/diy/ - Do It Yourself

>>519483
After only an hour, that's pretty good. Keep at it.

The only advice I've ever been given other than just practice a lot was something about bracing your hand and rocking it back and forth as you go, but I never figured it out.

good width, nice high bead, good layering of the metal you've laid down, 7/10 would let you use my welder.

>>519488
>>519487
Thanks guys.

Ya never touched a welder before that class watched about 20min of YouTube videos and I just listened as best I could and did what I could.

Luckily my classes are 30min of lecture 30 min of clean up and 3 hours of practice

I've seen worse welds on far more critical joins.

>>519531
Scary shit. I noticed there are stairs near my apt only tacked on

>>519483
Although I'm afraid I don't have much welding experience, I do have quite a bit of soldering experience through my job as an AC tech. I'm a fairly observant and curious person to begin with, so once my boss asked me to try it I had a pretty good handle on it except the muscle memory/hand-eye coordination bit (which really only comes with due practice). It's important to squeeze as much practice in as possible, and I'd imagine it's especially nice learning in a class setting like that as you have a chance to not only learn from your own mistakes but also the mistakes of others.

>>519536
It's funny how things like this that you may have seen everyday for years suddenly begin to bother you, once you're less ignorant on building practices. I used to work fast food and one of the guys practically had an aneurism whenever he looked at the floor because he had previously worked laying down tile, never bothered me until he said something.

>>519547
This fucked me up when i trained as a printer, every fucking book, poster, booklet

>crop marks mang
>paper with poorly lined up images
>shitty spine componsation

god i hated every second of that job

>>519547
>>519552
I'm a chemist by education and profession. This happens on a weekly or monthly basis.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hKWsH9i24Q

>>519564
As one of the commentors of the video put it, "I see a very strong message that no one cares to hear." I see stuff like this all the time and I'm not even a chemist of any sort.

I coincidentally was in an argument with my younger sister (who has weight issues) yesterday about the sad but true fact that you cannot even trust the nutrition facts on products, and how I thought it was a travesty that people like diabetics whose life depends on keeping track of their sugar intake are ignorantly exposed to such things. Sugar free my ass. I recently ordered a protein powder, and against my better judgement, I let my younger brother pick the flavor Cookies N' Cream because it clearly stated 0g sugar. It somehow managed to be sugar free while containing a more than trivial amount of actual chunks of oreo cookies, and he is now a believer. It bothers me so deeply that I have to make an active effort to not preach like this, because I know how crazy it sounds to the uneducated (which are the majority) and most that are educated on the matter simply don't care and get annoyed.

>>519483
now try with two pieces of metal

>>519572
in an imperfect world those who attempt perfection will fail more often than those who do not. Its a lost battle my brother.

>>519576
I may today. I think we're learning torch cutting today not sure

>>519483
Grind up the crap off of the surface of the steel if you can. The millscale on the surface melts at a higher temperature, so the weld doesn't hit the steel as much.
It should get rid of the silicone (brown glass looking stuff) on the bead as well.

>>519746
Thanks for the advice. Can't use grinders yet but I did the best I could with a wire brush

>>519536
Never ride anything at the fair ever again! I took a look at some of the welds and wandered how the hell they passed inspection..

>>519536
Things like that are probably just tacked to hold them in place until they're secured properly.

>>519746
>>519751
Wire brush and chipping hammer is all you need. You don't want to be grinding away all the metal you just laid down (unless you are doing a groove/bevel/fillet weld, in which case grind that shit flush).

Tips for long welds as well OP, say you are welding two 4 foot sections of plate steel together. Tack every 10 inches or so, then weld with the pattern in pic related. Your metal will expand when heated, you need to weld with this in mind or you might find the job deforms when cooled. I made this mistake a few times when starting out, its a bitch to have to grind all your welds open and go again.

>>519987
Thanks for the tip anon saving the pic.

Also update for today's class

I don't know much about welding. This little bit I know.

Wear eye protection, cobalt lenses. They help keep you from burning out your retinas.

Keep the wind at your back or use a respirator. The ozone from arc welding can mess up your lungs permanently. An old welder told me that right before he died of lung failure. On the other hand, he was 93 years old so it must have taken a while.

>>519483
Its better than me, speaking as a beginner

Not bad,try singing to yourself it will give you a movement rhythm.Since those look like 7018 beads try oscillating the rod back and forth against the width of the bead,nothing major just very minute movements and once you get the speed and travel angle down your slag should start to peal off on its own.Oh and use the darkest lens you can,I use a 14 with shaded safety glasses.

I wouldn't recommend safety glasses for welding. Always use a full welding helmet. Welding gives off the full spectrum of UV radiation, which isn't healthy.

>>520225
Yup 7018. Thanks for the help dude.

>>520244

This. Also, have fun catching a spark to the hair otherwise.

Back when I was welding, I used to come home with a weirdly sweet metallic taste in my mouth that would last for hours, and nothing would get rid of it. I figured it was just metal dust/vapors that got in my mouth, and I'd rinse it out and brush, but no go.

Then I started to feel terrible all the time, and ended up failing the class because I didn't go, and I thought it was just life being shitty. It wasn't until a few years later that I learned heavy metal poisoning is a thing.

The moral is work in a ventilated place and maybe wear a respirator or at least a mask.

>>520244
he may mean safety glasses under his helmet

some workplaces that shit is mandatory, just so your eyes are good against grinding sparks and arc flash from nearby welders when your helmet is up. i see where theyre coming from but i think its excessive personally

moving the electrode around a tiny bit is good for consistency, ive found it helps keep fillets even. for the most part weaving about isnt preferred. at least not for heavy, dead still and consistent is what everyone does where i am. that stack of dimes finish is fine for alu or light gauge

personally that dark for me is annoying, my helmets are at 13, even for 300A+ mig welding. its all preference though

>>520573
>personally that dark for me is annoying
I have a 500w floodlight I weld under. The job is visible through a 14 with a floodlight, might help you/OP out. It is also helpful if you can weld in open sunlight (though not always practical)

The picture is from a furniture store it's the support for the roof

I'm a certified welder in stick mig and mig/flux pipe so I may be able to help u but I need to know wat rod ur using for movement u need

From the picture though I can tell ur using a 70 rod there's no movement other then forward keep at a 90 degree angle from metal with maybe a slight angle back from direction of travel no more then 20

Counting from top cleaned weld ur not keeping a consisted travel spend second one wasn't holding the rod at a 90 third u were going to fast

But all in all it's not bad for a hour of practice

>>520244
This guy knows stuff. I too weld sometimes with AC, and I only have face shield that must be held by one hand.
Yesterday I was welding vertically overhead slightly sideways and one spark fell into my ear. It hurts and I'm lucky I still hear.
Also using dark glasses only usually gives your face nice tan and "welding freckles".

Get an auto darkening helmet as well makes life way easier and they're not too pricey nowadays

>>520620
..is.. is that top "weld" around the square section just slag? Is it even bonded to the metal sitting on it? Looks like two hits with a chipper and it would all be gone..

>>520620
OP if this guy did the weld in the picture don't listen to word he says.

Your best weld is center plate, bottom.

>>521019

kudos for Return to Oz screen cap!

>>519483

looks good.

only advice I could give you would be to keep the arc close to the joint you are welding to avoid spraying and just do a very small rocking motion when moving along the piece.

I bet you probably already know that though

>>519483
it looks ok for only practicing for an hour, let me guess you are using 7018s am i right? once you get on to 6010s thats where it gets a little more difficult. I normally just do the normal wipping method, but have seen people do good with the circle method. ALso once you get to horizontal or vertical make sure to look at a angle when welding for stress test. WHen i was in welding school, no one told me to look at an angle when welding two 1/4" steel plates so I failed allot till I got the info on looking at an angle.

Check out chucke2009 on youtube he makes really good simple to understand welding videos trust me.

>>520244
>I wouldn't recommend safety glasses for welding.
You wear them UNDER the helmet.

>EVER
>EVER telling someone not to wear safety glasses

>>520620
that, sir, is not a weld. some one needed fired for that coat-hanger abortion

>>520620
A lot of people are being pretty hard on this weld. It definitely looks like shit, but I'm pretty sure it's structurally sound. It's just piled on by an idiot with bad shakes.

Unfortunately I see a lot of welds like this, like almost everywhere that has exposed welds. Even public art installations, where you'd expect them to look decent. An artist would at least grind down messy welds and fill the holes. But no. They look like that garbage. But somehow none of these things seem to fall apart.

Definitely don't use it as a model, though.

>>519483
You're taking a class? And they start with mig? Jesus . .

as aforementioned make sure youre wearing a full face mask and long sleeves, or youll get a mean 'sun'brun on any exposed skin. its also good practice to wear safety glasses under your mask. just last week i was grinding fingershims for a column wearing a welding mask, and a spark bounced off the ground and it me in the corner of the eye. shit was painful, but not quite as painful as it would have been if it had gone directly into my eye. eventually the metal would start to rust in your eye. not fun.

people can give you all the advice about technique, but ALWAYS make sure to be safe. shit is dangerous.

also fun fact: welding for a long amount of time will eventually increase how much electricity your body naturally holds.

>>522752

also what this guy said. back in high school when i took welding classes we started with oxy/acetylene.