Welder World Blog

Just learning to weld, I have a hard time getting the weld started. Any tips?

all you need to know to weld like an expert.

All electric Dual Servo Spin welder. This spin welding machine welds round thermal plastic parts. The weld joints are strong and can be hermetic.

2 of 5 from “Welding” on Modern Marvels from The History Channel. Half science and half art, the ancient technology of welding is integral to modern life. It is the process of bonding, as simple as banging two metals together or as sophisticated as interlinking molecules with sound waves, and without it, the modern world around us – from cars to buildings to pipes that deliver clean water – would not exist.

More info and the schematic at frikkieg.blogspot.com CHECK OUT VERSION 2 solid state dual pulse welder http This started when both the batteries of my drill died and not willing to pay the outrages amounts for new batteries I started to look around for a better alternative. I realized that the guys that were building their $100 welder was on the right track but some did not really understood the math involved to figure out the current and discharge times of these machines.Inspired by these guys at endless-sphere.com I started from scratch and designed this welder because I could not find any good schematics on the internet. It took me 3 months and here it is::::::

Fusion welding using .090 aluminum with no filler rod.

Learn what tig welding is from an expert in arc, tig and mig welding in this free DIY video. Expert: Malcolm macdonald Bio: Malcolm macdonald graduated from Connestoga College in 1968 from the Fitter Welding Program. He currently teaches a welding apprenticeship program. Filmmaker: Melissa Schenk

Sim Welder is a Virtual Reality training sim for student welders. Visit our website for more info. www.simwelder.com

The real trick to welding thin metal is to use a wire feed. Just kidding, this tip is to explain how to do it with a stick welder. A wire feed or tig welder is ideal for sheet metal, but we will assume that you don’t have one. We need to establish what is considered thin metal. There is no absolute “according to Hoyle” answer, but I always considered anything less than 3/16″ to be thin. So from this point on we are talking about less than 3/16″ material.

The first thing to figure out is what kind of welding rods and what size of welding rods to use. If you have nice new 1/8″ material, I would go with 3/32″ 7018 rods. If you have old rusty painted up 14 gauge, I might be inclined to use 1/8″ or 3/32″ 6011 rods. You might ask me, why don’t you just grind the rust off? Well if it’s just surface rust go ahead, but if it’s pitted out you will grind all the material away before you get it clean. Not only that, but if you are just doing a quick repair job on something, just weld it. Chances are, if the material is that bad the weld will far out last the rest of the material anyway. Back to my point, 6011 is the rod I will pick anytime. It allows you to move a lot faster than 7018’s will.

As far as the actual welding goes, I like to use a whipping motion with the welding rod following the same direction as I am welding. Basically just a back and forth motion. The reason for this is to keep from building up too much heat all in one spot. If you were to drag the rod slowly you will have a pretty good chance of burning through. If you are welding vertically, don’t be afraid to run the 6011’s downhill. If the material is really thin, I will use the whipping motion downhill as well. I know it goes against some principles of burying slag but, when the material is thin it really doesn’t matter as much.

Most anything that is made from thin material is over welded. Say for instance you are patching an air compressor tank that has a hole rusted in it. You will weld the patch 100% because it needs to be air tight, not for strength. If you are making a section of air duct, you will weld it solid for air and not for strength, you get the point.

I guess the moral of the story is you can do just about anything with a stick welder in a pinch. It only takes a little bit of practice to make it happen. Just grab a piece of sheet metal to get the heat set correctly and go to town. A good heat setting for 1/8″ 6011 rods on thin material is about 80-90 amps. For 3/32″ 7018’s it’s about the same. Everyone is different but, those settings will get you in the ballpark.

Old cordless powertools are everywhere. I often see them at yard sales selling for just a few dollars. It is incredibly easy to revive the old Ni-Cd batteries just using a DC welder. I refresh my old Nikita driver batteries in just a few minutes. Do not try this with other battery chemistries.