Rookie welder needs some input

[Skidmark]

hey everyone,

I bought my first welder on sunday. I spent a few hours today welding every scrap of metal I could scrounge up around my house.


My welds are looking ok, but I wasn't sure how you know if your getting good penetration. The welder is a Lincoln 3200. I haven't used it with any gas yet, just the flux core stuff.

Since I have it now, I plan on welding up a few items for my bronco like bumpers and a new tranny crossmember for my ZF.

This particular welder only has about a 1/4" capability since it runs on 110. I think that should be plenty for the bumpers, but I wasn't sure about the crossmember.

I've got BC's crossmember and to me it looks a little meak. I also need to modify my crossmember for more front driveshaft articulation.

Is my welder going to be sufficient to make the crossmember? I don't have a clue about the strength and weldability of differenty metals, but I figured there's something that would work. Just looking at the BC crossmember, I would really doubt that it's very thick.

Thanks for your help

Jake

 

[Amac70]

the thickest part of my crossmember for my zf is 3/16 and the is the mounting plates on the frame the rest is mostly .120 wall tube. its a small welder but it should be capable of doing all you described if you learn how to use it properly. practice practice practice. then make sure you you try and beat apart some of your welds with a bfh to make sure you are getting proper penitration and not just a pretty weld on top of the metal. there is guys on this board that have built complete tubed broncos with a 110v if you learn how to use it it will surve your porpuses.

 

[Synds9]

one way to check for penetration is simply check the other side of the piece you welded on. you'll see that the center of a proper weld is lighter and the outer of the weld will be a slight blue.. if your weld goes through slightly, you're using too much heat or moving too slow. as for welding thick metals with your welder, make sure you use the proper wire thickness and the best thing to do for thick metal is pre heat it with a blow torch.. Mapp Gas gets really hot and should do the job really well. never underestimate the significance of a good ground, always clean the metal really good.

 

[edge4]

Check the outer edges of your welds. Are they rounded with some flux crust under the edge?
They should lay fairly flat into the base metal.
You can make multiple passes with a smaller welder to build up the bead.
You can use a ziz-zag or circular sweep to get adequate coverage and penetration.
If you've got a MIG setup, dump the flux and go with gas. It is a night and day difference. It's worth the $$ outlay.

 

[BroncoDad]

One other quick tip that will let you weld thicker material with good penetration is to take a grinder and v - out your joint at about a 30 degree angle. Depending on how thick the material is, you might get by with one pass, or you might have to make another pass on top to completely fill the joint. Happy Sparkin!

Mo

 

[Hawk]

After you have practiced and like your welding, take you welds to a professional welder and have he or she look at them. Welding is not a practice makes perfect thing. Like Shaquille O'Neal, Shaq can practice all he wants he will never be good at free throw shooting because his technique is wrong, make sure your technique is right.
The keys are; technique, attitude, and practice. All the same, emphasis begins with technique.

 

[bob_lafrentz]

Take a course at a community college or JC. The courses are virtually free. This is what I am going to do to improve my welding skills.

Also, get a book from a local library. These are very informative. Good luck.

 

[Unregistered]

Sorry, I am not trying to steal your post, but I have one question. I come from an arc (stick) welding background. Can anyone tell me, when welding with a wire feed, do I weld with a side to side motion while traveling down the weld?

 

[Skiddy]

Sorry, I am not trying to steal your post, but I have one question. I come from an arc (stick) welding background. Can anyone tell me, when welding with a wire feed, do I weld with a side to side motion while traveling down the weld?

It depends, wire (gmaw short arc) you go in a weave pattern like stick. With flux core (fcaw) or (gmaw spray arc) you pretty much just lay it in with little movement, kind of like jet rod.
Hope that made since.

 

[Skiddy]

After you have practiced and like your welding, take you welds to a professional welder and have he or she look at them. Welding is not a practice makes perfect thing. Like Shaquille O'Neal, Shaq can practice all he wants he will never be good at free throw shooting because his technique is wrong, make sure your technique is right.
The keys are; technique, attitude, and practice. All the same, emphasis begins with technique.

You can bring it by me and I will check it out for you;D

 

[Hawk]

You can bring it by me and I will check it out for you;D

Isn't that a long drive?

 

[Skiddy]

Isn't that a long drive?

Naw and we could even go 4 wheeling