Old but new

[Worzel]

I bought a mig, but i'm crap at it so far.
haven't had much time to practice either.

[Rogue Trooper]

Sorry Worzel but you will be crap till you practice, practice, practice. My welder is rubbish but I'm starting to get some really good results now especially after the nightmare that is my dash. Started really getting the hang of it when I made all the gates for around my section. 6 in all.

Go here and have a read through the forums. This really helped me with vertical and upside down welding. Upside down really sucks!

www.mig-welding.co.uk

Practice, practice, practice, practice.....

[Worzel]

no,no,no,
i want the east way, isn´t there a pill i can take

i kinda thought that, but i´m gonna replace the earth as it is too short and has a crappy clamp on it

[Marishka]

few tips=
1/ never close ur eyes looking directly at the flash point when tacking things without a helmet, ur eyelids are virtually transparent when it comes to the light flash that welding causes,  look away to 1 side even with eyes closed,
 
2/ make sure u clean all the steel u wanna weld, ie/ no rust or paint on the surfaces. paint or rust causes it 2 splatter like a bastard. like forgetting to turn the gas on.

3/ when welding thick steel and thin plate together ie/ weld onto the thick steel and let it flow onto the thin stuff. welding onto the thin stuff u just get blowthroughs and holes that u then have 2 fill..

4/ set ur amps first for the thickness ur welding, small amps for thin going up for thicker, u want to get the sound like bacon frying when welding ie/ if ur getting lots of splatter get someone to slowly turn the wire speed down while ur welding and when u get a good flow yell out ok leave it there.

5/ try get a self actavating auto welding helmet (cost a few hundred but their awsome.) ie/ they pay for themselves with the ease and u havent to worry about flipping then up n down . gives u ur other hand for holding things together and steadying the torch holding hand.

6/  wear good welding gloves,boots, (welding splatter hurts and sticks to bare flesh)(in between toes,fingers inner elbows, scalps etc.)   and wear good flame risistant clothing, i even go as far as soaking my overall arms with water to help cool and risist fires, make sure nothing is near that can catch fire, fuel cans, oil soaked rags etc,
a squirt bottle full of water with a friend ready to extinguish fires is a good help, especially when welding floors with flamable drip check in the seams. i nearly lost my sandman van  years ago getting lazy and not emptying the back when welding roof sections. whole inside of the back caught on fire.


remember that flashburn isnt fun especially ur eyes, i nearly hospitalised myself 30 years ago with eyes burnt that bad i couldnt see and had to work the next day with red bloodshot eyes , luckly i went 2 a chemist n got eyedrops and a box of tissues, then did my 12 hr nightshift looking like a vampire out of my coffin. get someone to throw a handfull of course beach sand into ur eyes if u wanna know how it feels. not good i tell ya. 

 that site rogue showed u is very informative, great site, ive been refering to it for a few years now.
and like rogue said practice makes perfect, u aint gunna get good without it, and finally never be in a hurry to weld things, take ur time, mistakes are made bein in a hurry!

hope these few tips make ur welding a safer and pleasurable experiance.

marty

[Rogue Trooper]

i´m gonna replace the earth as it is too short and has a crappy clamp on it

I did that exact same thing and definitely worthwhile.

As Marty said, get yourself an auto-darkening helmet. They are worth their weight in gold and relatively cheap these days too. The only pain is remembering to turn them off when you've finished welding for the day. I've occasionally forgotten to switch it on too, DOH!

I did a night class at the local Polytech as well on MIG and TIG welding which really helped. Touched on all sorts of other things like gas, arc and plasma cutting too which was really cool.

[Rogue Trooper]

Damn, hit quote instead of modify. DOH! again.

[able]

$50-$80 will get you a auto helmet from bunnings. they are solar powered and all you do is leave them near a window and they charge them selves.... no need to remember to turn them off.

one of the best buys i ever bought.

i use a cheap gasless and it took a while to get used to it but i have been plating in holes at a mates (some rust and filling a old lpg gas hole up) and he is more then happy with my work...

sometimes you have to get thicker wire for a better flow.... the thinner stuff can splatter and honeycomb and lead you to believe your never going to get used to it when it in fact is the wrong wire for the job at hand.