Welding Practice

More of an art than a science - discuss metalworking and welding here.



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PostPosted: Wed Apr 13, 2016 10:17 am
I have a 110v Craftsman welder that was given to me. I have done some minor welding of a few things and they turned out ok. Mostly using .025 wire and gas setup. One day I will upgrade to a bigger welder.

I picked up some steel at the scrap yard to practice on but it is 3/16 and my welder says in order to go that thick, I need to use .030 flux core (which I have).

Question: any harm in practicing running beads with the flux core? I know I will need to practice more when I switch back to the smaller wire and thinner gauge metal. Really just want to get some more practice in.

I picked up some square tube and angle that I eventually want to build a welding table with.

I have some fenders that I picked up at the collision shop that I could cut up and patch back together as practice instead.



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PostPosted: Wed Apr 13, 2016 4:58 pm
absolutely no harm at all , it will give you practice at , proper gun angle...learning to watch the puddle,....experiment a little with stick out and see how that effects your welds,... and just getting the feel of the gun in your hand , also a lil tip to help with mig welding is, get rid of that junk metal ground clamp, and get one that is solid copper and trim the outer nozzle back so its even with your tip, that way you will have the proper stick out when welding.....and you can practice running beads with the .025 on 3/16 steel, you will have to up your amps and slow you movement, learn to watch the puddle...and remember going from flux core to bare wire you need to change your polarity on the machine....dcen for flux core and dcep for bare wire



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Joined: Fri Apr 10, 2015 3:51 pm

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PostPosted: Thu Apr 14, 2016 10:31 am
Thanks for the input. I'll post some welds using the existing wire (.025) on 3/16 before I switch to the flux core. Not sure if my machine will handle it but I'll try. I've been watching Jody (?) at WeldingTipsandTricks and he suggested the same thing about ditching the clamp and trimming the nozzle.

Hopefully have a chance this weekend to do some practice.



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Posts: 166
Joined: Sat Sep 04, 2010 8:22 am
PostPosted: Thu Apr 14, 2016 2:00 pm
yes, Jody is the man to watch, he also has a formula on his website to help you dial in your wire speed

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