I SUCK

[The Toolman 22]

For all you welding experts here...

Heated regulators are for keeping the gas coming out of the tank from freezing the line shut if you are doing a lot of welding at one time (time wise/high flow rates)

http://weldingdirect.com/elhereflforc.html

By the way, fluxcore wire makes a nasty looking weld also :D

[The Toolman 22]

Ronnie...heated reg????...external temp thingieee on car said it was 103 as I came thru Clinton, Mo about 5 pm.....is that hot enough for ya?....but good news is it could be snowing in about 100 days....

Well I was in lee's summit yesterday an it was about the same temp. Had to go to the doc for my 3 month tuneup/checkup

[stevasaurus 22,904]

Butch, the school is a great idea. My son did that and is now in heating and air and refrigeration. So my daughter takes the class and can weld pretty nice...she helps my son when he gets too busy. She is trying to train me...good luck. :thumbs:

[Butch 194]

For all you welding experts here...

Who me? Yep! Fast learner aint I? :thanks:

[bustedglass 1]

I worked as a welder for Caterpillar for 16 years. Argon sheilded Mig Welding, and Flux Covered Stick Welding.

It was a little tuff sometimes being a production based job. It was hard work, but I loved it.Nothing more rewarding than taking flat pieces of steel, and welding them together to make or repair something else

My welding equipment is long gone, but I would love to do some welding again

Keep practicing, you will love it too .

[tgranthamfd 29]

Butch, another tip someone gave me, for flux core wire, is to run a .005 bigger tip than the wire. Worked real good but I haven't had a chance to try it on shielded gas yet. I am running a little Hobart handler 187, 220v. I tried this and it welded beyond it's advertised thickness capabilities, pretty good.

[HorseFixer 2,012]

Hmmmmmm Looks like you need a little Hood Time is all. If it were me and I wee you I would enroll in some night courses this fall and get some basics and understanding of wire speed, amps, distance to your workpiece & the gun travel speed after you get an understanding of those components then you can then apply the principles. I did this several years ago whent to college at age 45 and got my associates deg in Maintenance Technology and pretty proud of myself in that I held a 3.85 gade aveage and made the hono society, hell in high school I barely passed! Go to school and take all the welding classes you can, yer never to old to learn. :thumbs:

[Butch 194]

I worked as a welder for Caterpillar for 16 years. Argon sheilded Mig Welding, and Flux Covered Stick Welding.

It was a little tuff sometimes being a production based job. It was hard work, but I loved it.Nothing more rewarding than taking flat pieces of steel, and welding them together to make or repair something else

My welding equipment is long gone, but I would love to do some welding again

Keep practicing, you will love it too .

Mike I watched the History channel when they were building those giant dump trucks and all I can say about their welding is WOW!! :D

[Butch 194]

Hmmmmmm Looks like you need a little Hood Time is all. If it were me and I wee you I would enroll in some night courses this fall and get some basics and understanding of wire speed, amps, distance to your workpiece & the gun travel speed after you get an understanding of those components then you can then apply the principles. I did this several years ago whent to college at age 45 and got my associates deg in Maintenance Technology and pretty proud of myself in that I held a 3.85 gade aveage and made the hono society, hell in high school I barely passed! Go to school and take all the welding classes you can, yer never to old to learn.

I don't know if I'm gonna be the oldest in the class but since it is a night class I'll probably be in the running.

Geez Duke, I thought yer were still werkin on gettin yer GED. :thanks:

[HorseFixer 2,012]

Hmmmmmm Looks like you need a little Hood Time is all. If it were me and I wee you I would enroll in some night courses this fall and get some basics and understanding of wire speed, amps, distance to your workpiece & the gun travel speed after you get an understanding of those components then you can then apply the principles. I did this several years ago whent to college at age 45 and got my associates deg in Maintenance Technology and pretty proud of myself in that I held a 3.85 gade aveage and made the hono society, hell in high school I barely passed! Go to school and take all the welding classes you can, yer never to old to learn.

I don't know if I'm gonna be the oldest in the class but since it is a night class I'll probably be in the running.

Geez Duke, I thought yer were still werkin on gettin yer GED.

Now See Butch!!!!! Thats What You Get Fer Thinkin! Don't worry about being the oldest in the class! Ole Duke had a Couple 20 year old Gals that wanted to crawl up on his lap cause I reminded them of their granddad! Actually in a couple of the classes my daughter took with me, I guess a couple of the gals thought that my daughter was flirting with me so as girls usually do they started flirting next thing I know I'm about ready to stop a CAT FIGHT Gee imagine that my daughter is a chip off her Ole Mans Block! :)

[rickv1957 72]

Hang in there Butch,a little practice and you will be a pro! Rick

[big mike 13]

Butch:

You don't say what machine you bought but for 2 big it must be a Millermatic 252,Lincoln Powermig 250 or something similar.You may already be set up but I would say you need .035 ER70S6 wire(solid) and 75/25 argon CO2.Your machine should have come with an inert gas regulator which is what you would use with 75/25.I would not bother with straight CO2 as it will give more spatter than 75/25.

Millers machines have parameter settings inside the front storage compartment and those will get you VERY close.Get some scrap and start running some beads.You may have to move the nozzle closer or farther back to get the proper stick out and to get the arc to sound right.Once you get the basic idea of that just keep practicing until you run a fair bead.....like in 10 or 15 minutes......yup,it's THAT easy.

I use an auto darkening helmet,long sleeves(green welding jacket would be better),long pants.....OVER my boots(yes,it hurts that bad)and an 18" welding glove on my left hand only.

I won't say I am an expert but I get paid to sell the equipment and solve the problems and I USE the equipment because it's a heck of a lot of fun and very satisfying to fix/build stuff.

[The Toolman 22]

Once he gets the weld to sound like bacon in a skillet cooking he'll be right on the money for his settings for the average jobs........

:)

[rickv1957 72]

Once he gets the weld to sound like bacon in a skillet cooking he'll be right on the money for his settings for the average jobs........

Butch,that does not mean to weld on a peice of plate till it gets hot then lay the bacon on! Rick

[tigwelder 7]

I first welded when in the 10th grade of High School. Built two complete Go Cart frames from scratch as a shop project, that was in 1959. Welding has provided me with a very enjoyable profession since then. Would not have wanted to be in any other Skilled Trade. There are many types and forms of the Welding process. Some of the Schools in my area hold Welding test for the kids to qualify for International Welding competition. Just a great skill to have at any level. Practice, practice.

[big mike 13]

"Butch,that does not mean to weld on a peice of plate till it gets hot then lay the bacon on!"

You use a heating head on your O/A torch and a piece of stainless for fryin the bacon or fish.

and dry ice to keep the Cool Tools cold :wh:

[pumper.atv 26]

mig is fun stuck is good but tig can be a pain got good at tigin stainless at school it was easy alum. on the other hand was horrible got a good 'T' weld though

[stevasaurus 22,904]

Butch, just so you don't feel alone...finally got the nerve to give it a shot...looks alot like yours.

Using this...

played with the speed and the amps...kept grinding off welds and starting over.

just a little thing like this and you think you got a good weld and you pull it apart in your hand. Then I heard the bacon sizzle. Could look a little more appealing, but it finally held. It is all about practice. :wh:

[JimD 3,345]

I knew you'd find the bacon. I always do, right next to the eggs. :)

[hounddoghundzsa 7]

MMMMMMMMM Bacon! :)

[clintonnut 126]

I taught myself how to weld at the beginning of the year with a little advice from dad.

3 things for a good mig weld:

heat

gas/flux

wirespeed

heat is critical. Butch, I can tell on your weld you needed to step it up one notch on heat. For thicker steel you want to crank it up but on sheetmetal you will burn a hole through with high heat. Heat determines the strength of the weld. Good heat will result in the weld "sinking in" to the metal rather than building up on top.

steady moving the gun if you have to build the weld up turn the wire speed up so you don't have to.

Don't worry, just takes time.

Charlie

[Butch 194]

Not only do I suck at welding but I got the horseshoe pits done, with real clay I might add, and I suck at that too!

It does suck when you see all this melten and heatin and stuff goin on and you can pull the two pieces apart after yer done!!

And yes you do hear the sound of frying bacon when it's right! So now I'll have to settle on microwave bacon!!

Welding class starts in 2 1/2 weeks! :)

[Butch 194]

Nice migasaurus there Steve! Is your welding cycle those two cavemen standing outside with cables waiting on lightning bolts to strike? :)

[stevasaurus 22,904]

Nice migasaurus there Steve! Is your welding cycle those two cavemen standing outside with cables waiting on lightning bolts to strike?

Yes...every time there is a storm coming these 2 guys show up and want me to weld something. They say it worked for the flux capacitor, but they end up smelling like bacon. :USA: