Ok guys i gota learn how to weld NOW! My dad brought home a meg (sp) welder the other day and i need some sheet metal pieces welded on. Nobody, i mean nobody knows how to weld around here. Any tips or ideas with a meg welder?

 

A meg welder or a mig welder. because mig welding is the easiest thing in the world to do

 

ya , sorry didnt know how to spell it. do i just hold the trigger and slowly run it on the metal?

 

You have to be careful about what guage metal you are dealing with. The thinner the metal is the lower you want your voltage to be, otherwise you will burn through your metal. Practice on some scrap metal and adjust your wire speed and voltage. When your welding you kind of want it to sound like bacon frying in a pan. Thats how know when my settings are right.

 

Yeah, and you have to make sure the metal is actually melting. A crappy weld is when the voltage is too low and only the wire melts on top of it. A good weld is when the actual metal melts and tou could grind the weld right smooth and not se any seam. Also, like said above, if you weld with too high a voltage, it will melt right through.

 

I just started learning MIG myself.

You'll need lots of metal and different thicknesses to try. Your best bet would be to find a metal fabrication place. They have scrap that they throw out (or recycle) after they are done with stock.

I went to my local welder shop to buy some gas and the guy pointed me down the road. I went there and picked up about 40 lbs of scrap for $5 . Second time I went to a different place to fabricate end-play adjusting tool for T56 and while I was there, I asked the guy if he had any scrap. He gave me about as much as the first place for free.

Also I don't know what mask you have. I tried el-chipo that came with the welder and then went and bought auto-darking one. It is night and day difference.

 

Some things you want to remember, if you're using gas be sure to have that on, the thicker the metal, the more you're going to want to open up the tank...

and, remember to go against the grain... like this

___/ < you're going to want to weld with the welder in that position and that direction, to the left. the / is the stick, and the ___ is the product you're weilding, if you get it? might be confusing, but that's correct welding form

also, you're probably going to want to weld on very low settings, since its thin metal, so turn the voltage down, to maybe 3/10, and the feed speed to 3/10 aswell, try weld something and get a feel for it before you do it to your car .. weld a dranage pipe, a tool box or anything.. just make a little bead. lots of sparks, so watch your eyes!

if you're joining two pieces, like so...

_____
_____ together, you're gona want to make the weld look like this, inbetween


((((((((

that's what a correct, tight and strong weld would look like the smaller the beads, and the closer together, determins how strong your weld will be... this ( ( ( ( ( is less strong, then this ((((( so i guess, if you're new.. some basic understanding is above?

hope that helps!!

 

Practice is the key. MIG is the quintessential "takes a minute to learn and a lifetime to master" process.

Some tips for welding sheet metal :
Weld at a 45degree down angle, if not vertical down. It will help to dissapate the heat much better.

Touch-n-Go is the best way to avoid burn through when dealing with 16ga. and thinner metals.

Don't even try body panels or 20-24 ga. until your can control the puddle and move fast, while maintining a consistent arc length.

 

Try to find some welding books. So u know what a good weld is suppose to look like. U don't wanna learn the wrong way to weld. And keep doing the wrong way. Also are u useing gas(mig) or flux core wire.If flux core wire it burns a little hotter and u have to chip of the slag.

don't get discurage if u mess up. I have been welding on cars for 10 years and still blow holes every now and than

 

well its got gas hooked up to it, and there is a small wire that comes out of the end of the gun. It looks simple to use. Is it possible to welder constantly across a piece and not just tap weld it?

 

If its thick metal u can. On thiner metal do like a 1/2 inch to a inch. Than move to another spot. If u just weld without doing that. U will warp the heck out of the metal.

 

I think most MIGs can also function as an flux core arc welders. All you have to do is turn off the gas tank valve and switch to different type of wire. When you do gas/no gas you have to make sure the wire is correct for each application. Flux core has a center which produces gas and that keeps oxygen from getting molten metal and oxidizing it. MIG wire is pure metal since gas comes from a tank.

From what I've seen, metal warps very easily so you have to be careful. First day I've played with some sheets which were at least 1/8" think and yeah, they warped. Body sheet metal would be even worse. On autobodystore.com they have an article on how to replace lower portion of the door and they basically did spot welds by continuously dividing the welded section in half and making sure the heat was spread. They kept doing it until everything was one solid weld.

For things like subframe connectors and LCA reloc. brackets you can probably do one continuous weld.

Speaking of books, I have "Welding Essentials" by Galvery and Marlow. Very good reading.

 

if you were closer id show you how to weld,i sell welding supplies,gases and cyrogenics.

 

A good weld will look like a roll af dimes that have been tipped over. You'll Know it when you see it. Also when doing a butt joint rember to leave a hairline space inbetween the two peices not a brunett hair either more like a fine blond hairs width.


You got it when you feel your face go like this