Newbie

[POSJ]

Been on XJ's since 2006, haven't ever welded before, bought a welder to get into fabricating by doing an axle swap on my XJ and building an Ibex buggy. Now that you know my background...I know that this isn't "advanced fab" but I would really appreciate you experienced guys giving me constructive advice. I did my research and realized not to go cheap as it will just be a waste of money, and if you plan on welding a lot and thick material to get a 220v. I wound up getting a Miller 211 because of the dual voltage allowance. I tried my hand at laying my first beads tonight and I would like some help on what I need to do or what I am doing wrong. Also, my wife is trying her hand at it as well and I threw in a picture of her for good measure.

My tool of choice:

First weld ever, .250 wall to .250 wall:

Second weld, .120 wall to .250 wall:

Her welding:

From what I gathered of the .250 to .250 is that since I don't have 220v in my garage yet either slow speed or a double pass is required. .120 to .250 I think I need to stay more on the .250 material and less heat on the .120. Let me know what I can do better and anything else you can do to help I would appreciate.

 

[Boostwerks.com]

Honestly for your first welds, they don't look too bad.

Here are some of my reccomendations:

The biggest thing I try to tell new welders is to be paitent. It takes time to develop a good hand-eye cordination and get a "feel" for the weld puddle. It's common to get frustrated when the welds just won't come out like you've seen on the interweb. But like anything, it just takes time for your mind and body to come to an understanding of sorts

I would reccomend doing some simple flat welds on some plate first before moving up to fillets and tube welds. I would focus first on being consistant with the gun angle and path your taking, as well as the distance from the tip and the material (commonly refered to as stick out). From your pictures, your moving a little too fast and too far with the gun. Try moving the gun a little slower and not as far with a slight "whip" pattern. As you had mentioned, the 1/4" material is a little thick for 110V so I would stick to practicing on 1/8" until you can get 220. Great choice on the welder BTW as I am a huge fan of Miller.

I also reccomend getting comfortable. Comfort is by far the biggest advantage you'll have to laying down a good weld. If possible try putting your weld peice maybe 6-12 inches from the edge of a table. Then use the top of your fore arm to support your gun hand. Your forearm should act as a "support" to your gun hand but not limit it's manuverability.

Do some dry runs before actually running a bead. Not only does this help you visualize what your doing with your hands, but it will help you get comfortable as well as save your scrap for when your ready.

In my 10 years of professional welding, the biggest mistake I see welders make is setting the welder overly hot and running the bead too fast which results in the undercut of the base material and potential cracking along the HAZ. It's better to set the machine around the factory reccomended settings, and simply take your time to build a nice consistant bead.

That's awesome to see your wife getting down and dirty with you as well. I wish I could convince my wife to throw down some beads.

At any rate, I hope I've helped at least a little bit, and post some more pics of the progress!

 

[POSJ]

Will do, thanks for the advice, I do a few dry runs then run another bead and put a picture up.

 

[cracker]

yeah, it is not too bad. As was mentioned, try a little thinner with the 110v and see how they look (3/16" should look great).

 

[whitexj98]

I love that welder,made in the USA FTW!

I haven't ran it on 220 yet, but have pushed into the 220 range a few times on 110, blows the breaker every now and then but it welds dang nice.

Oh and I see you have the 220 plug on the cart, there is a nice little velcro strap that holds it inside the door. Also I bought a snazy Miller cover to keep her clean when not in use off ebay which I recommend.

And finally for a first good welding project I recommed a handle for the cart:

 

[POSJ]

Yeah, I dig the welder. bought some thinner.material but haven't has a chance to practice on it yet. I like the handle I think I do the same thing.

 

[POSJ]

Not at all advanced fab, sorry.

I noticed on that that I welded too long and burned through the thinner material of the cart so I had to do a fill job. Is there anything else I am missing on there other than too much heat on the thin material?

Handle corner, I think this is pretty decent...is it? lol

Overall product. Thanks for the idea whitexj98.

 

[bails85]

It looks like you start off rough then come into it at the middle of your welds. They look good though for not having any experience. Try pulse welding to get better at your starts and your technique. It help you get more familar with circling each individual bead and get more familiar with the way the light and the mask act. Once you got that down you will be surprised how well an actual bead looks. A solid hour on random pieces will realy help you dial in. Try square to get familiar with using your wrist. Round was really hard for me to learn with. I could only go 1/4 way around before i had to move or my welds look like shit. Good luck man. Having the miller only makes it easier.

 

[Boostwerks.com]

Again I highly reccomend focusing on your flat welds first. The other positions will thank you.

Soon you'll be buying a tig!

 

[POSJ]

Again I highly reccomend focusing on your flat welds first. The other positions will thank you.

Soon you'll be buying a tig!

I hate my welds now, thank you lol.

 

[POSJ]

Welded up a target for shooting, I have a bunch of scrap circles from work so I am playing with them. Target is going to be three pieces of 1/8" but I doubt it will hold up. Probably going to go right through but I want to see how many plates it does.

 

[dirteexj94]

I fallow the same route you did. I want to purchase a welder and teach myself to weld and start to do my own fab work. How much did you end up investing into your first welder??

 

[POSJ]

~$1,300 after everything.