millenniumtree
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| posted on 17/11/06 at 04:26 AM |
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First time welder wisdom!!
Ok, learned a few things today during my first ever mig welding session! I layed a few beads on a strip of ~2mm steel, tried rather unsuccessfully to
butt weld two thin sheets of galvanized steel, then tried (also rather unsuccessfully) to weld over a crack in my rusty old muffler.
1) Welding, apparently, is mostly chipping and wire brushing 'til your arm hurts.
2) If your wire gets stuck to whatever you're welding, don't drop your shield and pop it off with the trigger, unless you also like
staring at the sun.
3) Don't weld on a laminate countertop. Burnt laminate smells terrible.
And lastly...
4) Molten welding wire in your hair is bad... Very, very bad. o_O
Any other gems of first-timer wisdom?
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zetec7
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| posted on 17/11/06 at 05:14 AM |
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The good news is, you've already made most fo the mistakes we've all made, all in one day! So you've learned a months' worth
of lessons already. The rest should be easy! And, by the way, welding galvanized steel (whether with MIG or gas) is always ugly if there's any
trace of the zinc left...and when your breathing passages get clogged solid by the toxic smoke guck, it makes your lunch taste funny...
http://www.freewebs.com/zetec7/
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nitram38
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| posted on 17/11/06 at 06:14 AM |
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Don't weld Galvanised steel either!!!!
I gives off cyanide gas!!!!!!!!!!!!
If you must weld it, remove it from both sides with a grinder/soft pad and wear a mask to sheild you from the fumes.
Welding onto galv directly causes bad welds.
[Edited on 17/11/2006 by nitram38]
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Danozeman
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| posted on 17/11/06 at 06:31 AM |
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quote:
1) Welding, apparently, is mostly chipping and wire brushing 'til your arm hurts.
Have u got a gasless welder???
Sounds like youv learned alot. Stick at it. Its easy once you get the hang of it..
Dan
Built the purple peril!! Let the modifications begin!!
http://www.eastangliankitcars.co.uk
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wilkingj
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| posted on 17/11/06 at 08:11 AM |
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Dont be afraid to turn up the power... It you are blowing holes in the metal, then its a bit too high. Especially on thin plate.
Best advice I had, was when you remove your shield, your eyes should squint when looking at the weld, it its still RED HOT!, andthing else and its
probably not hot enough and has not penetrated.
Agree on the Galv, the gass given off is poisionous. grind back to clean steel. ie remove all galv / zinc.
Good prep of the welding area, ie clean it, even a light whisk over with an angle grinder with a sanding disk makes a difference, ie a clean bare
metal surface.
A GOOD earth and clamp, repair any frayed leads as they wont carry the full current, and thus affect the weld.
Have fun, Practice plenty.
Its a damn useful skill to have.
1. The point of a journey is not to arrive.
2. Never take life seriously. Nobody gets out alive anyway.
Best Regards
Geoff
http://www.v8viento.co.uk
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jollygreengiant
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| posted on 17/11/06 at 09:15 AM |
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quote:
Originally posted by millenniumtree
And lastly...
4) Molten welding wire in your hair is bad... Very, very bad. o_O
Any other gems of first-timer wisdom?
Even worse is getting a small peice of spatter decide that its going into you ear while you are welding lying on your side. You know its hot cos you
can hear it boiling what little wax you have in your ear. THEN it hurts. 
Beware of the Goldfish in the tulip mines. The ONLY defence against them is smoking peanut butter sandwiches.
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ecosse
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| posted on 17/11/06 at 09:25 AM |
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quote:
Originally posted by millenniumtree
And lastly...
4) Molten welding wire in your hair is bad... Very, very bad. o_O
Any other gems of first-timer wisdom?
Yeh, don't weld with a hole in your glove, no matter how small, because I guarantee hot spatter will find it!
Cheers
Alex
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PeterW
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| posted on 17/11/06 at 09:38 AM |
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quote:
Originally posted by ecosse
quote:
Originally posted by millenniumtree
And lastly...
4) Molten welding wire in your hair is bad... Very, very bad. o_O
Any other gems of first-timer wisdom?
Yeh, don't weld with a hole in your glove, no matter how small, because I guarantee hot spatter will find it!
Cheers
Alex
And don't weld with your trousers tucked into your work boots, as weld finds its way down there too...!! Its called the welders dance....
A baseball cap on back to front always stops bits going down your neck too....
Cheers
Peter
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James
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| posted on 17/11/06 at 11:00 AM |
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However hot it is... don't weld with you shirt off!
Not unless you want (firstly) really bad sun burn and (secondly) skin cancer!
Cheers,
James
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"The fight is won or lost far away from witnesses, behind the lines, in the gym and out there on the road, long before I dance under those lights."
- Muhammad Ali
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ecosse
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| posted on 17/11/06 at 11:06 AM |
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quote:
And don't weld with your trousers tucked into your work boots, as weld finds its way down there too...!! Its called the welders dance....
A baseball cap on back to front always stops bits going down your neck too....
Cheers
Peter
LOL...yeh, I'd forgotten about spatter in the boots
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thunderace
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| posted on 17/11/06 at 11:33 AM |
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http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/
this site may help .
im doing a corse on mig.
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02GF74
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| posted on 17/11/06 at 03:32 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by jollygreengiant
Even worse is getting a small peice of spatter decide that its going into you ear while you are welding lying on your side. You know its hot cos you
can hear it boiling what little wax you have in your ear. THEN it hurts.
tell me about it; usually you are underneath a land rover when this happens and the immediate reaction is to sit up ineveitably smacking ones head
very hard on the chassis
Tip: use small bits of moistened toilet paper wedge into ears - also act to queiten down noise when grinding (locost ear plugs  )
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pewe
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| posted on 17/11/06 at 03:35 PM |
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And the next $64,000 tip is..... shortest lead possible to your power source or a really meaty extension lead if you must use one - couldn't
believe the difference in welding when I started using a nice thick lead.
Also practise makes..... for better welds if not perfect.
Cheers, Pewe
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Peteff
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| posted on 17/11/06 at 04:29 PM |
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Clip the end off the wire before you arc up if you have a long stickout, it arcs better and you aren't too far away for the gas to shield.
yours, Pete
I went into the RSPCA office the other day. It was so small you could hardly swing a cat in there.
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rusty nuts
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| posted on 17/11/06 at 07:09 PM |
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If doing any body repairs on your tin top make sure you clean EVERY trace of underseal/antichip from a much larger area then you think you need ,
Molten underseal sticks like the proverbial ! hurts like hell and scars. Get yourself a Hotsleeve.
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DIY Si
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| posted on 17/11/06 at 07:14 PM |
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And it has a nasty habit of setting fire too. And since everything's now red hot it can be an ar$e to put out. I've had a friend weld a
mini boot floor and wlak away, only to turn round and realise the car was on fire!
“Let your plans be dark and as impenetratable as night, and when you move, fall like a thunderbolt.”
Sun Tzu, The Art of War
My new blog: http://spritecave.blogspot.co.uk/
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millenniumtree
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| posted on 18/11/06 at 04:55 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by rusty nuts
If doing any body repairs on your tin top make sure you clean EVERY trace of underseal/antichip from a much larger area then you think you need ,
Molten underseal sticks like the proverbial ! hurts like hell and scars. Get yourself a Hotsleeve.
Wow, that's a great tip there. The underside of my civic is covered in the stuff and I was planning on eventually doing some repairs there.
I'll have the fire extinguisher at hand during that repair for sure. :|
Probably need to think about carpeting on the reverse side of your weld too, eh? You could set the inside of the car on fire above you and not even
know it!
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t.j.
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| posted on 20/11/06 at 08:05 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by nitram38
Don't weld Galvanised steel either!!!!
I gives off cyanide gas!!!!!!!!!!!!
If you must weld it, remove it from both sides with a grinder/soft pad and wear a mask to sheild you from the fumes.
Welding onto galv directly causes bad welds.
[Edited on 17/11/2006 by nitram38]
That's nice. Nobody told me that when I welded exhaustsystems!
That's why i can't count to ten anymore
[Edited on 20/11/06 by t.j.]
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Peteff
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| posted on 20/11/06 at 11:54 PM |
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Welding galvanised steel gives off zinc oxide fumes, not good stuff to inhale as it causes fume fever like a flu symptom which doesn't occur
straight away. You can see the reaction like yellow fuzz or threads building up on the metal.
yours, Pete
I went into the RSPCA office the other day. It was so small you could hardly swing a cat in there.
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