Hi, first post. Thank you for all the tips and knowledge I have found here already.
I bought myself a 140A flux core from Static Arc and 3 rolls of 0.8mm wire with the plan to learn basic car repair welding. I have done almost every job on my vehicles apart from welding so I though tit was about time.
My local engineering shop allows me to raid their skip for metal for very little money. I started with running beads on 3 mm then butt welding sections together.
Today I have started on 2 mm. With my first attempts I used no gap in case it burned through but the weld pulled the two parts together tight and put a bow into the work. Then I cut a piece into four and joined it using 1 mm gaps.
My settings were V = 3 (estimated as 16-17 V) WFS = 5 (measured as 4500 mm/min)
As you can see the penetration is not complete but not too far off. I have ground down two of the welds and left the middle one for you to see. I stitched it in short welds and cooled each one with a very damp chamois. I realise this is a bad idea for structural welds but is it okay to minimise distortion on a panel?
I have some 1.2 mm steel to practice on soon so any more tips to deal with the inevitable distortion appreciated. One question I do have is how to avoid burn through at the very end of the weld? Heat sink maybe?
Many thanks for any tips, constructive criticisms or even cheap shots
I bought myself a 140A flux core from Static Arc and 3 rolls of 0.8mm wire with the plan to learn basic car repair welding. I have done almost every job on my vehicles apart from welding so I though tit was about time.
My local engineering shop allows me to raid their skip for metal for very little money. I started with running beads on 3 mm then butt welding sections together.
Today I have started on 2 mm. With my first attempts I used no gap in case it burned through but the weld pulled the two parts together tight and put a bow into the work. Then I cut a piece into four and joined it using 1 mm gaps.
My settings were V = 3 (estimated as 16-17 V) WFS = 5 (measured as 4500 mm/min)
As you can see the penetration is not complete but not too far off. I have ground down two of the welds and left the middle one for you to see. I stitched it in short welds and cooled each one with a very damp chamois. I realise this is a bad idea for structural welds but is it okay to minimise distortion on a panel?
I have some 1.2 mm steel to practice on soon so any more tips to deal with the inevitable distortion appreciated. One question I do have is how to avoid burn through at the very end of the weld? Heat sink maybe?
Many thanks for any tips, constructive criticisms or even cheap shots