Another welding question, but a stupidly simple one.

I've bought my first welder and I'm about to begin learning my technique. To avoid confusing myself I bought an idiot proof setup. One speed knob and one temp switch that goes high or low.

So the question is..... when shaving the door handles on my '50 (first project) do I want to be on high heat or low heat as I am patching the doors up?

The rest I'll figure out on my own I guess. That's why I wanted such a simple machine to learn on. It's running .035 flux core wire.

http://store.weldingdepot.com/cgi/weldingdepot/K2501-1.html?id=h2Va4FE5

 

ha we have that welder at the place where i work and its really not that bad either. Put it between 5 or 6 on low heat and you should be fine, try a few different settings on some scrap to get the feel of it

 

Take a some same size scrap and practice and set your heats before doing the doors.

 

Low heat. You can always increase if needed. Probably best to practice with some scrap stock of the same gauge as the door, before you ruin the door. Good luck. Stu

 

Oh I'm not going straight to the door. LOL! Thanks a bunch. I'm a technical person and have wrenched my own cars all my life, but I've never welded so just learning a new trick here. Gotta go by and pick up some scrap from the metal yard.

 

also, id try .023 wire for sheetmetal. it will take a bit more expertise to run that 035 , as the heat to melt it may already be burning through the sheetmetal

as the others are saying , start on low, and try it on scrap first

skull

 

just my .02 but i'd drop the wire size down if possible...i've tried .035,.030 , but .023 seems to work alot better (at least for me it does). especially on stuff like shaving door handles , etc..

 

Thanks. I dig what you two are saying on the heat time. I'm in the electronics field and solder on a daily basis so I know about heat time and metal when using solder. Obviously a whole new ballgame, but not completely flying blind I guess. I have to do some pretty artsy stuff with soldering irons that have always reminded me of welding and I do it daily so I might find this to be an easy adoption of technique.

I'll look for some .023 to have around as well

 

can you get flux core wire in .023 or .030 ? you may want to convert to gas and drop down the wire size as suggested

 

Yup... looks like all of us would step down the wire size... You'll need a smaller tip too so don't forget that if you go buy wire. Where you going to use flux to do it? I really don't see a problem with at... you just want to keep from warping the patch and doors when you weld... even a burn through can be fixed. But like it's been said before... get the scrap and spend some time before you go to the doors.

Good luck! and would love to see some picture progress!

 

i think .035 is the smallest flux core there is, whatever the thickness your door is that is what you should practice on, even though flux core wire is better on metal that is a little dirty i would still grind it clean, new metal with mill scale should be ground clean as well, you wont need any gap, just do spots, for starters just start welding spots in the middle of a piece of scrap, then start stringing the spots togather, then butt weld some scraps togather, then find some things to fix around your place like the lawn mower handle, patch that hole in the wheel barrow, make some garden stakes, by then welding the door holes shut will be easy.

 

Since your not using shielding gas the fluxcore will splatter on you a little bit. You can pic up some welding flux which is almost the same as you would use when you solder. Use it on the inside of your nozzle tip to save you from clogging the tip with splatter and find some .023 wire so you wont blow through your sheetmetal from getting it to hot with the thicker wire.

 

23 is ideal .But you cant get that in flux core.

 

I think since .023 is out the door on options I'll be ok with the .035 because I typically err on the side of caution when working with materials so I'm more likely to not get hot enough than too hot.

 

If possible stick a piece of copper behind the joint to help absorb the heat from .035 wire.

 

It seems like the heat that hangs around on the surface for the next 30 seconds will be the real enemy in terms of warpage as it cools down.

 

i think you will find that .023 solid wire has the same metal content per inch as flux core .035, the extra dia. is because .035 flux core is a hollow tube of metal with the center filled with flux.

 

Be smart & trade that junk in for a quality piece of equipment (Miller--Lincoln--Hobart), 250 series .035 wire & CO2 gas, you won't be sorry!!---I guess that you are a beginner into welding, & thats my best advice!-----Don----Welding since 1951

 

You can probably do a decent job with that welder, but it'll take some practice, and since you haven't welded before you ought to spend quite a bit of time learning before you attempt to weld up a door...it's easy to screw up...

I suggest you start by getting good at welding thicker metal (try 16 gage) then after you get the hang of it, try thinner metal, and keep practicing till you get good at it. Also when welding sheet metal it's helpful to just make short welds and let it cool often, for example after tacking it in place, weld two or thre short welds 1/2" long max, then let it cool for 15 minutes, then do a couple more, etc. If you weld up the whole thing at once, you'll probably shrink (warp) the door

 

Go pick up a mig welder [even a 110 v would do body work]Use .024 wire,save your self alot of agravation.

 

There are only three things that make a good welder..................
practice....... practice and practice. and do it on scrap metal until you are comfortable. also look at adult education or the community collage.

 

My 2 cents. Get rid of the flux core wire and go with a .023 wire and add a tank of argon/co2 shielding gas. You will like that alot better.

 

If the welder is still new trade it in for one with a gas option. I have a flux core/real mig. I came with everything except the tank factory refurbish for under $200.

I started just like you did, i needed exhaust work done on my DD and bought it vs going to a shop. Practice on whatever material your using exactly. To get the .35flux core to flow properly the heat has to be kind of high, and i've easily blown through sheetmetal. I think the gas would create a nicer flow and less splatter. Also with fluxcore you need to constantly clean the residue from the flux off.

I think tig is much more similar to soldering than mig though.

 

regardless what you do, have fun! Personally i think welding is alot of fun once you get the hang of it!

 

when you weld sheet metal with a mig you string a series of tac welds. i dont run a continous bead. i tac weld overlapping the last tac by 1/3ed until i have a continous bead. also metal warps ( shrinks) with heat. if you continue to weld a warped piece of sheet metal it will lock in the warp. which will be more work to straighten out. to combat the warpage i start in the middle of the weld. tac in the center than 1" on either side. go no further. use your hammer and dolly and stretch the welds. this step will bring the pannel back to its proper position. make sure the pannel is not hot to the touch than tac 1" on either side of the last 2 tacs. than hammer and dolly again on the 2 tacs to stretch the pannel back to its origional shape. do the same steps until you have taced the entire pannel. you may have to grind your proud down before you hammer and dolly so you dont distort your pannel. you can use your air hose to cool down your panel so you can keep going. next you have to fill in the 1" sections. i start in the middle of the weld and tac 6 times over lapping each other by 1/3ed. that should cover about 1/2". stop than hammer and dolly the tacs to stretch your weld to keep the panel straight. make sure your metal is not hot to the touch than move a couple inches away and repeat until you have welded your panel up. take your time and control your panel. if you take the time when welding you will save much more time fixing a warped panel. test your heat and speed settings on a piece of scrap until your tacs look nice. not to proud, no holes, good penitration. after playing with your pratice tacs you will dial in your settings. mig welding is different than soldering. i am a plumber and have soldered thousands of pipes in my career. good luck tom

 

ya what they said practice ... set it so you get a nice solid tack (what feels good to you everyone is a bit diffrent ) tack around your patch every couple inches let cool every go around once you fill it all up grind your tacks down fill in the holes you missed and ta da ... oh and rember grinding causes heat to so take it easy just my opinion though have fun

 

Thanks everyone. I bought the one I want and for specific reasons so aside of changing wire size if I decide to it's gotta be this for now. I need to learn to weld. Just weld. Just me and a trigger. Once I can move it around I can go gas, I can change rigs, I can do anything I want...... but I need to learn how to weld, no distractions. I don't know anything about gas, I will learn and soon I promise. Right now I know what it will take to learn this for ME, which is no distractions, learn the technique, do it the hard way if you must and you'll be better in the end. Many thanks for the tips and ideas.

As far as the best right to use, what's best for me is what matters, this is it for now. Soon I'll have a welder room full of stuff. LOL!

 

Great thanks Good read.

 

Same thing i said when i bought mine. Good luck bro. Check out youtube for videos, they helped me alot. Teaching yourself isn't a bad thing to do since i did the same, but a frame of reference is needed, book/videos/advice on here...use what you can get!

 

I've been welding for years Have a cheap welder ,I run gas and when I first started I ran both gas and flux core wire .I set up for gas .After running out of the big spool,I used non flux core wire.My welds are not as nice.I started setting up shop for winter Added fresh air supply for torpedo heater,Change oil in air compressor ect. I also switched back to fluxcore 35 and used it with the gas .I improved my welds by 50% . You might want to try this and set your guage around 12 .Also buy a book on welding and penetration It will give you the basics.Good luck My welds are sometimes not pretty but they hold.