Another night in the garage last night, practicing welding thin sheet for my 205 resto project. Spent time fiddling with the machine settings and
actually found it better going up slightly in power and wire speed to get better stop/start consistency and penetration. I really need to get some
0.6mm and try that as well.
Are you also trying to get into Modern Art? 
might give the Tate Modern a call
Was trying different combinations of butt, lap and fillet joints on the bench, in mid air etc to get a feel for welding in different positions.
Ive been welding for years Nick, and at the minute I cannot for the life of me work out why Im creating pigeon sh1te welds at the minute.
Welding thin isnt easy, so well done. Keep practicing. Have a go at thick to thin, you will learn how to keep the arc moving to avoid blowing through,
which is useful to know welding thin. You also learn how to stitch it back up once you've blown through it.
Not an expert by any means but really know how to reduce perfectly good pieces of metal to scrap.....
Welding is a never ending conveyor belt of permutations.
One tip I think many overlook when welding thin sheet is to never weld for more than 1" at a time, and let the sheet cool between welds. There's nothing worse that warping the new piece you've spent ages bending and shaping to fit perfectly, only to warp it 10 seconds after you start welding! You needn't worry about cold start with a MIG this way either, as you can start the next weld on the end of the old one.
It looks like a bit of zinc coating on the sheet you are using, they put it on to prolong the shelf life and it leaves the white powdery residue. Some people say it will kill you if you keep welding it without a respirator but if you are in a well ventilated area it's no problem. I've not used .6 wire for years I get along fine with the .8 it gives you more time to think about what you are doing and fills gaps better.
More practice this afternoon. Tried grinding off the Zintec costing this time to see if it made a difference. Have to say it was much easier on
clean bare metal (as you would expect).
More happy with the results this time although still hit and miss on not enough/too much penetration.
Heading back for another go now.
I've been beeping the area well ventilated and wearing a 3M dust mask under my welding helmet. No ill effects as yet.
Tacked togeher
Rear view after tacking
Stop/Start welded between tacks with cooling time in between
Rear view after welding
[Edited on 28/3/14 by nick205]
Stuck together but does not look that even, if you are welding with your right hand support your wrist with the left hand, this allows a lot more
control allowing you to weave left to right and progress more evenly.
You could also try using a figure of 8 weave, again supporting your wrist as this makes a huge difference.
quote:
Originally posted by mark chandler
Stuck together but does not look that even, if you are welding with your right hand support your wrist with the left hand, this allows a lot more control allowing you to weave left to right and progress more evenly.
You could also try using a figure of 8 weave, again supporting your wrist as this makes a huge difference.
quote:
Originally posted by mark chandler
Stuck together but does not look that even, if you are welding with your right hand support your wrist with the left hand, this allows a lot more control allowing you to weave left to right and progress more evenly.
You could also try using a figure of 8 weave, again supporting your wrist as this makes a huge difference.
It looks like you are almost there. If I were you I'd start on a few of the "easy" bits of the shell at this point. Don't make the
simple mistake of being weld-happy, time spent prepping, cleaning and properly fitting replacement parts and patches pays off in the end.
And remember: it's just steel and you can always cut something out and start over. Have fun!
If you haven't already seen it have a look at the tutorial on the Mig welding forum. It may help to practice on some thicker steel until you get the hang of it. A piece of copper sheet under the seam may help although I've never tried it
Decent mask and supporting your wrist will make a big difference, also if you have a low end welder replacing the earth wire and clip with a good
quality item also helps.
At the end of the day it's practice, practice practice and some days you will feel as if you have learnt nothing......