MIG welding newbie - First attempt

[jpsh120]

I've decided to bite the bullet and have a go at welding for the first time over the weekend. I'm borrowing a welder etc from a friend with a view to buying it and after a bit of practice will hopefully be able to do some minor repairs.

My question to those of you that weld, is it fairly easy to get the hang of? I'm fairly practical and having read lots of info and guides I feel fairly confident but is there anything I need to be aware of that could be beginner error??!

Thanks.

[arceye]

Its a fine art really, after a while you just know when you are getting it right by sight and sound. So really the best advice is practice practice practice.

Main things you need to avoid are blowing holes or not getting enough penetration, the other potential pit fall is not having suficient gas flow to protect the weld from the air and so avoiding perosity, but you don't want to be wasting the gas either. Set the flow rate to about 25 cfh, if you don't have proper gauges a nice hiss will do.

Just play about with it, altering amps and wire speed to see what works best for you, but generally you need everything as clean as possible and make sure the earth is good. Start on thicker pieces of metal rather than thin sheet initially, and just run beads of welds down them. When you are right you should have a sound like frying bacon and a nice pool of weld whilst travelling.

You can then move on to joining bits together, you need to make sure the weld is actually going into the join and fusing the metals rather than just laying on top.

If you master that, go for the thinner sheet, again practice will find what works for you, you can stop start a lot as you go to avoid too much heat and blowing holes, or move the tip around a bit coming away from the weld and back to it. Weaving or zig zagging as you go can help and also helps join the two plates together by giving a wider weld.

Best practice is to" push" the torch in the direction of the weld to better shield the weld with gas but in reality it doesn't make a lot of difference and I Pull as much as push.

One last bit, make sure the welder is as good as it can be, especially the tip of the torch, you'd be amazed at how much difference it makes, as does keeping the shroud around the tip clear of debris. So get a few and change them when they get nasty. A cheapish auto darkening helmet helps a lot now, and try to avoid getting flashed from the arc cos it can be real bad on the eyes.

If you get arceye, it hurts like hell, but cold tea bags help

Now the shouty bit NEVER WEAR CONTACT LENSES OR WELD AROUND SOMEONE WHO DOES, as they can fuse to the eyeball and result in permenent blindness when you try to take them out.....

Have fun and do report back how it goes

[megadethmaniac]

Have a look at http://www.mig-welding.co.uk. There`s loads of stuff on there. Ranging from Videos and tutorials to pictures of peoples welding exploits.

I`m in the same boat and will shortly start playing with my Cebora 130 now as I have some scrap and an auto darkening lid.

[Luxobarge]

I've done loads of welding, and can't add much to the above, both posts are spot on IMHO.

Except for the bit about contact lenses: I've always welded in contact lenses, including (on the odd occasion - I've leaned my lesson now!) getting arceye, and never had the slightest problem with lenses on any occasion, nor have I heard anyone who has - and I know quite a few welders! Strange to hear such an opposing view, but there you go eh?

Especially recommend the http://www.mig-welding.co.uk web site - spend an hour or two browsing around there and it'll provide you with all the web-based information you could possibly ask for. Then go and practice!

I can DEFINATELY recommend an automatic light-sensitive welding mask, if you don't have one already - much safer and SOOOO much easier to use than a conventional mask, a brilliant invention. Haven't had a single arceye episode since buying that, not even close.

Cheers

[jimmyybob]

Ah yes arceye i remember that not nice get a proper auto helmet but remember your neck/throat area it burns easily and most helmets wont cover it ,i normally tie an old scarf around my neck.
Hands are another area if you use cheap gloves you will get hot rocks burning you usually between your fingers where you cant get them out quickly.
Try to avoid welding vertical in an upward direction...its a right ass to do.
Hot rocks can also roll a surprising distance normally straight into the nearest oil covered rag.

[arceye]

Try to avoid welding vertical in an upward direction...its a right ass to do.

Really on anything other than thin sheet vertical welds really should be done in an upwards direction, the knack is to weave them side to side a little as you go, pausing at each side of the weave for a moment.

I'm going to come clean about the contact lenses and my reasoning....you can make up your own mind.

They were always forbidden in any welding enviroment I worked in. From the 1960's onward there have been occasional claims by welders that they have been fused to their eye resulting in blindness / substanial loss of the cornea. Now, these claims have always been found on investigation to be "unsubstantiated", and official advice seems to be that they are safe when used in conjunction with proper and suitable eye protection for the work.

Me, I'll stick to what we were taught as apprentices and the rules that were in place in many working enviroments. What I can say is that we had a fuss on the railway when an S&T lad got an electrical arc flash in one of the control boxes. The usual flood of safety letters and warnings at the meetings that followed him going blind after his contact lens fused to his eye from a simple electric flash rather than welding was enough to make up my mind on the possibility of exposure to electric arcs being a risk to contact lens wearers. I don't know what the official findings of the later enquiry were, and the claim of the arc being at fault may have even been found to be "unsubstantiated", but something removed a lot of cornea etc when he tried to remove his contact lens that evening.

So, really Luxo is quite probably correct, me though, I'd never chance it but possibly because it was always drummed into us as a genuine risk.

[rich.]

good luck!! can you post a few pics of your efforts??



honest we wont laugh.. we have all been there

[jpsh120]

Thanks all, some useful tips there. I have no worries where contact lenses are concerned but that is only because I had laser surgery and I'm not planning on doing any DIY upgrades!!

I will happily post pictures of my attempts, unless they are completely useless in which case I will keep quiet and hope you all forget!

This has been forced on me a bit (which isn't necessarily a bad thing) as the H120 needs a new outrigger and my mate (who did the strut tops) has a lot on his plate at the moment so rather than waiting indefinitely I'm going to have a go and see if I feel confident enough to tackle the job myself.

[jimmyybob]

Try to avoid welding vertical in an upward direction...its a right ass to do.

Really on anything other than thin sheet vertical welds really should be done in an upwards direction, the knack is to weave them side to side a little as you go, pausing at each side of the weave for a moment.

What am i thinking of then???, i know one way is a right pain.
Is it overhead im thinking of.?

[arceye]

Try to avoid welding vertical in an upward direction...its a right ass to do.

Really on anything other than thin sheet vertical welds really should be done in an upwards direction, the knack is to weave them side to side a little as you go, pausing at each side of the weave for a moment.

What am i thinking of then???, i know one way is a right pain.
Is it overhead im thinking of.?

Oh, both are a real pain its just you should weld vertically in an upwards direction in order to get sufficient penetration of the metal. Welding downwards tends to be easier and gives neater results but doesn't actually give the same strength.

Welding overhead is just a real pain in the but with trying to avoid snotty welds, and of course molten blobs of metal exploding in yer ear drum

Oh, and going back to the contact lenses, I've been googling, they are banned for welding in some countries but in general it is supposed to be an urban myth "still widely believed by the older generation of tradesmen"

Still not chancing it though