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I had to weld up a trailer for my boss today. Just want some critique on what I should be doing to make it cleaner. This is only my third time using a welder, and it's a cheap harbor freight welder. Roast away! First time welding anything other than a straight line....
Flux core wire machine? (Not a 120 machine I hope) I'll be perfectly honest, top welds look pretty cold, bottom looks only slightly better. No real penetration, smack them with a heavy hammer and they will likely fail. Only way to get better is lots of practice on non-critical stuff. Not really advisable for stuff that goes on the road. The idea is to melt the base metals together with the help of some added filler, not apply filler to the surface like glue. Did you grind and wire wheel the rust away first? I always recommend beginners start with OA to learn all about the puddle, then progress to stick then MIG. Starting with MIG makes it too easy to do it wrong. Also flux core is not easy, sometimes stick is better if you don't have a lot of experience with flux core. Disclaimer: I am not a professional weldor (meaning I don't weld for a living) but have been doing it for a couple of decades and had some schooling. (Have 3 machines and 3 OA setups)
Will be curious to hear what others have to say.
If you are interested in joining a good welding forum let me know and I'll hook you up.
If you are interested in joining a good welding forum let me know and I'll hook you up.
I have been toying with the idea of getting a welder. It sure would be handy for me at times when I need one and come up with another solution or take the piece to a local welding shop to have the job done.
I would like the "hook up" and begin my journey on acquiring a decent welder for the somewhat rare occasions I need one.
To cold and to fast of a pace, try giving it more heat and slow down, do a horse shoe pattern pulling the puddle and make sure the metal is bare metal, no oil, rust, paint etc...
I'm a self taught wannabe welder not an expert or a novice for that matter but I learned with stick using 6013 rod if you master 6013 you will love 7018. Never used other welders other than flux from HB and it's harder IMO than stick.
Best advice is save up and get a mig with gas. Anybody with a decent mig with gas half way set correctly can make a pretty decent weld after 15 mins of practice. Flux core is just dirty and doesn't look clean. I've actually heard decent things sabkjt the green welder from harbor freight. Not sure what they call it.
I agree with the others that the welds look cold . I would say if you want to learn mig to practice on a decent machine ( miller / Lincoln) if possible, or save up to buy a decent setup. I think you will find it much easier to learn that way. I tried my neighbor's Chicago electric 120v buzz box and man I couldn't get a nice looking bead , but not saying it can't be done. I saved up and bought a little Lincoln 210 MP and it was night and day difference. The guy that taught me to weld set me up with argon/CO2 instead of the flux core it came with and that helped a lot. I still consider myself a grinder instead of a welder so I'm not a pro by any means but I do enjoy welding and learn a little more each time. Practice, practice, practice is the key. I went to some local welding shops and asked if they had any scrap metal they didn't want anymore and they were nice enough to give me some old stuff to learn on. As said earlier grind away until there's bare metal before you lay a bead down, also having a good ground is key, if there is paint /dirt/oil in the spot I'm going to put my ground clamp I will usually take my grinder and grind a little spot to bare metal to put my ground on.
I have used 3 welders in the last 30 years. Hobart, first a 120, then a 130, and now a 140. .030 flux core wire. The clean up sucks, but it seems to burn hotter than a gas set up. White arc vs a blue arc with gas. Thinking about a move bumper, would be using the 140 to weld it. It's what I've got. Welded my whole buggy with it.
I appreciate everyone chiming in. I figured there was definitely something missing. It is a cheap flux core 220 machine from harbor freight. Heat was all the way up unfortunately. It's not made for stuff that thick. It's not my machine. Just used it to stop the ramp from falling off. I don't have a welder. I have always wanted to start on stick so I could learn the hard way. I figure if I get good at stick I can do mig no problem. I was looking at the green brand of welders at harbor freight. They are called titanium. They have a machine for about 600 bucks that does mig and stick. Not sure if it's big enough or if it will get any hotter than the one I used today.
But now that I'm looking at them, I could get a standalone stick welder a lot cheaper. I don't want to spend thousands on a machine when I hardly ever weld. I just need something that'll get the job done. Although I feel I would probably be better off buying a used lincoln/miller or other top brand instead of buying something like this.
Flux core wire machine? (Not a 120 machine I hope) I'll be perfectly honest, top welds look pretty cold, bottom looks only slightly better. No real penetration, smack them with a heavy hammer and they will likely fail. Only way to get better is lots of practice on non-critical stuff. Not really advisable for stuff that goes on the road. The idea is to melt the base metals together with the help of some added filler, not apply filler to the surface like glue. Did you grind and wire wheel the rust away first? I always recommend beginners start with OA to learn all about the puddle, then progress to stick then MIG. Starting with MIG makes it too easy to do it wrong. Also flux core is not easy, sometimes stick is better if you don't have a lot of experience with flux core. Disclaimer: I am not a professional weldor (meaning I don't weld for a living) but have been doing it for a couple of decades and had some schooling. (Have 3 machines and 3 OA setups)
Will be curious to hear what others have to say.
If you are interested in joining a good welding forum let me know and I'll hook you up.
I did grind the metal first on all of the welds. It is a 220 flux core machine. What does OA stand for?
I would like to join this welding forum. I don't have to weld often but there is a time and place where it is always needed. Thanks for the info.
To cold and to fast of a pace, try giving it more heat and slow down, do a horse shoe pattern pulling the puddle and make sure the metal is bare metal, no oil, rust, paint etc...
I'm a self taught wannabe welder not an expert or a novice for that matter but I learned with stick using 6013 rod if you master 6013 you will love 7018. Never used other welders other than flux from HB and it's harder IMO than stick.
Heat was all the way up unfortunately. That cheap Little machines spits and sputters so much, the only way I was able to avoid that particular issue was to turn the wire speed up. I would like to get a stick. Are the ones at harbor freight any good? In particular the green 'titanium' ones?
I agree with the others that the welds look cold . I would say if you want to learn mig to practice on a decent machine ( miller / Lincoln) if possible, or save up to buy a decent setup. I think you will find it much easier to learn that way. I tried my neighbor's Chicago electric 120v buzz box and man I couldn't get a nice looking bead , but not saying it can't be done. I saved up and bought a little Lincoln 210 MP and it was night and day difference. The guy that taught me to weld set me up with argon/CO2 instead of the flux core it came with and that helped a lot. I still consider myself a grinder instead of a welder so I'm not a pro by any means but I do enjoy welding and learn a little more each time. Practice, practice, practice is the key. I went to some local welding shops and asked if they had any scrap metal they didn't want anymore and they were nice enough to give me some old stuff to learn on. As said earlier grind away until there's bare metal before you lay a bead down, also having a good ground is key, if there is paint /dirt/oil in the spot I'm going to put my ground clamp I will usually take my grinder and grind a little spot to bare metal to put my ground on.
I just don't want to spend so much on the machine that I'm only going to use a couple times a year.
I did grind away a spot for the clamp on both ramps. And I grinded the paint off of the areas to be welded.
I will have to hit up a local welding shop but, first things first I need to get a decent welder of my own. I might look into the used stick welders on Facebook. And maybe a little more research on the harbor freight stick welders.
I don't know about other brand of welders, I started with a Lincoln 225 welder/Generator, and have a 220 Lincoln stick welder I never use, I found out mobility is key in my line of work, maybe it can for you too and might be worth it in the long run. I own two Lincoln welder/gen sets that I bought for cheap due to bad engines, and they are worth their weight in gold. Sometimes I get side jobs welding stuff like cattle fences, home fences even some automotive stuff and its a good paying gig. So think into the future if you plan on making bank.
That one is a scam I've seen the same post posted on my location as well. Those gen sets go for 5k new now even more used you can get one from 1500-3k depending on hours and condition.
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