ARC versus MIG

[MattF]

I'll use the time to perfect my lathework.

That's another thing on my wishlist.


Having a lathe might help, I suppose.

[Apache]

Get yersel' on eBay. Loads of bargains on there.

The Clarke stuff in machine mart looks OK too

[RodLeach]

Get yersel' on eBay. Loads of bargains on there.

The Clarke stuff in machine mart looks OK too

My cousin has a Clarke lathe in the workshop. It's pretty good!

he ended up making a lot of 'sex toy' looking things ahem.... that were actually candlestick holders... so he said!!

[MattF]

he ended up making a lot of 'sex toy' looking things ahem.... that were actually candlestick holders... so he said!!

I've never heard them called that before.

[MattF]

I'm coming to the conclusion that I don't like welding. Persevering with the ARC for practicing until I can 'appropriate' a MIG, and still can't do a weld I'm happy with. Set fire to something in the workshop twice today due to sparks or molten balls too, and the floor and bench look well pitted from all the sparks and such.

How do you know exactly when you're getting the penetration correct and not over or under doing it, with the likes of a lapped weld and such?

[surfenstein]

I'm coming to the conclusion that I don't like welding. Persevering with the ARC for practicing until I can 'appropriate' a MIG, and still can't do a weld I'm happy with. Set fire to something in the workshop twice today due to sparks or molten balls too, and the floor and bench look well pitted from all the sparks and such.

How do you know exactly when you're getting the penetration correct and not over or under doing it, with the likes of a lapped weld and such?

what size rods are you using,what gauge metal are you using? strike the arc using the scratch method.hold the rod at a 45 degree angle from the work and at 45 degrees to the weld joint keeping the rod about 5mm away from the work..create a small pool of molten metal just in front of the rod now kind of push it along the weld keeping the pool in front of the electrode not to fast otherwise you will just get splatter and not to slow as to burn straight through.it does help if you can angle the work downwards slightly and let gravity pull the pool along.dont worry about penetration on thin sheet metal.you know when you have done a really good weld because the slag that builds up on top of the weld will just pull off in one piece.

[MattF]

2.5mm rods on various thicknesses. Haven't stuck to testing on thick or thin especially. Been working on destroying and joining various thicknesses to same thickness and different, to try and get a feel for variations. Also been doing burn through and such to try and judge what you can get away with and what you can't. Current wise, running on approx 60A at the moment. Seem to be able to cover the broadest range on that. Tried it upto around the 90A - 100A mark, and that seems a bit too intense.

Sticking rods, I believe I've managed to figure out why that happens and how to prevent it, i.e: by lightly brushing the tip until it smooths and heats and then starting the weld.

Method wise, I'll admit, I'm doing it completely different to what you've suggested above. Tried that and variations inbetween, and the one I seem most at home with is literally keeping the tip in contact with the metal, or just a gnat's fart above it, and working towards me, rather than away from me. Can do it via the few mil gap method, but it seems harder to gauge that way, personally. However, is doing it my way begging for problems?

The one thing I do seem to have a terrible glitch with though is following a seam. I can run a nigh perfect line generally when I run a bead on top of a solid piece, but the moment I'm trying to join two edges, I turn bl00dy dyslexic.

Popped up a couple of pics of a few quick beads I ran earlier, just to see if you can tell whether my judgement seems close, or whether I'm way off the mark with my methodology? Top pic is where a line has been cut with a hacksaw and then welded, and the bottom pic is just beads run on top of a solid section.





Have I got the general gist correct, or am I way off the mark? Cheers again Mark.

[darkdezigns]

How do you know exactly when you're getting the penetration correct and not over or under doing it

generally they start makin noises

[surfenstein]

matt find some thinner rods,1.5mm and looking at the pics,your not using enough current and slow your weld speed down a bit to. your going to fast.a sticking rod generally means you have removed to much of the flux around the electrode.how old are the rods?if they have got damp they are near on useless,so get some new ones.

[POPEYE]

I've never heard them called that before.

Hence the phrase "burning the candel from both ends"

[MattF]

matt find some thinner rods,1.5mm and looking at the pics,your not using enough current and slow your weld speed down a bit to. your going to fast.

So..., drop the rod size and keep the existing current, up the current and use the existing rods, or do both and use smaller rods and increase the current? What should I be looking for in a good weld, specifically, in what way should it look different to the ones I've already done? Just so I know what to work towards and aim for.

a sticking rod generally means you have removed to much of the flux around the electrode.how old are the rods?if they have got damp they are near on useless,so get some new ones.

Aye, that's what I'd figured. It's only on a resume with a partial stick that it tends to stick, as I tend to tap the end of the rod on the bench to get rid of some of the flux excess to make striking easier. Since I figured out what exactly I was doing wrong on that one though, that side of things has been far better.

[MattF]

Hence the phrase "burning the candel from both ends"