Welding gurus....advice for a newbie....

[bruceb58]

Re: Welding gurus....advice for a newbie....

A couple of knobs to adjust how "hot" you want to weld (depending on thickness of the metal) and your wire feed speed, and you are off an running.

Some of the cheaper Lincoln welders, as well as some others, only have a few voltage settings. That is why I like the variable voltage the the slightly more expensive models have. Way easier to fine tune that way with various metal sizes and weld configurations. Problem with the fixed settings is that you have to pull the torch tip away from the work to control the heat which isn't a great way of doing it.

 

[RogersJetboat454]

Re: Welding gurus....advice for a newbie....

Some of the cheaper Lincoln welders, as well as some others, only have a few voltage settings. That is why I like the variable voltage the the slightly more expensive models have. Way easier to fine tune that way with various metal sizes and weld configurations. Problem with the fixed settings is that you have to pull the torch tip away from the work to control the heat which isn't a great way of doing it.

I agree Bruce, there are better machines out there. Mine was purchased on a paupers budget 10 years ago, and despite the limited A,B,C,D voltage settings, it still does OK for what it is.

 

[dingbat]

Re: Welding gurus....advice for a newbie....

.....the duty cycle on the Lincoln is only 20%

Does it really matter when the duty cycle of your average "shop" welder is maybe 0.5%.

When you start burning thru 50# boxes of 5/32" 5P (6010) rods in a day is when you start worrying about it. In all my years of welding, I've only run into a duty cycle problem once. That was a day we where welding 3/8" lap joints on the floor of a 2.5 million gallon tank using 1/4? Jetweld (7024) using 300A Lincoln diesel with a 60% duty cycle. That poor old machine worked like a dog for the week it took us to weld those joints.

If you realy want to hear them whine, run submerged arc sometime.

 

[bruceb58]

Re: Welding gurus....advice for a newbie....

I agree Bruce, there are better machines out there. Mine was purchased on a paupers budget 10 years ago, and despite the limited A,B,C,D voltage settings, it still does OK for what it is.

I agree. My comment is more for Tim so he knows what's available. These days there isn't much of a price difference between the tapped voltage machines and the variable voltage models. At least for me because I weld with such a variety of thicknesses of metals, its so nice to be able to tweak the voltage the get the proper penetration on the weld or to correct a burn through issue.(a reason I love doing TIG with a foot pedal) Another reason to do a class....One of the problems with beginners doing MIG is that you may get what appears to be a good weld but lousy penetration and the weld won't hold.

 

[bruceb58]

Re: Welding gurus....advice for a newbie....

One thing I'll add, get some good protective clothing. The worst "sun burn" I have ever had was from a couple hours with a tig welder.

I have leathers for when I do MIG and a flameproof long sleeve welding shirt for TIG.

I also have a whole bunch of sweatshirts with little tiny holes in them from when I didn't know any better.

 

[Bondo]

Re: Welding gurus....advice for a newbie....

One thing I'll add, get some good protective clothing. The worst "sun burn" I have ever had was from a couple hours with a tig welder.

I have leathers for when I do MIG and a flameproof long sleeve welding shirt for TIG.

I also have a whole bunch of sweatshirts with little tiny holes in them from when I didn't know any better.

Ayuh,.... I have burn holes in pretty much All my clothes, 'n quite a few corresponding burnt fur spots on my body... :redface:

Worst sunburn was the left forearm, from top of glove to bottom of T shirt cuff...
Fired in 20 minutes, with an ole AC/ DC tombstone welder, 'n big ole 7018 rod...

Flashburnt eyes, from a cheap chinese auto-darken helmets ain't no Fun either....

 

[bruceb58]

Re: Welding gurus....advice for a newbie....

Flashburnt eyes, from a cheap chinese auto-darken helmets ain't no Fun either....

Yes...not advisable to buy the Harbor Freight auto helmets or the other cheap chinese ones.

 

[BlkY2k]

Re: Welding gurus....advice for a newbie....

This is to the op. I couldnt melt 2 pieces of metal together with a reactor but when you can do stuff like this give me a call and I`ll get ya all the work you can handle.
Take this.

And make this.

 

[Tim Frank]

Re: Welding gurus....advice for a newbie....

This is to the op. I couldnt melt 2 pieces of metal together with a reactor but when you can do stuff like this give me a call and I`ll get ya all the work you can handle.

And make this.

I've seen that posted elsewhere, and if the complexity alone wasn't enough, I believe that is aluminum....
Not a job for beginners!

 

[RogersJetboat454]

Re: Welding gurus....advice for a newbie....

I also have a whole bunch of sweatshirts with little tiny holes in them from when I didn't know any better.

That could describe my work shirts and sweaters from the last place I worked. My former boss was one of those guys that though tee shirts with the pocket on the left breast was entirely useful to him so we must want them too. So when he would order work shirts for us, they would always have that stupid pocket that I would never use. It really didn't come in handy when I would be welding up an exhaust or something, and sparks/slag would drop down into that pocket and you get that wonderful smell of hot dogs A.K.A. your skin burning...

The worst time I got my self was one summer when I was wearing work shorts (shop temps would be in the high 90's), and was cutting a sway bar link out of a car and had a nice hot bit of slag drop down my high top boot and end up next to my ankle. It burnt a considerable hole in both my work boot and my leg.... :facepalm:

 

[The_Kid]

Re: Welding gurus....advice for a newbie....

Yes...not advisable to buy the Harbor Freight auto helmets or the other cheap chinese ones.

OK, please tell me why the HF helmets are more likely to allow flash burnt eyes. HF has 2 models. The cheaper one has an auto darken speed of 1/20,000 second. The other one is 1/25,000 sec. Now lets compare to Miller and Hobart's helmets.

Low to middle grade Miller is 1/10,000 and Hobart is 1/12,000. You have to get up to the upper end of their helmets before the speed gets to 1/20,000 sec.

I do understand that with TIG welding you need you need to to have a helmet that is rated for for use when welding at lower amps.

 

[bigdee]

Re: Welding gurus....advice for a newbie....

Yes...not advisable to buy the Harbor Freight auto helmets or the other cheap chinese ones.

What about the expensive chinese helmets like Snapon,Hobart,Miller?

 

[bruceb58]

Re: Welding gurus....advice for a newbie....

What about the expensive chinese helmets like Snapon,Hobart,Miller?

LOL...I guess its true that most of them are manufactured in China too. Maybe I am just being naive but I would hope that the 2 helmets I have which are sold by Miller and Jackson are of high quality and good design to not have safety issues. After all, electronics that are made in China are not all designed in China. Some are designed here and produced over there. The products that my company design are manufactured overseas but all designed here.

 

[bruceb58]

Re: Welding gurus....advice for a newbie....

OK, please tell me why the HF helmets are more likely to allow flash burnt eyes. HF has 2 models. The cheaper one has an auto darken speed of 1/20,000 second. The other one is 1/25,000 sec.

I don't know...quality control maybe? A friend that has a HF helmet has stopped using his when he comes over and borrows my TIG welder. Maybe he got a bad one! When they work, they appear to work fine.

Don't get me wrong, I buy a lot of HF tools and they have a good value for tools that you don't have to use a lot. I just don't trust the helmets and I like my eyes.

 

[Tim Frank]

Re: Welding gurus....advice for a newbie....

OK....this is coming off the rails

I know how to get it back on track....

So, do you put oil in these welders anywhere...and if so, synthetic or non-synthetic? ....:facepalm:

 

[Captain Shikaboo]

Re: Welding gurus....advice for a newbie....

The best thing I did to become a good welder was to become a fake apprentice.

1. Find a good fabricator near by.
2. Tell them you want to learn how to weld, bribe them with booze if need be.
3. Bring them all the stuff you want welded and tell them it's practice pieces.
4. Pretend to watch like you're trying to learn.
5. If they hand you the gun, start welding the bench instead of your parts.
6. They will laugh or get mad at you and show you 'how it's done.'
7. Avoid all costs and sotarge loss by not having to buy a welder.
8. Tell anyone who wants you to weld something for them that you are too busy.

 

[bruceb58]

Re: Welding gurus....advice for a newbie....

OK....this is coming off the rails

I know how to get it back on track....

So, do you put oil in these welders anywhere...and if so, synthetic or non-synthetic? ....:facepalm:

Get a gas powered welder but make sure you don't use E-10 in it and make sure you use SeaFoam and other snake oils. On my welding cart, I make sure I put nitrogen in the tires.

 

[bigdee]

Re: Welding gurus....advice for a newbie....

OK....this is coming off the rails

I know how to get it back on track....

So, do you put oil in these welders anywhere...and if so, synthetic or non-synthetic? ....:facepalm:

The old transformer types use dinosaur oil and the newer inverter types use synthetic and don't exceed your electrode capacity....hope this helps.

 

[81 Checkmate]

Re: Welding gurus....advice for a newbie....

So, do you put oil in these welders anywhere...and if so, synthetic or non-synthetic? ...[/COLOR

Yea i use Syntech in my 110 volt mig and just plane old used motor oil in my 220 volt it seams to run better that way!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Bondo]

Re: Welding gurus....advice for a newbie....

OK....this is coming off the rails

I know how to get it back on track....

So, do you put oil in these welders anywhere...and if so, synthetic or non-synthetic? ....:facepalm:

Ayuh,.... A few drops on the wheel's axle once, 'n awhile,... Syn, or Dino, don't matter...

I don't know...quality control maybe? A friend that has a HF helmet has stopped using his

Ayuh,... I had 1 here, that if set in the sun, from behind you could see it Winking,...
I smashed the crystal, so's nobody would/ could use it....
Dangerous....