Many safety issues with welding , sight , burns , breathing . A few safety warnings I’m sure you already know . You will always get a flash just try to keep it as safe as you can , wear some type of safety glasses under your helmet , next is skin burns : keep all covered , UV rays are near as bad as you can get . Ear plugs , not for noise but to keep sparks out , believe me it’s not fun to burn through the ear drum . Never breath fumes from galvanized plated , or anything cleaned with brake clean , there are filters designed to be used under your helmet . Invest in a welding jacket and use it . What’s real fun is stick welding overhead pipe , laying in mud and hot slag burns through you coveralls , pants and sticks to your balls . Man that is truly defined as living like a man . Think about going to the company Dr ., to discuss this and the Dr is a woman . Returned for 6 weeks to get new bandages and review the injury . WTH , I quit !
This 100%. Having a weld berry bounce down inside your ear and burn in there through your eardrum sucks big time. It's the exact opposite of fun.
You get used to pain. It helps increase your tolerance. Word of advice . Do not wear nylon/polester....it melts. And get some ointment for your eyes. You get a flash burn in your eyes it will feel likedand. Also, get some spray for burns. Keep your pant legs over your boots and see if you can find some welding gloves that fit tight around your wrists.
If you know little or nothing about the actual welding process but want to, go enroll in a class at your local community Collage. It will give you hands on info that on line experts can't explain. It's the second best $$$ you can spend just under a quality machine. If you don't have basics the Best machine in the world won't do you any good.
That 211 is a very user friendly unit. Do your first welds in the flat position. If that machine has the guide decal on the front as mine does, follow the factory recommendations for metal thickness. This will get you close to the correct settings. you will develop your own preferences regarding heat and wire feed speed as your skills develop. Also pay close attention to the shield gas regarding supply and be aware fans and breezes will disrupt the weld deposit unfavorably. the cleaner the metal is the better for your mig weld deposits. You will be pleased with how quickly you may develop the ability to lay beads. Welding is very much like painting as far as preparation is considered. Before you attempt to weld anything that is critical as to failure, understand about beveling, proper penetration, as well as fit up. Look on the U tube videos for examples of really good methods as well as some I find not so good. Welding is an enjoyable part of building and you will continue to learn the entire time you utilize this new skill.
Besides going to the local cc for all the disciplines, I also followed "Welding Tips and Tricks" on the net. I actually took to stick pretty easily, but really wanted to learn Tig. Mission accomplished! Follow good safety practices and don't get discouraged. As my instructor was fond of saying, " You gotta burn to learn!"
Thats a nice machine, it will make learning easier not fighting some crappy offshore welder the entire time. Youtube is your friend. Learn touch angle, and distance, practice push and pull travel, you end up needing both in some places but your puddle flows differently for proper penetration. Buy a bunch of drop plate and sheet, see if theres a shop around that will let you dig thru scrap bin. Im guessing sheetmetal bodywork will be the main use? Learn to weld plate first with proper technique, then forget it all, lay the torch way over and start spotting stuff in.
No one has mentioned footwear... always wear leather boots... preferably steel toes... never weld in something like, lets say, Chuck Taylors... the slag hits that rubber toe, encapsulates itself in molten rubber then nestles gracefully between your first and second toe... then you do the not so graceful dance of trying to untie, unlace, and remove a high-top shoe while your flesh is being cauterized by hot steel and molten rubber... not that I would ever do anything so stupid or have any direct knowledge of this...……….just sayin' Chappy
I do have direct knowledge. Was only a small cut in a piece of steel. Wasn't worth the time to go to my office to change shoes. In the grand scheme of things it was an inexpensive lesson.
yeah, it sucks... I was being sarcastic there at the end of my post...lol Mine was the same type of deal... had been wanting to get a part tacked in place all day... end of day, just going to get it done, grabbed the stick welder, touched it to the part and POP... 30 years later and one toe still doesn't have any hair on it...LOL Chappy
Thanks guys, lots of good stuff. Sheet metal and frame stuff mainly. I have been around manufacturing all my life and been in steel toes the whole time. I need to get a coat. I have plenty of pieces to practice on, I do some electrical control work for a local steel slitting company. Lots of nice scrap. I was going to get a Harbor Freight, but went the extra for this. Like said above, I didn't want to fight the machine starting out. I like the night class idea also.
That's the same one I ended up buying. You can see it hiding behind the fenders in the Bandit Garage. I have not used it on other than the automatic setting which is pretty ingenious. Although it wants me moving faster than I am comfortable with so far. You are going to love that machine. Set your reg between 20 and 23, I have mine running 230v but I did my class (which came with the welder) on 110v and it worked amazingly well.
This one followed me home.. I thought it was DC but i guess i was wrong. I always wanted to learn stick. Gotta find a 220 source
hmm thats shocking that a welder followed you home , i bet you were amp ed up . did it ask watts new : )
Got my coat at the local welding supply, cotton w/leather sleeves. Got leather apron at HF. Keeps my front from little burns, but can get hot. Some kind of welding hat keeps little nuggets from settling in the scalp area unless you got a full head helmet. Most welding supply has magnifying lenses (if yer older). Once you learn on thin metal, the thicker stuff seems easy. Good luck.
Miller is good stuff. Wife and I went to Columbus O NSRA. Miller had small stations with wire welders set up. Couldn't get her away from playing with the wire. She wanted one. Of course I had three already. Neat stuff. Fun. Easy to learn. Sent from my XT1710-02 using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
It's pretty dang easy to lay a pretty bead with a mig welder that won't hold much. You have to make sure your " parent metal" ( the parts your Welding together) is melting sufficiently and not just the filler wire melting and laying on the surface...
Just as important than equipment, or maybe more so, is knowing how to use it. The fellow I bought the Miller 211 from gave me an hour of instruction with the sale...hell, you cant have enough instruction. He taught me the "Lincoln Wiggle". It's a lot like the "Texas Two Stitch". Nozzle close and pushing the puddle, you push about an inch forward then pull it back half inch, push it forward an inch and repeat. Speed consistent with the material and amperage. My favorite used to be the "Backward Cowgirl" but this is a groovy new method and my new "go to" especially for 90 degree welds.
Check out "Welding Tips And Tricks. Com", pretty good stuff. Teach would say, "Ya gotta burn to learn!"
Good welding is 2 things, practice and be comfortable. You can't run a decent long bead if you can't be still enough. Practice on any scrap you have around. I learned in college, gas and arc welding, we touched on MIG welding too, but all practice pieces submitted were gas or arc. I never had a auto-dark helmet until recent years.. and you should realize it needs fresh batteries (AAA IIRC) so it works. One lesson you never forget. Years ago for tight welds, we would take a junk arc welding helmet, cut the face portion out of it and attach it to a wooden stick. Hold the mask in one hand, weld with the other. One of the worst sun burns I got was in March, doing a quick weld sample in class for someone. Unit of currency back then was pitchers of beer.
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