Unless you're a tight ass and will only be welding once a decade, spend the $70 on a cheap auto darkening.
Get one with the biggest lens you can afford.
get the auto darkening mask
the passive masks are harder to learn with, more difficult to use when you collaborate with other welders/workers, and you're forced to put them on and take them off all the damn time
I've heard that passive masks give better protection. I'd bet that unless you're literally welding for 8 hours a day the benefits are negligible.
Yes. Fixed shade > autodarkening. God gave you only 2 eyes, so would u trust some electronicals to dim fricking glass?
Not even talking about glass being more transparent and cheap
thanks anons
Any other bits of "must have" gear as I embark on my journey with the second hand MIG machine?
>bits of "must have" gear
Can I get away without a bench for my initial learning experiments? I.e. just clip to the piece directly? Was just gonna run up seams in bits of angle steel.
>I.e. just clip to the piece directly? Was just gonna run up seams in bits of angle steel.
I mean, how else are you going to build your welding table? And the first project you do should be a welding cart or modifications if it came with one. Welding is pretty flexible, and in the hobby realm, you only suck if it doesn't work.
But yeah, absolutely clamp on to pieces till you build a table. I work in a fab shop, and there's so many inventive tricks I've seen to work around *not* putting shit on a table. Hell, dude I was working with needed me to tack some shit together on a massivee 40 ton part while he did some measurements on the equalliy massive part he just welded, and when I went to swap his ground over, he laughed and just had me run some 8 foot bar stock between the two. Worked just fine. It's hard to frick up if your settings are good.
I got my start drinking beers with friends and welding parts in a vice attached to a wooden work bench that kept catching fire, and here I am now with an associates in psychology and making a living wage burning metal in just 3 years. Imagine if I didn't waste most of that time in college getting a meme degree?
what happens if a part isn't grounded correctly? is there risk to shocking yourself or it just wont weld right?
2 years ago
Anonymous
Dont be the path of least resistance or you will regret it.
2 years ago
Anonymous
Risk is modest. Do some reading if you're really interested. Too many noobs rely on videos which are great for seeing how to do something physical (like welding technique) but trash for what text conveys. Learn about OCV (Open Circuit Voltage).
get the auto darkening mask
the passive masks are harder to learn with, more difficult to use when you collaborate with other welders/workers, and you're forced to put them on and take them off all the damn time
I've heard that passive masks give better protection. I'd bet that unless you're literally welding for 8 hours a day the benefits are negligible.
Yes. Fixed shade > autodarkening. God gave you only 2 eyes, so would u trust some electronicals to dim fricking glass?
Not even talking about glass being more transparent and cheap
Fixed shade and autodarks each have advantages and disadvantges. Noobs should start with autodark and likely stay there but they're not for everyone or every task so I own both.
Frick that, don't listen to this idiot, always wear your helmet. Your face will get fried without proper protection, worse than a sunburn. Not including when the wire and or sparks and metal fly back into your face.
get the auto darkening mask
the passive masks are harder to learn with, more difficult to use when you collaborate with other welders/workers, and you're forced to put them on and take them off all the damn time
I've heard that passive masks give better protection. I'd bet that unless you're literally welding for 8 hours a day the benefits are negligible.
https://i.imgur.com/DHyv1vE.jpg
hello gentleman. is it normal for a welding glove to smell when used for the first few times on a tig machine?
also, is it normal to get eye strain when using an auto darkening on tig?
Yes and NO.
For beginners, auto darkening is basically a must.
I welded in aerospace using a Viking 3350.
Has a frick all huge lense and crazy good clarity. But the more I welded and the better I got, the more I just preferred a gold tint 4.5 x 5.25 lense.
No, but it's also not as clear cut as "auto darkening good, fixed shade bad" like a lot of people make it out to be. For the price of a cheap auto darkening hood you can get a fixed shade hood and a gold lens and the optical quality will beat anything short of a very high end auto darkening lens.
Auto darkening is nice but I wouldn't say it's strictly necessary unless you're doing a lot of short, repetitive welds or if you're welding in tight quarters like under a car. If you've never welded before you will have the added learning curve of positioning the arc properly but that really doesn't take that long to get used to.
>no, but it's also not as clear cut as "auto darkening good, fixed shade bad" like a lot of people make it out to be.
Nope, its 100% clear cut
Auto darkening is good, fixed shade is bad.
Unless you are literally in a field in the middle of a summers day with the sun beating down on your work, you dont want a fixed shade.
Its a rule of thumb and common knowledge for a reason. Your cope wont change that.
Welder here, autodarjening is pretty sweet, can easily see where you're pointing your torch and filler or your mig gun or whatever process you’re using where before you pull the trigger. It’s one of those things I’d call a basic tool like automatic center punches, both are reasonably priced for their utility.
Manual mask is $10. You can frick up 5 for price of 1.
Idk, I had automatic mask back in 2016 maybe or there about, when i tried welding for the first time. Didn't really figure shit out and I blame blurry as frick autodarkening shit, that was also like shade 13 lol. It was just disorienting. Sold everything.
Then I moved to different country, bought another stick welder in 2022 or there about, and manual mask with couple filters. Was way better. And idk, I've doubts things changed much since 2016.
Maybe autodarkening is good for MIG and TIG.
Blue filters are also 10/10
Green are meh. Better than shit auto-dark, but nowhere close to blue.
Idk about yellow ones.
2 years ago
Anonymous
Green is best one. Good mineral filters tend to be green or green-ish, like Aulektro or Athermal
Auto darkening is a good choice, if it's not a trash one. Plus, some have natural colour, which is better than blue lens.
What's a good option for a welding jacket? I see people doing everything from welding in short sleeves and telling you to sack up, and people who look like a fricking eskimo. What's the middle ground that won't kill me as a beginner? I have no need to prove how big my balls are.
Depends on the type of welding you're doing, as well as position you're welding in most of the time. It's MIG/MAG welding in different positions, you'll be fine with some proban type cotton jacket/pants. If it's MMA, especially if it's vertical or overhead, you'll need something stronger - leather or aramid would be a good choice.
Cover the skin, welding light can give you skin cancer, not to mention some serious spatter burns, have scars from huge ass spatter that managed to burn through my proban jacket sleeve.
Oxyfuel is vastly more versatile so get a rig for that reason. TIG and MIG brazing have their places too and MIG brazing wire is nice for fine torch work.
Torches also torch bend metal, gas weld, preheat heavy stock, gouge with gouging tips and more.
>no >cover up, no exposed skin, ignore the homosexuals on israelitetube welding in singlets with no gloves if you don't want melanoma when you're 50 >that is subjective
why are beginners using 6010 anyway?? 6010/11 is what we use here for the root pass of pressure piping and vessels, otherwise we use TIG roots, with 7018 fill and pass, sometimes MIG depending on the application.
Recommendations of where to get sheets of metal in southern indiana?
2 years ago
Anonymous
There's a sketchy looking steel place in Evansville I've been to, good prices/quick to load. Haven't been in several years let me work on my map autism to locate for u. Also wanna check out my shipping container full of crab meat?
2 years ago
Anonymous
Get at least three quotes if it's a large order. Visiting in person is a good idea.
>What should I know before start?
Never ever try to weld or cut empty gas tanks, fuel drums, any containers for flammables, unless you certified to do so. In most cases they WILL explode and maim you.
Having a paper certificate magically makes any canisters you want to cut open safe to do so? How does that work? Do you explain the fact that you have the paper to the object first?
What is the difference between pickling gel and passivization gel?
What should I get if I want to stick weld some shit out of stainless that will not be in contact with food but might get exposed to rain and salts?
I was going to build my own fab table but then I saw that harbor freight sells one at half the price of my materials
Is there any reason not to just get theirs as a hobbyist?
>it'll produce too much spatter/sparking
well i found out already from trying to fix my tv that the vinyl flooring is pretty flame proof. maybe i could replace my drapes with welding curtains, i keep them shut all the time anyway
>how safe is mig welding in my apartment?
You will flood your apt with gas and die. >anything i can do to reduce the admittedly extreme chance of a fire?
asbestos
How hard is dialing in MIG for someone who has never done it before?
So I personally own a stick welder and a flux core welder which i have light time on, just a few small projects.
At my workplace, they have a MillerMatic 250 and a large welding table
I am building a 6ft table from 2" square tubing, 1/8" thickness.
I just dont have a large or flat enough area to do it at home. I only have a harbor freight folding welding table.
So im thinking I want to prep the pieces, drive over there and just weld it together with their MIG machine.
Im allowed to do so, but still I dont really want people knowing I was there, I want to be in and out fast as possible.
What would be your tips on how to pop in and dial it in correctly and just go
I figure a popular miller machine like that and 1/8" being common should be easy enough right?
figure out the wire type and diameter you're using and the type and thickness of the base metal then use manufacturer's data sheets to figure out the right settings
>Set the voltage so any random setting, half way between top and bottom is good starting point >set a wire speed, half way between top and bottom is good >test weld on a piece of scrap >if the wire pops, spatters and stubs istelf in the puddle turn the wire speed down >if the wire looks like it's about to melt back into the tip/nozzle because the arc is too long, turn the wire speed up. >rinse/repeat until you have a nice smooth hiss/crackle sound
How does one learn to weld without dropping a few Gs on a fricking class or somehow setting myself on fire? Seems like such a useful skill that's actually interesting but I just have no idea how to get hands on experience cheaply
>Why would you do that though
Because it is just $70 and will work OK. > when you can get an actually functional welder
Unless we're talking wire feed or fancy tig with pulses and square waves, stick welder is just a constant current power supply. Pretty hard to frick it up. > decent hood
$10 hood is decent enough because glass is clear as frick. > just slightly more?
Did you know that Africans survive a year on 130 dollars?
With a pitifully weak output it's only good for tacking together lightweight junk. Bottom tier machines suck so much to use they really detract from the welding experience besides producing generally shit work.
2 years ago
Anonymous
>pitifully weak output
100A is enough for 3/32 rods. > tacking together lightweight junk
You're not gonna use shit thicker than 1/8th anyway
https://i.imgur.com/YOrI1KU.png
>Because it is just $70 and will work OK.
Or you can buy a $200 machine that will work more than OK and you will continue to use when convenient even as you buy bigger better machines
You know, as opposed to a throwaway machine that you will regret buying right away
>Unless we're talking wire feed
If we wanted to be specific, I was thinking the Titanium 125 Fluxcore welder.
But if you wanted to go stick the Titanium 225 stick welder is only about $300
> is just a constant current power supply. Pretty hard to frick it up.
True, its not hard to frick up a transformer welder
Too bad the price of copper makes cheap transformer welders completely unusable. They dont even sell cheap transformer welders anymore
So if you are looking at cheap welders that could actually output a usable power, they have to be inverter welders
Now Inverter welders ARE in fact easy to frick up and the cheap Amazon ones are literal garbage that dont output half the amperage they say they do.
>$10 hood is decent enough because glass is clear as frick. >Did you know that Africans survive a year on 130 dollars?
If you are going to be poor, at least be poor right.
Dont buy low cost but quality things that you arent going to regret buying.
Fixed hoods and amazon welders both quality for garbage youll regret buying, and immediately spend more money doing so.
Stop being a fricking moron
>True, its not hard to frick up a transformer welder
Fricking up simple switch-mode power supply is hard too.
As long as OCV is 65+V it is ok. >Fixed hood
Fixed shade non-autodarkening hood is better than anything cheap auto darkening. Not to mention cheaper.
That is basically just a piece of plastic with like hole and flap and glass. Glass can be replaced with autodarkening lens if you want but it is a homosexuality if you ask me.
2 years ago
Anonymous
>3/32 rods.
lel
>You're not gonna use shit thicker than 1/8th anyway
Not with a 70$ amazon welder you arent, you physically cant. And it will do a poor job with 1/8" work
>Fricking up simple switch-mode power supply is hard too.
Yet they somehow still do so
>but it is a homosexuality if you ask me.
Nobody really takes someone who cant afford $2-300 seriously, so dont worry, nobody is going to ask you.
2 years ago
Anonymous
>Not with a 70$ amazon welder you arent, you physically cant. And it will do a poor job with 1/8" work
1/8th steel and 3/32 6011 would be more than enough. >Yet they somehow still do so
They don't, power supply works as it should. They just tune amp-meter so it lies 2x. >Nobody really takes someone who cant afford $2-300 seriously, so dont worry, nobody is going to ask you.
It is a homosexuality because it is a shitty 2x4 1/4 lens, which is OK with glass, but with autodarkening lens u get even less area.
2 years ago
Anonymous
What in the frick are you Black folk looking at that you think you need all of this viewing are for? You can’t burn very far with each rod and you only need to see the puddle anyway so what the hell are you people looking at when you’re welding with your $300 hoods?
2 years ago
Anonymous
I'm telling that all you need is a shitty glass hood, which is cheaper and better than anything auto for this amount of money.
>You're not gonna use shit thicker than 1/8th anyway
Who isn't? Not everyone just tacks old bed frames together.
Current fleet:
Migmaster 250 (glorious arc quality) with .023" and .035" guns mostly used with .035", also have ST spool gun.
Miller 340 AB/P monster for TIG because alloy likes amps and stick
ESAB 450i cvcc for MIG/TIG/DC stick and powering my suitcase feeder (wired a pot and toggle switch into the foot pedal for a convenient amp controller). .045" FCAW likes amps.
Lincoln AC-125-DC-225 (my first machine and small enough to move easily). Nice arc and rightly a classic utility machine.
Lesser machines:
Old copper winding Weld-Pak 100 converted to gas for bodywork with .023" wire. Welds much better with gas. 100 bucks at thrift store so worth it.
T-400 Hobart (bought for the cables but kept for the arc and the amps).
180A Econotig (obsolete these days and doesn't go low enough for fine work but it was dirt cheap bought with a compressor etc when my bros shop closed and has near zero hours).
Thermal Arc 95S (traded a torch for it so basically free but only decent as a tiny mobile TIG, do not recommend unless free).
>Who isn't? Not everyone just tacks old bed frames together.
Dunno. 99% of shit that a hobbyist would weld is 1 - 3 mm thick steel tubes. Nobody has oil pipeline in their backyard or welds a frame of a high-rise.
Maaaybe bodywork, but doing that with stick would be pure masochism. And once you get into MIG - no shit quality of machine matters.
2 years ago
Anonymous
>You're not gonna use shit thicker than 1/8th anyway
Who isn't? Not everyone just tacks old bed frames together.
Current fleet:
Migmaster 250 (glorious arc quality) with .023" and .035" guns mostly used with .035", also have ST spool gun.
Miller 340 AB/P monster for TIG because alloy likes amps and stick
ESAB 450i cvcc for MIG/TIG/DC stick and powering my suitcase feeder (wired a pot and toggle switch into the foot pedal for a convenient amp controller). .045" FCAW likes amps.
Lincoln AC-125-DC-225 (my first machine and small enough to move easily). Nice arc and rightly a classic utility machine.
Lesser machines:
Old copper winding Weld-Pak 100 converted to gas for bodywork with .023" wire. Welds much better with gas. 100 bucks at thrift store so worth it.
T-400 Hobart (bought for the cables but kept for the arc and the amps).
180A Econotig (obsolete these days and doesn't go low enough for fine work but it was dirt cheap bought with a compressor etc when my bros shop closed and has near zero hours).
Thermal Arc 95S (traded a torch for it so basically free but only decent as a tiny mobile TIG, do not recommend unless free).
2 years ago
Anonymous
>Who isn't?
Poorhomosexuals who cant afford to buy steel stock
Its just a coincidence this guy also cant afford a real hood or a real machine either.
Funny how that works eh?
2 years ago
Anonymous
Where do you need thick steel anyway?
I can't think of anything except self-made machines where rigidity is important, like hydraulic press frame, or idk welding table.
I'd have used 1 mm steel if i had a TIG/MIG machine.
2 years ago
Anonymous
Show us the portfolio of projects youve accomplished with your sheet metal and your $70 welder
Im actually morbidly curious now as to the type of work someone like you does.
2 years ago
Anonymous
>Show us the portfolio of projects youve accomplished with your sheet metal and your $70 welder
0) Converted a lot of steel into scrap metal
1) Made couple stools of horrible quality but they hold.
2) Made storage for sheet goods out of EMT...
3) Repaired various shit that i broke by accident
4) Used it to weld a washer to the fork on e-scoot.
Nothing of value really.
I want to make a bird cage out of stainless, because I think for a now I have enough experience to do it. But at this point i kinda wish i had a cylinder and proper tig shit with valve and gimmicks, but no, im too cheap/poor for that.
2 years ago
Anonymous
I don’t understand why everyone is so infatuated with tig. It’s incredibly inefficient.
2 years ago
Anonymous
Precision and control I guess.
Now I wonder, can you use carbon gouging electrode as heat source, and stick electrode as filler with flux.
2 years ago
Anonymous
It's called carbon arc welding.
2 years ago
Anonymous
Precision and control I guess.
Now I wonder, can you use carbon gouging electrode as heat source, and stick electrode as filler with flux.
Soooo yeah, it is possible and kinda more tame than i anticipated. But I guess nobody in first world does this shit because TIG.
2 years ago
Anonymous
Watch the American version. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DYnsCXVsJsw
This is how large welds were done in WW2 ea shipbuilding.
2 years ago
Anonymous
WWI and WWII shipbuilding used stick, mostly with high OCV AC (transformers were cheaper than a motor-generator welder to produce DC but there were plenty of those too). For DC one needed a generator as modern diodes didn't exist:
Classic prewar SA200 Lincoln:
Vertical electric motor generator Lincwelder, the classic TIG (then called Heliarc) and DC stick machine for decades:
Precision or pretty? I’ve seen some downhill 5p that makes tig look like shit all things considered.
2 years ago
Anonymous
tig looks very nice pretty much
Also you can do very small work on thin metal with it
2 years ago
Anonymous
Pulsed MIG can look just as nice and go down to super thin material. Too bad the machines cost 5x the price of regular MIG at least.
2 years ago
Anonymous
Both
2 years ago
Anonymous
There are some stick artists out there. My pipewelder instructor could lay 'em like that and his TIG work was to die for.
For very thin work OA is terrific, the reason israeliteelers use it and why aircraft welding before WWII (when TIG was invented) was all OA including aluminum.
https://www.tinmantech.com/gallery-of-metalwork/ has some neat welding and aluminum sheet metal porn:
>Because it is just $70 and will work OK.
Or you can buy a $200 machine that will work more than OK and you will continue to use when convenient even as you buy bigger better machines
You know, as opposed to a throwaway machine that you will regret buying right away
>Unless we're talking wire feed
If we wanted to be specific, I was thinking the Titanium 125 Fluxcore welder.
But if you wanted to go stick the Titanium 225 stick welder is only about $300
> is just a constant current power supply. Pretty hard to frick it up.
True, its not hard to frick up a transformer welder
Too bad the price of copper makes cheap transformer welders completely unusable. They dont even sell cheap transformer welders anymore
So if you are looking at cheap welders that could actually output a usable power, they have to be inverter welders
Now Inverter welders ARE in fact easy to frick up and the cheap Amazon ones are literal garbage that dont output half the amperage they say they do.
>$10 hood is decent enough because glass is clear as frick. >Did you know that Africans survive a year on 130 dollars?
If you are going to be poor, at least be poor right.
Dont buy low cost but quality things that you arent going to regret buying.
Fixed hoods and amazon welders both quality for garbage youll regret buying, and immediately spend more money doing so.
Stop being a fricking moron
Buy a stick of that same tubing for practice after practicing on flat stock. Some learn faster than others. Cutting and fitting your practice pieces is a major part of learning.
Has anyone used an Alphatig before? They've been around for a few years and I don't see many other welders in the same range that have a similar duty cycle with AC, pulse settings, etc.
>need a job >wanna take a welder course to make moneyz and cool shit >remember that I live in an urban shithole with no garage and backyard to practice for a b***hin' CV and make cool metal shit
bakery it is...
Whatever community college you go to for welding may let you use the welding space during other class hours
Mine did at least until I installed an outlet in my barn
^This. I volunteered to help build booths and maintain the place and eventually ended up working there running the toolroom. Schools like to hire from within and the four-day week is comfy.
You are lucky to have an interest in such a job.
It is very rewarding and respected.
Every time i needed something welded, i call up a professional (someone who liked that job in early stages such as you) to come, observe the task, give opinion, do the job professionally, get paid and get thanks from the one asking.
I sometimes need welding of pieces that suffer more stress than a cast out or shape forged metal, be it heavy duty wood splitters or rods for hydraulics before the micro precise lathe process.
Each pro welder comes, thinks and is silent while thinking, while observing then says if the job can or cant be done, it almost always CAN be done and they do it
i never regretted paying for a job well done (weld done) because it is always the weld that outlasts the other 2 pieces that were welded
It is an honorable job and one must honor the one working.
I never met a pro welder who is a bad person, especially if i from the start show respect, and they respect my job when they call upon a 'favour' from me
Im a machinist, i have a lathe and a mill so i keep good relations with people i might need in job and they do the same, that is why none of us are ever scared of starvation or poverty or Godforbid uselessness.
It is a noble job, keep doing it.
> Is flux core a good place to start?
Depends on what your concrete budget actually is, if you have a 220v outlet, and what thicknesses of steel you actually want to weld.
But yes, Fluxcore is a very good option if you go with something like the Titanium EasyFlux 125 or the Forney Easyweld 140, this would be for a 110 outlet welding up to 1/4" steel
If you have a 220v outlet already, you can buy a used Lincoln Tombstone welder for like $50-$100 sometimes
Itll be for thicker material too.
Dont listen to anyone telling you to buy an 80a fluxcore machine, or an 80a stick welder.
^based and the little FCAW plus stick machine is a very popular combo for good reasons. Get a wire welder you can convert to gas or just run a MIG with the polarity changed for FCAW.
>what thicknesses of steel you actually want to weld.
Really tiny stuff, nothing structural or important. I'm a israeliteeler by trade but I've recently gotten into making little steel sculptures. Thanks for the tips, I'm looking at some 125a options.
Is this dick up to AWS specs?
Also, hate when 7018 runs smoothly and then suddenly fricking sticks or extinguishes. I should throw away that box of electrodes already, they are wet as frick
I have locally made 7018s, they are wet as frick, but arc is nice and focused. I have also cheap chinkshit that has arc all over the fricking place, like they run only on DCEN where shit burns inside further in.
I should try ESAB ones, one day....
Throw some of those bad boys in aluminum foil and bake for a few hours at 250-300 burger degrees. If they're decent unheated they should be enjoyable heated.
Meh, it is not lincoln rod. It is our local rod, Indura.
Speaking of rods, why chink basic rods are shit (slag is hard to remove, arc is unstable), but rutile rods like 6013 or E308L-16 burn ok?
Flux varies so most weldors buy particular brands they prefer. Beware some brands like Airgas in-house Washington Alloy can vary greatly since they're likely made by the lowest bidder.
Rod and wire, even the high end stuff, are cheap for what they accomplish. I collect a variety at auctions and estate sales (got hundreds of lbs of TIG filler for less than 200 bux) and if in doubt I just ask on welding forums since the pros already know all the answers and are quite friendly.
What's a good option for a welding jacket? I see people doing everything from welding in short sleeves and telling you to sack up, and people who look like a fricking eskimo. What's the middle ground that won't kill me as a beginner? I have no need to prove how big my balls are.
where do welders work anyway? is there such a thing as a comfy 1 man job in a sort of workshop with minimal communication with boss and no one else? with the accent on workshop rather than changing locations all the time (eg buildings in construction). I know contracts can be made to work around building for central heating and that's it.
There are a lot of production welders who are working on everything from heavy equipment to furniture. There's pipeline welders, structural welders, and shops that specialize in custom jobs or stuff like truck bodies. There's also quite a few who do mobile repair. It's not hard to get started running your own welding business, provided you're good at what you do, and are fit to run a business.
If I'm doing a 6010 root pass on two sections of pipe like in the picture >land beveled to point >1/4 inch thick pipe >3/32 gap
Should my choice of electrode diameter be based on the bevel land or the material thickness
I was thinking 3/32 6010 because the material is thinnest near the gap
kek you really expect anyone here to know wtf you are saying.
Luckly for you im a certified pipe welder and bru if you are stick welding an open root butt weld with no landing you need a very fricking tight gap ive seen guys weld that fit up with a $100 bill as the gap.
Honestly thats more of a tig fit up (no root face) if you are stick welding the rule of thumb is a landing or root face equal to the gap i.e. 3/32 land 3/32 gap. I personally dont like having no root face for stick although it can be done you just have to practice it a lot because with no root face its very easy to blow through and that gap is just huge for no root face, it can be done but its going to be very hard and most likely not going to pass x-ray with such a gap you are very prone to lack of fusion or even slag inclusions
Electrode diameter only really affects the deposition rate for open root groove welds, for 1/4 inch wall thickness a 3/32 root pass with a 1/8 7018 cap is how its usually done, personally if i had the choice for such thin wall pipe i use tig
If I'm doing a 6010 root pass on two sections of pipe like in the picture >land beveled to point >1/4 inch thick pipe >3/32 gap
Should my choice of electrode diameter be based on the bevel land or the material thickness
I was thinking 3/32 6010 because the material is thinnest near the gap
I would put an 1/8” land with a 3/32” gap and run 3/32” 6010. If you’re welding small pipe the 3/32 rod will help to keep the heat under control, with 1/8 rod the heat builds up fast and you’ll blow through and make a mess when you get close to the top.
welding frens im about to purchase my first welding contraption, my only concern is: ive only a garage with no real ventilation (except for its entrance) thing is gonna kill me or alarm neighbours? What can i do to prevent boomer neighbours to complain while in working on my projects?
As in a garage with a garage door? big enough to drive a car through? You'll be fine.
If you're really worried, put a box fan next to where you're welding with the air flow pointing out the door.
I fricked up my welding wire (it is aluminium in pvc, so shit).
Should I buy exact same shit (aluminium + shit ground + shit stinger because why not as my stinger is fricked)? 20 bucks in total.
Should I buy proper copper cable in rubber insulation, quality stinger and new ground clamp? ($40 cable, $15 stinger, $10 ground clamp)?
Or should I just Black person rig shit with car jumper cable which is like $12 max and re-use semi-fricked stinger and ground clamp?
Bought new ground clamp and stinger.
Well, I thought stinger would be shit, but it is made out of brass or something which was unexpected, and ground clamp has parts made out of brass too.
Cable is a shitty jumper cable.
I just need DIN connectors. Or most likely, i will re-use ones I have.
I second this question. How hard is TIG after stick welding for a while?
Is it even worth retrofitting a TIG torch onto a stick welder? Especially considering the fact that shit is DC and thus you can't really weld aluminium, and carbon/stainless can be welded with stick just fine.
TIG is probably the hardest welding process. It needs precision and skills, it tends to be important and responsibility heavy work, you can't really slack off or make a bad weld and get away with it, like you can do sometimes with stick or mig. it also tends to be highest payed one. It has it's advantages - it's probably safest health wise, as well as cleanest one.
I should have pointed out that im more worried about welding small projects in my garage not about a career.
I feel like I want more control and more precision with my welder when putting small parts together.
are auto darkening masks a meme?
buying my first soon
No, anyone who tells you otherwise is a poorhomosexual moron
thanks anons
Any other bits of "must have" gear as I embark on my journey with the second hand MIG machine?
>bits of "must have" gear
Can I get away without a bench for my initial learning experiments? I.e. just clip to the piece directly? Was just gonna run up seams in bits of angle steel.
yeah, benches are for pussies and production dudes. Real men weld in place.
Also, you should always clamp your ground to the workpiece anyways
>I.e. just clip to the piece directly? Was just gonna run up seams in bits of angle steel.
I mean, how else are you going to build your welding table? And the first project you do should be a welding cart or modifications if it came with one. Welding is pretty flexible, and in the hobby realm, you only suck if it doesn't work.
But yeah, absolutely clamp on to pieces till you build a table. I work in a fab shop, and there's so many inventive tricks I've seen to work around *not* putting shit on a table. Hell, dude I was working with needed me to tack some shit together on a massivee 40 ton part while he did some measurements on the equalliy massive part he just welded, and when I went to swap his ground over, he laughed and just had me run some 8 foot bar stock between the two. Worked just fine. It's hard to frick up if your settings are good.
I got my start drinking beers with friends and welding parts in a vice attached to a wooden work bench that kept catching fire, and here I am now with an associates in psychology and making a living wage burning metal in just 3 years. Imagine if I didn't waste most of that time in college getting a meme degree?
what happens if a part isn't grounded correctly? is there risk to shocking yourself or it just wont weld right?
Dont be the path of least resistance or you will regret it.
Risk is modest. Do some reading if you're really interested. Too many noobs rely on videos which are great for seeing how to do something physical (like welding technique) but trash for what text conveys. Learn about OCV (Open Circuit Voltage).
A good fume extractor, breathing in welding fumes is bad
Unless you're a tight ass and will only be welding once a decade, spend the $70 on a cheap auto darkening.
Get one with the biggest lens you can afford.
get the auto darkening mask
the passive masks are harder to learn with, more difficult to use when you collaborate with other welders/workers, and you're forced to put them on and take them off all the damn time
I've heard that passive masks give better protection. I'd bet that unless you're literally welding for 8 hours a day the benefits are negligible.
Yes. Fixed shade > autodarkening. God gave you only 2 eyes, so would u trust some electronicals to dim fricking glass?
Not even talking about glass being more transparent and cheap
That's why I always check by looking at the sun first 🙂
Yes, but i had accidents.
Autodarkening helmets are usually fail safe. Even when they are completely fricked they still block all UV and IR.
Autodarks still block UV even when they don't otherwise function.
https://www.awsi.com.au/blog/how-do-3m-auto-darkening-filters-work
Fixed shade and autodarks each have advantages and disadvantges. Noobs should start with autodark and likely stay there but they're not for everyone or every task so I own both.
Are you fricking Amish? The only reason you would want a fixed shade is that metal is literally dropping on you and it's a throw away.
if you time your blinks perfectly in sync with the frequency of the arc you don't even need a helmet tbh.
I've been doing it for years with no problems.
safety squint is all you need
Frick that, don't listen to this idiot, always wear your helmet. Your face will get fried without proper protection, worse than a sunburn. Not including when the wire and or sparks and metal fly back into your face.
hello gentleman. is it normal for a welding glove to smell when used for the first few times on a tig machine?
also, is it normal to get eye strain when using an auto darkening on tig?
I do the same
Yes and NO.
For beginners, auto darkening is basically a must.
I welded in aerospace using a Viking 3350.
Has a frick all huge lense and crazy good clarity. But the more I welded and the better I got, the more I just preferred a gold tint 4.5 x 5.25 lense.
This is what employers tell their employees because they are cheapwads. They also expect you to buy tools for the company.
No, but it's also not as clear cut as "auto darkening good, fixed shade bad" like a lot of people make it out to be. For the price of a cheap auto darkening hood you can get a fixed shade hood and a gold lens and the optical quality will beat anything short of a very high end auto darkening lens.
Auto darkening is nice but I wouldn't say it's strictly necessary unless you're doing a lot of short, repetitive welds or if you're welding in tight quarters like under a car. If you've never welded before you will have the added learning curve of positioning the arc properly but that really doesn't take that long to get used to.
>no, but it's also not as clear cut as "auto darkening good, fixed shade bad" like a lot of people make it out to be.
Nope, its 100% clear cut
Auto darkening is good, fixed shade is bad.
Unless you are literally in a field in the middle of a summers day with the sun beating down on your work, you dont want a fixed shade.
Its a rule of thumb and common knowledge for a reason. Your cope wont change that.
>Auto darkening is good, fixed shade is bad.
Fixed shade good, auto bad.
Blue lens >>>> autoshit
Welder here, autodarjening is pretty sweet, can easily see where you're pointing your torch and filler or your mig gun or whatever process you’re using where before you pull the trigger. It’s one of those things I’d call a basic tool like automatic center punches, both are reasonably priced for their utility.
I don't even understand how anyone can't afford auto
It's like 50 bucks
Manual mask is $10. You can frick up 5 for price of 1.
Idk, I had automatic mask back in 2016 maybe or there about, when i tried welding for the first time. Didn't really figure shit out and I blame blurry as frick autodarkening shit, that was also like shade 13 lol. It was just disorienting. Sold everything.
Then I moved to different country, bought another stick welder in 2022 or there about, and manual mask with couple filters. Was way better. And idk, I've doubts things changed much since 2016.
Maybe autodarkening is good for MIG and TIG.
Blue filters are also 10/10
>Blue filters are also 10/10
Blue is bad for the eyes. Green and yellow are the go to colours for welding.
Green are meh. Better than shit auto-dark, but nowhere close to blue.
Idk about yellow ones.
Green is best one. Good mineral filters tend to be green or green-ish, like Aulektro or Athermal
Auto darkening is a good choice, if it's not a trash one. Plus, some have natural colour, which is better than blue lens.
Depends on the type of welding you're doing, as well as position you're welding in most of the time. It's MIG/MAG welding in different positions, you'll be fine with some proban type cotton jacket/pants. If it's MMA, especially if it's vertical or overhead, you'll need something stronger - leather or aramid would be a good choice.
Cover the skin, welding light can give you skin cancer, not to mention some serious spatter burns, have scars from huge ass spatter that managed to burn through my proban jacket sleeve.
Generally I do shade 11 for stick
10 for tig
Don't think I've ever gone past 12
11 was way too dark for me. 10 is ok.
Idk about tig.
Tig brazing vs oxyfuel brazing
Thoughts?
Tig is a rabbit hole of expense.
Already got both
Depends what crap you already have. Tig if you want less cleanup.
Oxyfuel is vastly more versatile so get a rig for that reason. TIG and MIG brazing have their places too and MIG brazing wire is nice for fine torch work.
Torches also torch bend metal, gas weld, preheat heavy stock, gouge with gouging tips and more.
Getting new argon is always a pain in the butt.
>need to get to wrenching cave
>get the bottle
>30min drive to the hardware store
>swap the bottle
>40€
>drive 30 minutes back
Switched to cored wire, no need for welding gas.
>good enough for mild steel and car body panels, which is 99% of what I do now.
Its also way cheaper.
>gasless wire
>good enough for car body panels
This, body panels are the main reason I want to add gas to my "gas optional" flux core / mig setup.
Having just done a quarter panel repair with Flux core... dear lord just use gas.
>Getting new argon is always a pain in the butt.
That's why I have multiple cylinders and never run out on weekends.
>gassless MIG
>not dual shield
How fricking barbaric. Good thing you have a grinder and paint.
Anons
Is it hard to learn how to weld?
What should I know before start?
What is the easiest and hardest method?
>no
>cover up, no exposed skin, ignore the homosexuals on israelitetube welding in singlets with no gloves if you don't want melanoma when you're 50
>that is subjective
Easiest: mig
Medium: Stick
Hardest: tig or oxyfuel
Weldguru and weldingtipsandtricks will explain stuff
Stick is really easy if you don’t give a frick what your welds look like.
The issues for a beginner is learning 6010 movement and getting used to electrode sticking
why are beginners using 6010 anyway?? 6010/11 is what we use here for the root pass of pressure piping and vessels, otherwise we use TIG roots, with 7018 fill and pass, sometimes MIG depending on the application.
It's what my college is using, that and 7018
Recommendations of where to get sheets of metal in southern indiana?
There's a sketchy looking steel place in Evansville I've been to, good prices/quick to load. Haven't been in several years let me work on my map autism to locate for u. Also wanna check out my shipping container full of crab meat?
Get at least three quotes if it's a large order. Visiting in person is a good idea.
Oxyfuel is actually rather easy but for some odd reason noobs fear the versatile torch.
With practice they're all easy.
Without practice they all suck.
>What should I know before start?
Never ever try to weld or cut empty gas tanks, fuel drums, any containers for flammables, unless you certified to do so. In most cases they WILL explode and maim you.
Having a paper certificate magically makes any canisters you want to cut open safe to do so? How does that work? Do you explain the fact that you have the paper to the object first?
no idiot, the paper means that they know how to attain the results needed without having shit explode
just fill shit with water before doing any welding
>inb4: somebody unscrews valve from full oxygen cylinder
What is the difference between pickling gel and passivization gel?
What should I get if I want to stick weld some shit out of stainless that will not be in contact with food but might get exposed to rain and salts?
Good on you weldy dude
I like machining
What is involved in machining?
I was going to build my own fab table but then I saw that harbor freight sells one at half the price of my materials
Is there any reason not to just get theirs as a hobbyist?
A project to learn on. Most things you will make can be bought cheaper.
how safe is mig welding in my apartment? anything i can do to reduce the admittedly extreme chance of a fire?
I would say not safe, it'll produce too much spatter/sparking
Got a patio?
>it'll produce too much spatter/sparking
well i found out already from trying to fix my tv that the vinyl flooring is pretty flame proof. maybe i could replace my drapes with welding curtains, i keep them shut all the time anyway
Absolutely do not have the drapes up if you're going to do this
Drapes are why houses catch fire
>how safe is mig welding in my apartment?
You will flood your apt with gas and die.
>anything i can do to reduce the admittedly extreme chance of a fire?
asbestos
How hard is dialing in MIG for someone who has never done it before?
So I personally own a stick welder and a flux core welder which i have light time on, just a few small projects.
At my workplace, they have a MillerMatic 250 and a large welding table
I am building a 6ft table from 2" square tubing, 1/8" thickness.
I just dont have a large or flat enough area to do it at home. I only have a harbor freight folding welding table.
So im thinking I want to prep the pieces, drive over there and just weld it together with their MIG machine.
Im allowed to do so, but still I dont really want people knowing I was there, I want to be in and out fast as possible.
What would be your tips on how to pop in and dial it in correctly and just go
I figure a popular miller machine like that and 1/8" being common should be easy enough right?
figure out the wire type and diameter you're using and the type and thickness of the base metal then use manufacturer's data sheets to figure out the right settings
also the shielding gas
>Set the voltage so any random setting, half way between top and bottom is good starting point
>set a wire speed, half way between top and bottom is good
>test weld on a piece of scrap
>if the wire pops, spatters and stubs istelf in the puddle turn the wire speed down
>if the wire looks like it's about to melt back into the tip/nozzle because the arc is too long, turn the wire speed up.
>rinse/repeat until you have a nice smooth hiss/crackle sound
Realistically how long does it take to permanently frick yourself if you're not welding with a half-mask respirator?
Depends on where you are welding
Indoor shop with ventilation but not that great ventilation
stick/tig
And I definitely feel like I've smoked some cigs after
5 years before you start noticing the missing braincells
How does one learn to weld without dropping a few Gs on a fricking class or somehow setting myself on fire? Seems like such a useful skill that's actually interesting but I just have no idea how to get hands on experience cheaply
Buy a $200 welder and $100 hood and start sticthing shit together
Wrong.
$60 welder and $10 hood.
If you can weld with chinese mystery - you can weld with anything.
Why would you do that though when you can get an actually functional welder and a decent hood for just slightly more?
>Why would you do that though
Because it is just $70 and will work OK.
> when you can get an actually functional welder
Unless we're talking wire feed or fancy tig with pulses and square waves, stick welder is just a constant current power supply. Pretty hard to frick it up.
> decent hood
$10 hood is decent enough because glass is clear as frick.
> just slightly more?
Did you know that Africans survive a year on 130 dollars?
>Because it is just $70 and will work OK.
With a pitifully weak output it's only good for tacking together lightweight junk. Bottom tier machines suck so much to use they really detract from the welding experience besides producing generally shit work.
>pitifully weak output
100A is enough for 3/32 rods.
> tacking together lightweight junk
You're not gonna use shit thicker than 1/8th anyway
>True, its not hard to frick up a transformer welder
Fricking up simple switch-mode power supply is hard too.
As long as OCV is 65+V it is ok.
>Fixed hood
Fixed shade non-autodarkening hood is better than anything cheap auto darkening. Not to mention cheaper.
That is basically just a piece of plastic with like hole and flap and glass. Glass can be replaced with autodarkening lens if you want but it is a homosexuality if you ask me.
>3/32 rods.
lel
>You're not gonna use shit thicker than 1/8th anyway
Not with a 70$ amazon welder you arent, you physically cant. And it will do a poor job with 1/8" work
>Fricking up simple switch-mode power supply is hard too.
Yet they somehow still do so
>but it is a homosexuality if you ask me.
Nobody really takes someone who cant afford $2-300 seriously, so dont worry, nobody is going to ask you.
>Not with a 70$ amazon welder you arent, you physically cant. And it will do a poor job with 1/8" work
1/8th steel and 3/32 6011 would be more than enough.
>Yet they somehow still do so
They don't, power supply works as it should. They just tune amp-meter so it lies 2x.
>Nobody really takes someone who cant afford $2-300 seriously, so dont worry, nobody is going to ask you.
It is a homosexuality because it is a shitty 2x4 1/4 lens, which is OK with glass, but with autodarkening lens u get even less area.
What in the frick are you Black folk looking at that you think you need all of this viewing are for? You can’t burn very far with each rod and you only need to see the puddle anyway so what the hell are you people looking at when you’re welding with your $300 hoods?
I'm telling that all you need is a shitty glass hood, which is cheaper and better than anything auto for this amount of money.
>Who isn't? Not everyone just tacks old bed frames together.
Dunno. 99% of shit that a hobbyist would weld is 1 - 3 mm thick steel tubes. Nobody has oil pipeline in their backyard or welds a frame of a high-rise.
Maaaybe bodywork, but doing that with stick would be pure masochism. And once you get into MIG - no shit quality of machine matters.
>You're not gonna use shit thicker than 1/8th anyway
Who isn't? Not everyone just tacks old bed frames together.
Current fleet:
Migmaster 250 (glorious arc quality) with .023" and .035" guns mostly used with .035", also have ST spool gun.
Miller 340 AB/P monster for TIG because alloy likes amps and stick
ESAB 450i cvcc for MIG/TIG/DC stick and powering my suitcase feeder (wired a pot and toggle switch into the foot pedal for a convenient amp controller). .045" FCAW likes amps.
Lincoln AC-125-DC-225 (my first machine and small enough to move easily). Nice arc and rightly a classic utility machine.
Lesser machines:
Old copper winding Weld-Pak 100 converted to gas for bodywork with .023" wire. Welds much better with gas. 100 bucks at thrift store so worth it.
T-400 Hobart (bought for the cables but kept for the arc and the amps).
180A Econotig (obsolete these days and doesn't go low enough for fine work but it was dirt cheap bought with a compressor etc when my bros shop closed and has near zero hours).
Thermal Arc 95S (traded a torch for it so basically free but only decent as a tiny mobile TIG, do not recommend unless free).
>Who isn't?
Poorhomosexuals who cant afford to buy steel stock
Its just a coincidence this guy also cant afford a real hood or a real machine either.
Funny how that works eh?
Where do you need thick steel anyway?
I can't think of anything except self-made machines where rigidity is important, like hydraulic press frame, or idk welding table.
I'd have used 1 mm steel if i had a TIG/MIG machine.
Show us the portfolio of projects youve accomplished with your sheet metal and your $70 welder
Im actually morbidly curious now as to the type of work someone like you does.
>Show us the portfolio of projects youve accomplished with your sheet metal and your $70 welder
0) Converted a lot of steel into scrap metal
1) Made couple stools of horrible quality but they hold.
2) Made storage for sheet goods out of EMT...
3) Repaired various shit that i broke by accident
4) Used it to weld a washer to the fork on e-scoot.
Nothing of value really.
I want to make a bird cage out of stainless, because I think for a now I have enough experience to do it. But at this point i kinda wish i had a cylinder and proper tig shit with valve and gimmicks, but no, im too cheap/poor for that.
I don’t understand why everyone is so infatuated with tig. It’s incredibly inefficient.
Precision and control I guess.
Now I wonder, can you use carbon gouging electrode as heat source, and stick electrode as filler with flux.
It's called carbon arc welding.
Soooo yeah, it is possible and kinda more tame than i anticipated. But I guess nobody in first world does this shit because TIG.
Watch the American version. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DYnsCXVsJsw
This is how large welds were done in WW2 ea shipbuilding.
WWI and WWII shipbuilding used stick, mostly with high OCV AC (transformers were cheaper than a motor-generator welder to produce DC but there were plenty of those too). For DC one needed a generator as modern diodes didn't exist:
Classic prewar SA200 Lincoln:
Vertical electric motor generator Lincwelder, the classic TIG (then called Heliarc) and DC stick machine for decades:
1939 Stable Arc:
https://weldingweb.com/vbb/threads/396261-1939-Stable-Arc
Precision work of course
Precision or pretty? I’ve seen some downhill 5p that makes tig look like shit all things considered.
tig looks very nice pretty much
Also you can do very small work on thin metal with it
Pulsed MIG can look just as nice and go down to super thin material. Too bad the machines cost 5x the price of regular MIG at least.
Both
There are some stick artists out there. My pipewelder instructor could lay 'em like that and his TIG work was to die for.
For very thin work OA is terrific, the reason israeliteelers use it and why aircraft welding before WWII (when TIG was invented) was all OA including aluminum.
https://www.tinmantech.com/gallery-of-metalwork/ has some neat welding and aluminum sheet metal porn:
https://www.tinmantech.com/gallery-of-metalwork/
>Because it is just $70 and will work OK.
Or you can buy a $200 machine that will work more than OK and you will continue to use when convenient even as you buy bigger better machines
You know, as opposed to a throwaway machine that you will regret buying right away
>Unless we're talking wire feed
If we wanted to be specific, I was thinking the Titanium 125 Fluxcore welder.
But if you wanted to go stick the Titanium 225 stick welder is only about $300
> is just a constant current power supply. Pretty hard to frick it up.
True, its not hard to frick up a transformer welder
Too bad the price of copper makes cheap transformer welders completely unusable. They dont even sell cheap transformer welders anymore
So if you are looking at cheap welders that could actually output a usable power, they have to be inverter welders
Now Inverter welders ARE in fact easy to frick up and the cheap Amazon ones are literal garbage that dont output half the amperage they say they do.
>$10 hood is decent enough because glass is clear as frick.
>Did you know that Africans survive a year on 130 dollars?
If you are going to be poor, at least be poor right.
Dont buy low cost but quality things that you arent going to regret buying.
Fixed hoods and amazon welders both quality for garbage youll regret buying, and immediately spend more money doing so.
Stop being a fricking moron
What kind of time investment would I be looking at to get good enough to make a pie cut motorcycle exhaust?
Buy a stick of that same tubing for practice after practicing on flat stock. Some learn faster than others. Cutting and fitting your practice pieces is a major part of learning.
How come my inverter welder smells like gasoline out of the box? Am I gonna give myself brain damage keeping this in my car
Has anyone used an Alphatig before? They've been around for a few years and I don't see many other welders in the same range that have a similar duty cycle with AC, pulse settings, etc.
Chop saw vs band saw vs cut off wheel for cutting up to 1/2" thick metal plate
Oxy acetylene
Band saw 1 million percent
>need a job
>wanna take a welder course to make moneyz and cool shit
>remember that I live in an urban shithole with no garage and backyard to practice for a b***hin' CV and make cool metal shit
bakery it is...
Whatever community college you go to for welding may let you use the welding space during other class hours
Mine did at least until I installed an outlet in my barn
^This. I volunteered to help build booths and maintain the place and eventually ended up working there running the toolroom. Schools like to hire from within and the four-day week is comfy.
You are lucky to have an interest in such a job.
It is very rewarding and respected.
Every time i needed something welded, i call up a professional (someone who liked that job in early stages such as you) to come, observe the task, give opinion, do the job professionally, get paid and get thanks from the one asking.
I sometimes need welding of pieces that suffer more stress than a cast out or shape forged metal, be it heavy duty wood splitters or rods for hydraulics before the micro precise lathe process.
Each pro welder comes, thinks and is silent while thinking, while observing then says if the job can or cant be done, it almost always CAN be done and they do it
i never regretted paying for a job well done (weld done) because it is always the weld that outlasts the other 2 pieces that were welded
It is an honorable job and one must honor the one working.
I never met a pro welder who is a bad person, especially if i from the start show respect, and they respect my job when they call upon a 'favour' from me
Im a machinist, i have a lathe and a mill so i keep good relations with people i might need in job and they do the same, that is why none of us are ever scared of starvation or poverty or Godforbid uselessness.
It is a noble job, keep doing it.
I want to get into welding as a hobbyist but I’m a poorgay. Is flux core a good place to start?
I think stick is possibly cheapest
> Is flux core a good place to start?
Depends on what your concrete budget actually is, if you have a 220v outlet, and what thicknesses of steel you actually want to weld.
But yes, Fluxcore is a very good option if you go with something like the Titanium EasyFlux 125 or the Forney Easyweld 140, this would be for a 110 outlet welding up to 1/4" steel
If you have a 220v outlet already, you can buy a used Lincoln Tombstone welder for like $50-$100 sometimes
Itll be for thicker material too.
Dont listen to anyone telling you to buy an 80a fluxcore machine, or an 80a stick welder.
^based and the little FCAW plus stick machine is a very popular combo for good reasons. Get a wire welder you can convert to gas or just run a MIG with the polarity changed for FCAW.
For conversion watch all the vids like these.
>what thicknesses of steel you actually want to weld.
Really tiny stuff, nothing structural or important. I'm a israeliteeler by trade but I've recently gotten into making little steel sculptures. Thanks for the tips, I'm looking at some 125a options.
I don't know what the price range is like, but you should consider an oxy acetylene setup.
Is this dick up to AWS specs?
Also, hate when 7018 runs smoothly and then suddenly fricking sticks or extinguishes. I should throw away that box of electrodes already, they are wet as frick
Looks like something dickfarmer would try.
A toaster oven fixes that but isn't to code. Rod-ovened 7018 runs sweet. I urethrally jerk off with ESAB Atom Arc but its not cheap.
I have locally made 7018s, they are wet as frick, but arc is nice and focused. I have also cheap chinkshit that has arc all over the fricking place, like they run only on DCEN where shit burns inside further in.
I should try ESAB ones, one day....
Throw some of those bad boys in aluminum foil and bake for a few hours at 250-300 burger degrees. If they're decent unheated they should be enjoyable heated.
i should, too lazy however.
it will make your pecker twitch and you will want more
I fricking hate Lincoln Excalibur.
Meh, it is not lincoln rod. It is our local rod, Indura.
Speaking of rods, why chink basic rods are shit (slag is hard to remove, arc is unstable), but rutile rods like 6013 or E308L-16 burn ok?
Shit flux most likely. China needs to be nuked.
I keep hoping that a freak escalator accident will result in them all dying of mustard gas.
>Shit flux most likely
No shit lol. But what about rutile rods? Why are they OK?
Flux varies so most weldors buy particular brands they prefer. Beware some brands like Airgas in-house Washington Alloy can vary greatly since they're likely made by the lowest bidder.
Rod and wire, even the high end stuff, are cheap for what they accomplish. I collect a variety at auctions and estate sales (got hundreds of lbs of TIG filler for less than 200 bux) and if in doubt I just ask on welding forums since the pros already know all the answers and are quite friendly.
What's a good option for a welding jacket? I see people doing everything from welding in short sleeves and telling you to sack up, and people who look like a fricking eskimo. What's the middle ground that won't kill me as a beginner? I have no need to prove how big my balls are.
Thick cotton long sleeve shirt. Pearl snaps optional.
Gonna be applying for my first welding jobs soon
Hopefully scoring a fabrication job
Tips?
where do welders work anyway? is there such a thing as a comfy 1 man job in a sort of workshop with minimal communication with boss and no one else? with the accent on workshop rather than changing locations all the time (eg buildings in construction). I know contracts can be made to work around building for central heating and that's it.
There are a lot of production welders who are working on everything from heavy equipment to furniture. There's pipeline welders, structural welders, and shops that specialize in custom jobs or stuff like truck bodies. There's also quite a few who do mobile repair. It's not hard to get started running your own welding business, provided you're good at what you do, and are fit to run a business.
If I'm doing a 6010 root pass on two sections of pipe like in the picture
>land beveled to point
>1/4 inch thick pipe
>3/32 gap
Should my choice of electrode diameter be based on the bevel land or the material thickness
I was thinking 3/32 6010 because the material is thinnest near the gap
kek you really expect anyone here to know wtf you are saying.
Luckly for you im a certified pipe welder and bru if you are stick welding an open root butt weld with no landing you need a very fricking tight gap ive seen guys weld that fit up with a $100 bill as the gap.
Honestly thats more of a tig fit up (no root face) if you are stick welding the rule of thumb is a landing or root face equal to the gap i.e. 3/32 land 3/32 gap. I personally dont like having no root face for stick although it can be done you just have to practice it a lot because with no root face its very easy to blow through and that gap is just huge for no root face, it can be done but its going to be very hard and most likely not going to pass x-ray with such a gap you are very prone to lack of fusion or even slag inclusions
Electrode diameter only really affects the deposition rate for open root groove welds, for 1/4 inch wall thickness a 3/32 root pass with a 1/8 7018 cap is how its usually done, personally if i had the choice for such thin wall pipe i use tig
Meant for
thanks
Listen to this anon.
I would put an 1/8” land with a 3/32” gap and run 3/32” 6010. If you’re welding small pipe the 3/32 rod will help to keep the heat under control, with 1/8 rod the heat builds up fast and you’ll blow through and make a mess when you get close to the top.
welding frens im about to purchase my first welding contraption, my only concern is: ive only a garage with no real ventilation (except for its entrance) thing is gonna kill me or alarm neighbours? What can i do to prevent boomer neighbours to complain while in working on my projects?
If you get a TIG machine, you might be ok with the amount of fummage you will generate.
Every other process is fume city USA
As in a garage with a garage door? big enough to drive a car through? You'll be fine.
If you're really worried, put a box fan next to where you're welding with the air flow pointing out the door.
I fricked up my welding wire (it is aluminium in pvc, so shit).
Should I buy exact same shit (aluminium + shit ground + shit stinger because why not as my stinger is fricked)? 20 bucks in total.
Should I buy proper copper cable in rubber insulation, quality stinger and new ground clamp? ($40 cable, $15 stinger, $10 ground clamp)?
Or should I just Black person rig shit with car jumper cable which is like $12 max and re-use semi-fricked stinger and ground clamp?
Bought new ground clamp and stinger.
Well, I thought stinger would be shit, but it is made out of brass or something which was unexpected, and ground clamp has parts made out of brass too.
Cable is a shitty jumper cable.
I just need DIN connectors. Or most likely, i will re-use ones I have.
If you've an item the clamp works poorly with you can just clamp the copper lug with whatever like C clamps or needlenose visegrips.
Rate these welders, my grandfather was an ironworker and foreman on the local bridges
Mig feels like cheating
Is TIG hard?
It seems like it would be the easiest to do in theory.
I second this question. How hard is TIG after stick welding for a while?
Is it even worth retrofitting a TIG torch onto a stick welder? Especially considering the fact that shit is DC and thus you can't really weld aluminium, and carbon/stainless can be welded with stick just fine.
TIG is probably the hardest welding process. It needs precision and skills, it tends to be important and responsibility heavy work, you can't really slack off or make a bad weld and get away with it, like you can do sometimes with stick or mig. it also tends to be highest payed one. It has it's advantages - it's probably safest health wise, as well as cleanest one.
>Thoriated electrodes
Not sure about that one buddy
Just get ceriated
I should have pointed out that im more worried about welding small projects in my garage not about a career.
I feel like I want more control and more precision with my welder when putting small parts together.
I bent metal yesterday with oxyfuel and now I can stop thinking about art projects I could do
rebar penis?
Tentacles
Testicles!