welding

[rustydiver]

Have been loaned a welder, been out in the garage playing with it, never had ago before.
After any tips people are able to offer.
Had a go at welding over one piece of metal, nice neat weld. When joining metal was spitting quite a bit but was getting better.

 

[Fortunate Son]

auto darkening helmet - gives you an extra hand to steady the other with, always ensure metal is cleaned free of paint, dirt etc prior to welding, Argon/CO2 mix gas for MIG welding is better (less "spitty") than CO2, when butt welding 20 gauge (0.9mm) sheet dont try and weld long runs - hop around to avoid heat build up and distortion, if you do get heat build up (It can be easy to get carried away when you start to get the hang of it) use a wet rag on the work area to cool it down, if you blow through thin sheet, flatten a piece of copper pipe and fold 3 times (to give a bit treble the thickness) and stick it behind the hole and then fill up the ole with weld from the other side, always have a fire extinguisher handy and keep combustible stuff well away from the work area.

I taught myself earlier this year and after a fair bit of trial and error Im getting OK - its surprisingly addictive!!

Let us know how your getting on

Good luck!

FS

 

[rustydiver]

Cheers every little tip helps.
Sills need replacing and some out riggers in need of repair was hoping to have a go myself rather than getting a mate to do it.

 

[chippi]

Check to see if your welding wire isnt going rusty if its been sat for a while if so replace it. Make sure the shroud and tip are clean from spatter and use gas not gasless for best results, wack the power up to full (unless its a pro one) and wire to about 3/4 way to start, if it fizzes turn the wire up, if it jumps an spits turn it down. My welding teacher at college used to tell me that it should sound like a controled fart! :lol: hope this helps

 

[Hilly_70]

Hi mate ..

This web site is from somewhere on here and it helped me loads ..

http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/

The tip for argon mix is spot on .. its amazing the difference it makes ..

The big thing I found was the sound it makes .. get that right and the rest will follow ..

.. oh and a clean surface when welding makes all the difference ..

Full credit for wanting to do it yourself ...Tell us how you get on

Hilly

 

[james_stan]

I consider welding a bit like house decorating.

Ratio of preparation to actual fun (welding/painting) is about 70:30 I should think. Most of
my time is spent grinding cutting, wire brushing, clamping, bending, etc..

Sills are quite a bit job by the way (there's 3 bits to them an loads of post here describing the process)
but if you take your time all should be OK.

Cheers

James

 

[noddy]

Dont seam weld on the edge of weld flanges, i.e. bottom edge of sills (this is one of my pet hates make a restoration look really armature)
Drill out old spot welds (stop the weld flange getting knackered which happens when using a chisel), drill holes through the weld flange on new panel, and puddle weld through the hole (Gives a really professional finish), also use weld through primer on bare metal joint faces.

Good luck would like to see pics of your progress.

 

[rustydiver]

Thanks for all of your tips.
Dont think i will be at the stage where i will be doing the sills for a while, but will keep you posted.

 

[Nic B-C]

Sills is a good place to learn though as most of it cant be seen and its thicker metal