Learning to weld

[Slugsie]

Had a chance to have a first play with my arc welder the other day, figured I'd take the chance and let you lot laugh at the results.

I'd like to point out first, that this is my first attempt at doing anything even close to welding, that I've had no instruction other than watching a couple of YouTube videos and an online chat with a mate, and that I had no-one standing over me telling me what to do.

Basically, I just spent an hour or so running welding beads. Next step is to get some more bits of scrap iron, and weld them onto my big bit of RSJ.

[pops]

good job son
expect the welder be on later and say
WHAT YA SAY
hey jon??
we all gotta start somewhere trick is finding out where somewhere is

[white akita]

i bought a brand new welder about 3 month ago so i could learn myself how to weld.
ive never touched it ! YET

[MattF]

You might find a couple of these helpful for general reference.

http://forums.bauchan.org/portal/vie...ads.php?dcid=7

[Woodzie]

I had my first try under Mark's (surfenstein) supervision .......i will be trying again

[Vagrant No2]

It all depends how thick the rod is and how high the welder is set and also how fast you move the welding rod along . You need to turn the metal over once welded to see how far the weld has penertrated .
Jon will know best , but I did several different welding courses over the years for different companies . It dont take long to get the hang of , just keep trying and checking the welds as said and you will be fine .
Why an ARC welder and not a MIG ? you want to weld thick stuff ?

[Slugsie]

It all depends how thick the rod is and how high the welder is set and also how fast you move the welding rod along . You need to turn the metal over once welded to see how far the weld has penertrated .
Jon will know best , but I did several different welding courses over the years for different companies . It dont take long to get the hang of , just keep trying and checking the welds as said and you will be fine .
Why an ARC welder and not a MIG ? you want to weld thick stuff ?

At the moment, I'm using 3.2mm rods and a bit of very thick RSJ. I presume that if I'm welding thinner metal then I go for thinner rods and lower current?

As to why ARC, simple, I was given the machine for nothing. Not really got any plans to weld anything in particular, and it certainly won't be seeing any heavy use. When I'm confident, I'll probably try and knock up some sliders.

[surfenstein]

3.2 mm rods blimey.what you welding the titanic.as rick said crank the amps up and slow the rod speed down,and remember a 45 degree angle from the work piece.and like pops said we all have to start somewhere,im still crap at it.

[Slugsie]

3.2 mm rods blimey.what you welding the titanic.as rick said crank the amps up and slow the rod speed down,and remember a 45 degree angle from the work piece.and like pops said we all have to start somewhere,im still crap at it.

I'm using 3.2mm rods, because that is what my mate supplied with the welder. I can get 2.5mm easily enough too, so I'll probably pick some of them up. Any smaller, and the price seems to go through the roof. I can get 2.5kgs of 2.5 or 3.2 for just over £5 from CPC which is next door to where I work, so nice and handy.

I've been holding the rods at closer to 70 degrees, so I'll angle it more when I next get a chance.

Crank the amps up? The setting wheel on the welder suggests that I would go down for smaller rods. For instance, 3.2mm rods I'm at 120amp. But 2.5mm would be 90amp according to the dial. I don't want to go much over 120amp because the electrical supply won't be up for it. Max output on this welder is 240amp, but that'll be pulling 28amp from the supply - which is a 13amp plug with a jerry-rigged 16amp fuse.

[surfenstein]

I'm using 3.2mm rods, because that is what my mate supplied with the welder. I can get 2.5mm easily enough too, so I'll probably pick some of them up. Any smaller, and the price seems to go through the roof. I can get 2.5kgs of 2.5 or 3.2 for just over £5 from CPC which is next door to where I work, so nice and handy.

I've been holding the rods at closer to 70 degrees, so I'll angle it more when I next get a chance.

Crank the amps up? The setting wheel on the welder suggests that I would go down for smaller rods. For instance, 3.2mm rods I'm at 120amp. But 2.5mm would be 90amp according to the dial. I don't want to go much over 120amp because the electrical supply won't be up for it. Max output on this welder is 240amp, but that'll be pulling 28amp from the supply - which is a 13amp plug with a jerry-rigged 16amp fuse.

sorry i meant crank the amps up for thicker steel/ rods and better penetration,

[Slugsie]

sorry i meant crank the amps up for thicker steel/ rods and better penetration,

Whew! That makes sense.

[Slugsie]

You might find a couple of these helpful for general reference.

http://forums.bauchan.org/portal/vie...ads.php?dcid=7

Cheers, I shall peruse them later.

[lord lucan]

Had a chance to have a first play with my arc welder the other day, figured I'd take the chance and let you lot laugh at the results.

I'd like to point out first, that this is my first attempt at doing anything even close to welding, that I've had no instruction other than watching a couple of YouTube videos and an online chat with a mate, and that I had no-one standing over me telling me what to do.

Basically, I just spent an hour or so running welding beads. Next step is to get some more bits of scrap iron, and weld them onto my big bit of RSJ.

is that old egypitian writing? jokes aside thats not bad but get youself a mig, stick welding is old hat, michael aspel material

[Slugsie]

is that old egypitian writing? jokes aside thats not bad but get youself a mig, stick welding is old hat, michael aspel material

I realise that, but for the price, I can't complain.

In the long run, I'll probably do what my mate who gave me the Arc welder did. Learn the basics on this machine, and then progress to a MIG later. But then again, as I said, it's not like it's going to get a massive amount of use, so would it really be worth the investment for me? Is MIG really that much better? How? What can MIG do that ARC can't?

[max6674]

You do need a little more amps tho to be honest. The weld is sat more on the steel than penetrated into it.

Have you tried up-hill welding with a stick rod yet.. you will have some fun with that one