results I want. I've used the heck outta that welder, but not on anything pretty, just on the floorpan and the like, and I can blow holes in that pretty easy too! Or I'll try and weld a bolt to something and get no penetration at all. I'm not welding up a frame or anything, but I'd like to be able to fuse two pieces of metal together and have half a chance of it holding and or being usable on the body. Does anybody have some time they'd be willing to donate to the cause of bettering my shoebox?!? There's a ton of bodymods I'd like to do but I can't with my current sub-agricultural quality welding I'd be glad to contribute beer, pizza, BBQ, whatever the heck you want. I'm not a mooch and I hate to ask, but I just don't have any friends that weld any better than me and I can't take a welding cl*** right now, unfortunately. I don't want your whole afternoon , just an hour maybe? and I can go to your place and I've got a helmet, and shoot I can bring migwire, some metal, even a co2/argon mix bottle I just refilled so we don't use your gas! Like I said, I'm not a mooch, just looking to better my skills and could use some help. Thanks in advance! Oh and I live in los angeles, in hollywood, but I can come to you anywhere in so cal more or less.
Too far to lend a hand, but... What kind of welder do you have? What wire size are you using? Fluxcore or Gas?
i suggest you find a welding cl***...i'm sure some vocational/high school offers some sort of night cl*** around there 3mike asked some good questions...i find fluxcore doesn't work very well on sheetmetal
Using a small 110 Lincoln with gas and using way to big of wire at .035...I was using some .025? I think, it's my friend's welder, but it didn't really make a big difference, my technique stinks regardless of equipment I'd love to take a cl***, theres a few hoops though as there are prereqs for the mig cl*** though. It woudln't kill me to learn oxy/acet or anything, but I'd love to have someone show me the right way to mig weld so I can tackle some of this sheetmetal work sooner than later...I know I shoulda done this a long time ago, woulda shoulda coulda, I got myself in this situation. Heck if I knew a good welding shop I'd pay a guy his hourly rate to show me how Thanks for the nudge on the vocational school thing, I'll check out the website today and see what they say.
This is my experience, the intermediate cl*** (mig and Tig) also had prerequisites, A/O and stick, but I just paid for the intermediate and showed up, my at***ude was you ain't kicking me out... the instructor was really kool though. It is worth taking the cl***. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=274453
Also too far to help you out. Use a piece of s****. Put one hand on the wire speed knob. The other on the trigger. Pull the trigger and as you're "welding", adjust the wire speed from one extreme to the other. Some where in-between, you should see and hear the "sweet spot". The sweet spot changes due to voltage, wire speed, and distance between the tip and the metal. Practice. Practice and a good helmet that you can actually see what's happening. Mostly practice. .023 is better for sheet-metal IMO.
Hit up dem L.A panel beater boys, Happy Hoppy knows his **** and they are always out working on their rides They are car guys
Go with .023 on the sheetmetal. If you blow holes in it, attach jumper cables in the ground circuit (making the ground longer) and use an extension cord to the welder (making a longer wire to the welder) this will cut your amps down to prevent burn through. Your machine must have adjustments on it for amps that you are using also. Try to keep your welding parts the same gauge. If you are welding dissimilar thickness', "point" the wire to the heavier gauge material when you weld it.
amsando@socal.rr.com I live in Orange and if you are willing to come by I am willing to help you. Jared
How are plane fares this time of year? I've never seen Hollywood... Haha, good luck my man. I learned backwards, I started on sheetmetal and then learned how to do heavy stuff. I could see how its tough to do the opposite.
Plenty of HAMBers around LA, If no one takes ya under wing come across the g****vine, bring some beer and your welder.
You might try the approach offered by Randy Ferguson in http://www.metalmeet.com/forum/showthread.php?t=798 on the MetalMeet forum. You probably have to join the forum before you can get to that thread but joining is free, as usual. The approach includes using overlapping tack welds and grinding down the bead before 'working' the seam. I haven't tried it myself but it appears to be a relatively simple approach that doesn't seem nearly as scary as running a bead. The forum seems an outstanding source for metalworking advice of all kinds. Best -- Gary "The day is committed to error and floundering; success and achievement are matters of long range." -- Goethe
Here is a link to Randys acticle on mig welding thin sheetmetal. http://fergusoncoachbuilding.blogspot.com/
I took a night welding cl*** at my local Vo-Tech school. The local Community College has them as well. I had NO previous experience, never even picked up a welding rod. The first nite, the instructor asked each student what we wanted to work on, MIG, TIG, gas, etc, and that's what each of us did. It was the best $250 I ever spent. And by the way, we started on thick steel, and then thinner metal, and finally floorpans, fenders,etc. Thin metal was the LAST and most difficult thing we welded.
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