I stuck some metal together

[PaulC7]

I say stuck together because you cant by any means call what i have done on my first attempts... call welding.

Had my first attempt using a SWP mig 181


As a novice ive read up on how to weld and watched many videos and tutorials but as you all know its easier said than done but i didnt expect to do as badly as i did, i know we all have to start somewhere but this is pretty shameful.


First of all it doesnt help if you cant keep your hand still when welding, i wasnt scared of doing it but i couldnt get my hand moving smoothly... when tacking i would flip my visor down and find i had moved my hand and just created a mess on one of the pieces of metal... also trying to keep the right distance proved very tricky and i was either too far away and making splatter or too close causing the tip to stick.

Second was the fact i couldnt see anything but a green glow with a yellow/red glow following behind it, pull the trigger try to focus on where the tip was... oops took too long and burnt a hole, not good... when moving along couldnt see the join so my welding was drifting all over the place.


But on the plus side... MAN DID I HAVE FUN SO MUCH FUN WELDING IS COOL, was like a big kid with a huge smile across my face.


20 pics for you to laugh at... enjoy.

 

[chevy2]

Don't knock yourself too much, I've seen plenty of first welds much worse,

You say your hand moves around a lot, try not to keep your in mid air,
try to rest your wrist or forearm on the bench or a block will help to hold it steady,
another way is to support it with your other hand while welding,

Keep practising and varying methods, you'll get there.

 

[PaulC7]

I was resting my left forearm on table and my right hand on my left hand.

I tried doing a half moon pattern but concentrating on it too much i went too slow or done it too quick and messy.

The welder wasnt mine either so i never set it up i had someone who uses it regularly set it up so when it comes to getting my own smaller welder i will have all wire speed and power settings to learn so my welding will be like that in the pics for sometime.

 

[Richiew]

Try moving much slower. Everyone makes the mistake of moving the torch too fast when they start to learn. Prop your right hand holding the torch on your left hand in order to steady it.

Congrats on showing the pictures of your your first attempts, its the only way you will learn if you get feed back.

If you can get someone who is experienced and knows how to weld, ask them to show you how to weld as theory is blown away by hands on experience in welding.

My advice would be to steady your arm and move at half the speed that you did in the pictures that you have provided. At least those on the long runs. Also try to learn on thicker steel than 1.2mm. It is too thin. Get some 3mm steel as it is much harder to blow through the metal as you have done in the first few pics.

 

[Faaluke]

Just weld some lines along the metal. Don't try and join metal until you get the hang of just running straight lines. Until you can do that, and get the penetration looking ok, joining metal is not worth bothering with.

Check out the great tutorial pages on this site.
http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/tutorial.htm

Have a play with the welder settings. I find it's a good idea to write down the settings you find to work well. I write down the material thickness, and all of the welder settings I used to get good penetration. Otherwise each time you go to weld, you'll have to work it all out again. I have a list of settings in the garage for varying thickness material. I also note what type of weld I was doing. Whether it was just doing a butt joint, or if it was box section or angle steel etc.

Run the lines like in the tutorial on just some varying thickness plate. It may seem like a waste of time just running pointless lines. But IMO, if you don't do that first, and get a feel for it. You'll spend 10 times as long, just trying to learn how to weld.

Did you prep the welded surfaces with a grinder to take off any dirt / oil / anything else?

 

[ned]

Man i actually bust myself laughing just now, well done, you are a funny dude

that last pic isnt too bad. the post above is spot on, just practice getting even consistent welds on flat plate, box iron or similar )

 

[ajlelectronics]

Don't beat yourself up over it too much. I made a lovely job of plasma cutting a 2mm thick patch and welding it in. It did spit a bit but I finished it. I needed to drill a 10mm hole, so centre punched it. The patch fell onto the floor! Not sure what went on, but it happens to everyone at some point!

 

[julianthegypsy]

Get a decent mask. It will make a huge difference as you will be able to see where you are starting and it will give you a much clearer view of the weld pool. Also, get plenty of background light, it also helps to see what's going on.

 

[marlinspike]

I am a beginner too. We've all started with welds like that. Everything said above is great advice - especially just to practise runs on thick steel til you get used to the torch speed and to note the settings. A decent helmet - auto darkening makes a huge difference, turn it down so you can see a bit more.

I have found that my practise runs are ok, but when I start on the car the welds are much worse. Practise is everything though, so keep going.

 

[gaz1]

also while you have those holes around try filling them in by lowering your amps settings as you might as well learn that as well

oh and isnt it fun mig welding much easier than arc with long rod i find but with my nerves kicking in a lttle i use that to my advantage as it gives a little shake as i weld with mig alowing a left and right welding as i go down the metal

thoe in some places you got spot on and others you moved too fast but good try anyway we all learn it doing it and great fun doing so

thoe will say using a better machine makes all the difference and getting a higher cost machine puts the cheaper brands to shame but not always

 

[PaulC7]

Thanks for the comments, all points taken on board.

Shall be more to follow hopefully soon will post how I get on then.

 

[rich r]

Regarding your visor issue - get an autodimming helmet. That way you can position the torch and not have to take your hand away to flip your visor down. Makes a big difference having both your hands free to concentrate on the welding and not faffing about with your visor. Doesn't have to be an expensive one - have a look at some of the discussions on here about the £30 eBay ones. For occasional welding, they're perfectly sufficient.