Any welders in the house?

[Jezware]

Hi all, I'm trying to modify a motorbike trailer I bought to take a bigger bike, and as a complete welding n00b, i'm finding it harder than I thought!

So... last night I started, I have borrowed a Migmate from my friend, with all the gubbins to go with it. Tried last night on some off cuts of steel, and just managed to make a mess with big blobs of weld not holding much together at all! After about half an hour of trying, the welder stopped working, another half an hour of staring at the thing, and decide that a nice cold pint would help me think! So pop downstairs to the pub (it's great living above one), and two pints later I go back to tackle it again, only to find out the reason it wasn't working was the gas had run out.

Back to the pub aagin, two more pints later an a bit of sweet talking to the landlord, and I got meself another big bottle of CO2. Kewl.

Gonna try again tonight, but looking for some tips on techniques, easiest ways to start, how much wire should be sticking out the welder when you start etc etc, I managed to weld the wire to the gun several times, before it finally had enough of my trying! Any help much appreciated. Feel free to teach me like an idiot, 'cos when it comes to welding I am!!

[jotto]

Hi all, I'm trying to modify a motorbike trailer I bought to take a bigger bike, and as a complete welding n00b, i'm finding it harder than I thought!

So... last night I started, I have borrowed a Migmate from my friend, with all the gubbins to go with it. Tried last night on some off cuts of steel, and just managed to make a mess with big blobs of weld not holding much together at all! After about half an hour of trying, the welder stopped working, another half an hour of staring at the thing, and decide that a nice cold pint would help me think! So pop downstairs to the pub (it's great living above one), and two pints later I go back to tackle it again, only to find out the reason it wasn't working was the gas had run out.

Back to the pub aagin, two more pints later an a bit of sweet talking to the landlord, and I got meself another big bottle of CO2. Kewl.

Gonna try again tonight, but looking for some tips on techniques, easiest ways to start, how much wire should be sticking out the welder when you start etc etc, I managed to weld the wire to the gun several times, before it finally had enough of my trying! Any help much appreciated. Feel free to teach me like an idiot, 'cos when it comes to welding I am!!

If you want to give me a ring later I will try to help but not knowing the machine it could be difficult
07740 337153
Jon

[Jezware]

If you want to give me a ring later I will try to help but not knowing the machine it could be difficult
07740 337153
Jon

Thanks Jon, i'll give you a bell when I finish work. The welder i've got is one of these.

It's a SIP Migmate 150 Turbo. If that's any help!

[kitesurf_phil]

Does the landlord know you are welding in the room above the pub?

The only tip I can give you is that, no matter how much advice people give, you will only get it right with lots of practice.
I find 0.5" of wire about right. Get the two pieces of metal as clean as possible. Set the current low for thin sheet and higher for thicker stuff. If you are getting short, jerky strikes turn the wire feed rate up a little.

[slim]

Does the landlord know you are welding in the room above the pub?

The only tip I can give you is that, no matter how much advice people give, you will only get it right with lots of practice.
I find 0.5" of wire about right. Get the two pieces of metal as clean as possible. Set the current low for thin sheet and higher for thicker stuff. If you are getting short, jerky strikes turn the wire feed rate up a little.

"The only tip I can give you is that, no matter how much advice people give, you will only get it right with lots of practice." SPOT ON...........

my job involves welding, but i use an arc welder the best advice has prob been given already but all i can say is play around with the heat/power settings cause if you do not get this right all you will do is generate blobs of weld that are no good to anybody.... and as you weld instead of moving backwards towards yourself like u do when using a stick welder, move forward away from you and rotate in small circles....once u have mastered it remember to keep the wire/stick pushed right in to the welding service but make sure that its arked up first......

[jamsironwork]

"The only tip I can give you is that, no matter how much advice people give, you will only get it right with lots of practice." SPOT ON...........

my job involves welding, but i use an arc welder the best advice has prob been given already but all i can say is play around with the heat/power settings cause if you do not get this right all you will do is generate blobs of weld that are no good to anybody.... and as you weld instead of moving backwards towards yourself like u do when using a stick welder, move forward away from you and rotate in small circles....once u have mastered it remember to keep the wire/stick pushed right in to the welding service but make sure that its arked up first......

those little mig sets don,t have a very good duty cycle so they will cut out after the time you spent practising, they get to hot thats all give it a bit of a rest now and then

[Vagrant No2]

those little mig sets don,t have a very good duty cycle so they will cut out after the time you spent practising, they get to hot thats all give it a bit of a rest now and then

Put the welder in the garden in this weather , that will keep it cool .But keep the nozzle weld area inside out of the wind or you will loose your argon sheild .

[den 22]

A lot of people when they start welding never have the machine hot enough. They just find they are getting lots of sparks down their neck/gloves/socks!!!
Like someone posted earlier get some spare bits to try on and if you burn holes through you know you are too hot. I dont know if you are able to change wire speed and temp independently, if you can leave one (around the middle setting) and play with the other. Finally make sure your earth is connected securely and has a clean contact. Den.