As I have said before on the subject of welding anything clean & tight, fitment that is. I have 7 years in everything from TIG to MIG to aluminum& stainless I have tried most of the combos and machines and will say get more education & ask lots of dumb questions. Try welding some heavy scrap and find out were your machine does the best. Also if you had to you could help out the penetration of your weld by pre heating your work piece not to hot though no color just nice and warm maybe 400-500 F good luck. burn it man!
yes with a real mechine not the thing he has with no gas . And im saying when making tacks not welding
I won't throw rocks over this stuff, cause there are probably endless ways to do it including hot riviting plates on either side of the metal. With my limited welding experience in the home shop, and armed w/your pic of a panel repair you did, all I can say is find a stick welder if you are gonna do it yourself. Mind you, I don't wield a mig much better than what you got in the pics, but if you welded your chassie like that and the car breaks in half taking an exit ramp killing someones wife or kids....You desirve what ever you get. I'm just sayin' it's worth taking some serious time, if it's the frame. That is an area you do not learn on.
Good night batman, I only have 7 f------ years of time in the trades and I know that has got to be the most un safe looking pile os I've ever seen! I would never get in that car without a helmet.
MINK take al up on his offer to help if I were there in CT I'd give you a hand if you need help go to the older guys and really see how they do it. These guys on the hamb are ruthless aren't they!
I agree with Hackerbill! Welding is something almost anyone can learn, my 15 year old daughter can lay down a decent bead on plaqte. It just takes some reading and a lot of practice. As for flux core being crap or no good for welding panels, or not suitable for this or that. Flux core is totally useable for just about anything, if it is used correctly. I don't use it often and prefer a gas shield, but if your in a windy environment that would blow your shielding gas away it works great, given the correct welding techniques are used. As for flux core for welding panels, it can be done. You need to stich weld 1/2-1 inch at a time to control heat buildup. And it is not something you do well first time you try it. For small patches I'll sometimes go as far a TIG welding them, which is time consuming, but the best method for not having to spend a lot of time cleaning and straightening things up later. I'm no expert welder but I have been welding for over 30 years now, had a welding class in 10th grade and since then have practiced, and learned other systems and techniques. If it is something your trusting with your life or the life of others, you better be good at it, or let someone else do it for you.
Well fellow HAMBers, I am happy to report there is hope for Ryan (Mink) afterall ;-) Spent about an hour and a half over his house tonight, gave him a few pointers, brought a welded sample with me so he knows what to strive for and in a short time his welding technique (and understand of same) had improved about 500%. He has some equipment issues to deal with, needs to practice and I steered him to a welding class available locally for some professional instruction on quality machines but I think he's on track to make his little chebby roadworthy. I told him no more pictures until he has his stuff up to snuff and has practiced practiced practiced practiced practiced (and taken that class) though, LOL. He was a good listener and seemed genuinely willing to learn. Definitely has the passion for traditional rods too. Good luck Ryan! You have my number if you get stuck, have questions or need a hand..... Al in CT PS. That gasless 110v mig welder was interesting, I've never used one before.
Thats excellent to hear Al! Your a good guy to go out of your way like that... Kick some welder ass MINK! You can do it!!!
yep definetly the right thing for mink to do and a generous offer from AL.. hats off to Al and to Mink.. and Good Luck Mink, you'll get it, if you have the determination as Al stated you'll be slinging good beads in no time..
If your still using flux core id suggest switching it up, i think you will find it easier to just use gas.
I'll have to respectfully disagree with you on that. Using a gas rig, especially a really really good gas rig, will not help you weld any better. To the contrary- if you are just starting out you can gain a false sense of confidence because a good gas rig will make bad welds look good to an untrained eye and if you don't know what you're looking for, a cold weld will seem just fine- until you put a load on it and the bead falls off. The best way to start out is with Oxy-Acet then graduate upwards from there. While fluxcore is uglier it will show deficiencies more readily as well. Oh yeah, after some digging I did find this way in the back of the NHRA rule book- "Any chassis modification in an attempt to lengthen the frame rails forward of the vehicle firewall shall be constructed of recycled bed framing materials, and be bonded by means of tractor weld." "Fabricator will sign his name in weld bead on chassis prior to accepting any form of payment for services rendered" Heh... Sorry, just couldn't help myself with that last one. Good on ya Al for taking the time to go over and help the guy out, glad to hear you did some good.
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