Hi,

Bought an ARC welder in error the other day, but fancy keeping hold of it, as it was v. cheap and doing no harm sat there.

I fancy having a play so that I can convince her in doors that a new shiny mig or tig is required!

I am thinking of welding up a simple go kart chassis using angle iron.

I do not want it to be a work of art, and it will just get ragged round till it dies, but would like to know - is this idea feasable?

I would be laying the two peices of angle iron over each other in the corners, and welding along the edges.

Having never welded I dont even know if angle iron is 3mm thick? which seems to be the minimum thickness required to arc weld (I did a bit of reading on here)

Also what happens if you dont bash off the slag? will it effect the weld?

Like I said I dont care what it looks like, its just to get a bit of practice on something useful.

Cheers

[Edited on 11/12/07 by Dangle_kt]

I have a Arc welder as well as Mig and I've used it to weld all the thicker steel on my car. I takes a lot more practice than MIG as striking an arc can be tricky to master but it can produce pretty neat welds. The slag sits on the top so doesn't affect the weld and on a good one will fall off with a slight tap.

No problem on thick stuff like angle iron

Of course paint hides a multitude of sins.
Rescued attachment nsmountrr.jpg

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Originally posted by Dangle_kt
I fancy having a play so that I can convince her in doors that a new shiny mig or tig is required!

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quote:

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Originally posted by Dangle_kt
Also what happens if you dont bash off the slag?

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Different types of angle iron -- one particular type "Bedstead Angle" has a high carbon and dosen't weld well ie the welds are brittle and prone to fracture.

you'll have to post some pics when it's done.

The thickness you can weld is really down to the rod diameter, you could weld thinner than 3mm

your meant to bash the slag of so you can see what the welds like and it will flake off later if left. Get a scrap piece and just practice putting down a line of weld before doing the kart

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Originally posted by gingerprince

quote:

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Originally posted by Dangle_kt
I fancy having a play so that I can convince her in doors that a new shiny mig or tig is required!

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quote:

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Originally posted by Dangle_kt
Also what happens if you dont bash off the slag?

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She won't let you buy a brand new MIG or TIG welder - and is that really the right way to refer to your better half?

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You should be able to weld 3mm angle just fine with a MMA welder.

As the last post said. Smaller electrodes are best suited to this.
1.6mm general purpose spring to mind.

A welding current of 70amps would be a good starting point. The electrode box may say different but in the real world, on a budget arc welder. You may find it difficult to strike and arc at lower currents.
In any case if it turns out to be too hot or cold the current can be adjusted accordingly.

I hope this helps.

Ronnie

If you haven't arc welded before,watch out for arc-eye.

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Originally posted by Fatgadget
If you haven't arc welded before,watch out for arc-eye.

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And make sure you keep it down until the machine is switched off. Its ammazing how it can be difficult to strike an arc when you want to and dead easy when you accidentally catch something.

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Originally posted by Mole
Of course paint hides a multitude of sins.

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Its got even thicker paint on it now.

Ronnie

To weld corners in angle iron it either wants notching or mitring, i.e. cut the corners at 45 degrees or notch the width of the flat bit of one side of the joint out of the flat side of the other bit.

Then butt weld it all together.

For 3mm angle STEEL (angle iron won't weld properly under the type of circumstances being discussed here) you want 2.5mm standard rods like Murex Zodian Universals

Zodians are Ok, but for a real classy weld get some Satinex's (also from Murex)