MotorHead

Bought one of those wire feed Lincoln 100's or something like that 2 setting 15 and 20 amp, anyway I think it is enough for my needs but boy am I lousy at it. Part of the problem is the cheap welding mask that comes with it is too dark, you cannot see what you are welding.

DO they make different shades of the welding glass and if so which one should I buy ?

Any other tips on welding would be appreciated :D

gdh

first thing, take your sunglasses off, don't need to wear them as well. 2nd at the shop in the hs they have different welding masks which vary the amount of light let through.

Shark Racer

Funny you should mention the world's worst welder- tsw71 recently made me some header pipes...





Just kidding! :) He did a great job, considering we were working with a welder that only had two options, melt or destroy, and we used the old scrap pipe from the exhaust manifold downpipes.

The car only had a slight exhaust leak where 2" pipes went into 2 1/4". The ultimate in "slip fit".

He knew these pictures would come back to haunt him. Seriously though, these pipes were the difference between "insanely loud" and "not too bad".

Thanks again, Tom!

Steve


[Modified by Pacin'California, 1:49 PM 9/27/2003]

Edzred72

Even when you know the technique, it still takes...Practice...practice...practice. I suck too so the best option for both of us is to take a welding coarse. Many community colleges offer it so i'm enrolling in the spring. Lucky for me I have access to equipment at work....so it will increase my productivity there (Vette productivity). But don't tell my boss I'm welding car parts... :D :D
Eddie

LiveandLetDrive

Assuming you're using the "usual" kind of welding mask, new glass in a variety of shades are very cheap. I got a "5" for $2 from a friend. Make sure you figure out what's right for you application, better too dark than too light!

-Chris

lyndave75

or everything will look like sig. pic above!!!!! :lol:

Twin_Turbo

auto darkening helmet, they're cheap from harbor freight

MotorHead

Yea I got it to weld some exhaust pipes too, I hope mine welds that stuff because I when I put my new motor in it is going to require fancy welding of pipes to make the new headers fit, this way I don't have to tow it to the muffler shop, I dread doing that.

I guess they give you the darkest glass in the kit to avoid lawsuits I am going to have to get scrap metal, tailpipes to practice on, you should see my weight bench, nice and solid now but pretty it ain't :lol:

PatsLs1vette

yes autodarkening is the cats nuts.you can see what your doing without flipping the helmet up every time and as soon as you start it gets dark.

MotorHead

Pacin'California - I assume you bought the Dynomax headers and they had a different angle to your already installed dual exhaust, this is probably going to be the same type of problem I am going to be facing as the new Victor Jr. heads have a .300 in raised exhaust port, hope I can weld it up at least that good :lol:

OK I'll bite how much are the auto darkening helmets, I don't want to spend more than I spent on the welder.


[Modified by MotorHead, 7:09 PM 9/27/2003]

PatsLs1vette

you can get them from northern tools ive seen them for around $140

stpman

Wayne oyu can get one from Princess Auto for around $175-200 or you can go to a welders supply and spend up to $300 for one (that's Canadian $$)While your at it pick up a jar of nozzle dip.

Steve :steering:


[Modified by stpman, 9:00 PM 9/27/2003]

Titanium Rat

quote/////He did a great job, considering we were working with a welder that only had two options, melt or destroy

lol/lol/lol now that was funny that made me laugh today--thanks Brent :lol:

Shark Racer

My name's Steve... :confused:

Chris@VetteFinders

Whew that looks like a poor welding job to me, but who cares, it doesn't have to look good there!

Lowes sells auto-darkening welding helmets also around $80. They work fine.

MotorHead

What is nozzle dip, I assume it is something to help with the splatter you get with a non gas welder ?

MikeC

Practice, practice, practice. You'll get better after awhile.

Nozzle dip keeps the molten metal from sticking to the tip.... and therby reduces the amount of heat the tip sees, therefore less cleaning is required... and the tip lasts longer.

As for the shadde of the lense..... they usually give you a #10 lense and that is what is recommended for anytype of arc welding.Go a little lighter but not too much..... Listen to me on this... I was in bed with "sandpaper eyes" for two days because of too light of a shade of lense.

jetech

The book "Performance welding" has a lot of good info on MIG welding.

Clean both pieces to be welded to "bright" metal, no grey scale, oil, rust, etc.

Ideally the gap between the pieces to be welded should only be 1/2 the diameter of the wire (make the joints tight).

Practice on scrap, record what wire feed rate and voltage works the best for a given metal thickness.

Make sure the welder is hooked up correctly for the metal thickness and wire type (yes this means reading the manual :rolleyes: ).

Pay close attention to the penetration of the weld, my first weld joints looked great but broke apart easily because of little or no penetration into the base metal. (when you pull the wire away and lift up your helmet if the weld isn't cherry red still then it may be a cold joint with poor bond to the base metal)

Get an auto darkening helmet. I use two halogen lights to illuminate the work, I don't have to lift the hood up until I am finished welding.

Don't weld outside in the wind.

:cheers: :smash: :cheers:

MotorHead

So I guess I should have cleaned the paint off my weight bench before I started ? :lol:

I figured if I could strike an aec then the paint would just burn off, oh well thanks for the tips they will be followed.

Pauld

As people have said, it's albout practise with some basic knowledge. The method of welding you are starting with, known as MIG welding is the easiest to master, although if you really want to master welding and have the neatest strongest welds then move into TIG welding, this will also allow you to weld aluminium given the right equipment. Good luck with welding practise. Also I agree, get yourself a light sensitive welding helmet, I wouldn't be without mine.