Got a new toy today

[dmxjg35]

Got a Lincoln Electric Weld Pak 100HD Wire Feed Welder, on my lunch today :D, i was gonna get the 3200hd with the gas hook up but it was over 100 bucks more, i hope i didnt screw myself by not getting the gass model. got it from homey depot
I figured this would be good to learn on, and if i need to do any bigger welding, i should get a 220v welder anyway.
http://imagex.homedepot.com/f/248/13340/7d/www.homedepot.com/cmc_upload/HDUS/EN_US/asset/images/eplus/166034_3.jpg

now i have to learn how to use this damn thing, where is a good place around nj to get steel cheap.

[XEON]

0o0o0o0o

Nice work Dave! Looks nice

You might want to get a welding mask that goe son your head so you dont have to hold it while welding :).

Metal in NJ... no idea I would assume very expensive. Go around ask people if they have old stuff laying around. Go to garage sales and sometimes you will be lucky and they will be selling a box of metal stock. My school gave away a whole shed of metal. Too bad by the time I got there it was cleaned out... :(

Good luck with it. If you need some starter tips I know how to weld :).

[flippy71]

if you are looking for metal my dad has a s**t load of it out back behind the barn. looks like 1/4 to 1/2 inch square posts maybe for metal building. they are big and about 15-20 feet long. if you cut them up with a torch they probably would be of use...Rick

[XEON]

I want some! :D

Let me know...

[Lagooz00xj]

0o0o0o0o

You might want to get a welding mask that goe son your head so you dont have to hold it while welding :).



You mean im supposed to be wearing a mask when i weld? man i thought my eyes were bothering me because of my allergies!? :oops: [/sarcasm]

[dmxjg35]

i could def use some pointers justin, i dont even know the basics of how to weld, i want to make some skid plates thats about all so far. The welder did come with a video tho :lol:

and i am most deff going to pick up an auto dimming mask from somewhere i couldnt stand to hold that mask or flip down a mask every time i need to lay a weld

im going to prob go to home depot and get some flat stock and angle iron they have to practice welding on

got an awesome deal, was 339.00 i had a 15% off from some other stuff i had gotten for work a while back and i had 2 50$ gift cards so i got it for 188.42+ tax :D

[Chris 88 YJ]

The words "cheap" and "steel" dont go together. You're more likely to find cheap gas :lol: I get a lot of steel from Ramapo Iron Works in Hillburn NY.

Oh and put a gas bottle on that thing.

[gotmud4myxj]

don't want to burst your bubble too hard, but i'd get the gas welder instead. Lincoln makes a hell of a machine for the beginner. Gas is also a better way to learn because you can turn the heat all the way up and hide f*@k ups. The guy that welded tom's frame taught me everything i know about welding. now i'm only a few steps behind him.

[dmxjg35]

The words "cheap" and "steel" dont go together. You're more likely to find cheap gas :lol: I get a lot of steel from Ramapo Iron Works in Hillburn NY.

Oh and put a gas bottle on that thing.

it doesnt have the hook up for the bottle, that costs an extra 100+ bucks to step up to the 3200hd and i wasnt sure it was worth it just to make up some skid plates and stuff, this one says it will weld up to 1/4inch

[XEON]

Well poop stains...

You will be find Dave. That is a good beginners welder. Use it to make some small parts. Maybe make yoru own skids or somethign so people dont ahve to see teh welds... haha :)

You will use it thats for sure. There are always little welding jobs to do. I gto liek 100 of them :)

[matt6669]

well i picked up some mild steel from someone i knew today so maybe we'll start welding tomorrow or something
wait till you see all of these booger welds hahaha

Matt

[XEON]

Practice your beads on sheet metal. Like a large peice so you can see your beads then start welding some angle iron on it. Sheet metal no aluminum of course... Thats how I started welding. I built a robot wars frame out of 1x1" square tubing. It was really cool.

[dmxjg35]

i think i might take this one back to home depot, and exchange it for the one with the gas hook up, i seem to be reading you get cleaner welds with using gas, so i think to get the stuff to convert this one to gas its like 80 bucks, so i should just spend the extra 120 and get the 3200hd, and get 20 (120 vs 100) more amps as well as the gas hookup what do you guys think?

heres a pic of the other setup http://imagex.homedepot.com/f/248/13340/7d/www.homedepot.com/cmc_upload/HDUS/EN_US/asset/images/eplus/166038_3.jpg

think its worth the extra 120 to get this setup

[XEON]

Gas is neater but not as hot and cant get some of the thicker stuff. But then you can put the flux core in and 1/4" I think. The 3200 can do that. Scott has the 3200hd and thats probally what I will be getting when he gets a bigger one or if he does not maybe I will get somethign like it. Probally a 220 but then again the 110 is nice because you can help other people out... I dont know I will be concerned when I go to buy one :).

[sentinal02]

i think i might take this one back to home depot, and exchange it for the one with the gas hook up, i seem to be reading you get cleaner welds with using gas, so i think to get the stuff to convert this one to gas its like 80 bucks, so i should just spend the extra 120 and get the 3200hd, and get 20 (120 vs 100) more amps as well as the gas hookup what do you guys think?

heres a pic of the other setup http://imagex.homedepot.com/f/248/13340/7d/www.homedepot.com/cmc_upload/HDUS/EN_US/asset/images/eplus/166038_3.jpg

think its worth the extra 120 to get this setup

don't forget to add the cost of the gas and bottle in. mig is definitely cleaner, but flux is fine for just about anything you want to do with the jeep. something structural like a cage, or welding to cast axle housings would be better (in some cases would have to be) done with the gas, but for stuff like skids, bumpers, etc, I'd just stick with the flux. you'll get more penetration like Justin said. I did my frame repair entirely with flux on a 85 amp rig. if you ever plan on doing aluminum then you'll need a mig. get some antisplatter spray, a good stiff, metal bristle brush, and a real chipping hammer and you'll be good to go. the anti splatter stuff is amazing really, the slag just brushes right off.

[ROCKREADYXJ]

I would say the best way to learn is to get a book and read about fundamentals and basic principals. Haveing someone show you or tell who doesnt really know whats going on or how it actually work will not help. Or just take a class you will learn alot. That is you best bet. And suck it up and get the gas. When you take that class or read a good welding book you will understand why. It would take several pages to explain why. If you want I can recomend some books.

[ROCKREADYXJ]

if you are looking for metal my dad has a s**t load of it out back behind the barn. looks like 1/4 to 1/2 inch square posts maybe for metal building. they are big and about 15-20 feet long. if you cut them up with a torch they probably would be of use...Rick

Do you have any 4inch or larger I beams I will toss you some $$ if you do.

[dmxjg35]

I would say the best way to learn is to get a book and read about fundamentals and basic principals. Haveing someone show you or tell who doesnt really know whats going on or how it actually work will not help. Or just take a class you will learn alot. That is you best bet. And suck it up and get the gas. When you take that class or read a good welding book you will understand why. It would take several pages to explain why. If you want I can recomend some books.

I think i am going to exchange it for the gas, even if i dont use it for a while, i will have it there, and not have to upgrade it until i wanted to go over 1/4 in. Plus i know the people who own the local welding shop who will prob give me a really good deal on a cyl and gas

Joe i have been looking at getting a book to learn the basics, anything you could recomend would be great

[Freebird01]

too bad your not closer...i got the exact same machine. and it will do everything you will want except sheet metal....

i built my tow bar with it. its just knowing the machine

i would give ya lesson or two...but being 200 miles away doesnt help unless your up for a road trip..if so PM me

[ROCKREADYXJ]

Let me find some of those books in my office and I will let you know

[dmxjg35]

sweeeeeeet just returned the hd100 and got the hd3200 now to try and learn how to weld :?:

[XEON]

HAHA nice. Have fun with that. If you want me to come by and give a few little pointers let me know. I need to weld something on my Jeep anyway... :)

[matt6669]

OMG I MUST SAY WELDING IS THE HARDEST THING EVER!!!
we spent 3 hours out there, we started getting the hang of it but then we had to go it was getting to late
need to get thinner metal and then we should be good

Matt

[sentinal02]

OMG I MUST SAY WELDING IS THE HARDEST THING EVER!!!
we spent 3 hours out there, we started getting the hang of it but then we had to go it was getting to late
need to get thinner metal and then we should be good

Matt

thinner metal is usually harder than thick (at least to just lay a bead on) mainly because you end up burning holes in it. how thick was the material you were welding?

[matt6669]

well once piece was like 3/4 another was like a 1/4 n then i found this piece of like 1/8 or 1/16 we burned through that quickly
we just need to get the right stuff before we start, we didn't even watch the video or anything haha just winged it

Matt

[dmxjg35]

wow welding makes you go :mad: LOL we need some good scrap metal thats not all rusted to crap. Justin feel free to come up and give us some pointers in return for welding anything you need to weld. I got a whole spool of .025 wire and a whole spool of flux core wire and a full tank of 70/25 gas. I think we need to just learn the basics on how far to hold the gun away and how fast and what angle to move at.

gonna be hard tho, we are both leftys haha.

[dmxjg35]

alright so i finally got some decent metal from the hardware store, it said 12g on it, so i turned up the heat to full power and went to town. heres what i got

http://www.forum-fever.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10002/welding%20002%20%28Medium%29.jpg

http://www.forum-fever.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10002/welding%20003%20%28Medium%29.jpg

then i noticed i was getthing this on the back of the metal i was welding

http://www.forum-fever.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10002/welding%20009%20%28Medium%29.jpg

which i figured was burn through so i turned down the heat a notch or 2

http://www.forum-fever.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10002/welding%20007%20%28Medium%29.jpg

so any pointers?? i think i might be moving too fast or something, im not getting good penetration hardly at all, even with the welder turned up all the way :mad: i donno what the deal is :hm: HELP!

[Freebird01]

actually that pattern your getting on the back is good. that means your getting good penetration into your base material. you can tell when your burning through cause you will start to see it get jagged in the center of that pattern.

looks like some decent welds for a beginner. thats the basics to welding. getting a feel for your machine for temp and wire speed. it is as much practice as it is skill.

Jason

[XEON]

If you want more penetration start using flux core it gets much hotter.

[sentinal02]

If you want more penetration start using flux core it gets much hotter.

also, try doing butt joints instead of T joints. the T seems like it's the easy weld to make since the metal naturally wants to guide your weld pool, but the weld builds up faster since it's all forced in that one area so what looks like a good weld is really only a bead laying on the surface. to get good penetration you want to either turn your heat up, slow your feed down so the puddle doesn't build as fast, or slow your travel rate down. or some combination of the three obviously. Gun position also has a lot to do with it. tilting the gun so it's 90° to the surface of the metal will give you the most penetration, but it can be hard to control the puddle that way sometimes. the trick is finding the angle that gives the most penetration while still keeping an even bead. and obviously that's all in practicing. I've got some old scrap pieces lying around from when i first started, I'll see if i can find some where i was burning through so you can see what freebird was talking about.

[rockdawg]

Make sure you hold the tip at an angle and push the weld in the direction of the angle kind of like this \ -> slow the wire speed down. if the wire keeps burning off and sticking to the tip you are too slow. if you can feel the wire kicking the gun back you are too fast. try moving the gun slower also. and like freebird said the heat marks on the back are good.

[sentinal02]

ok, totally forgot about these pics, but here they are anyway:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v608/sentinal02/Misc%20Jeep%20Pics/BurnThrough001.jpg

and the same two welds on the other side of the material (left is still left, right is still right, just the top and bottom are reversed)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v608/sentinal02/Misc%20Jeep%20Pics/BurnThrough002.jpg

see how the one on the left is pretty uniform height wise and there's only a very small spot where the material starts to deform on the bottom? then notice how the right weld starts to collapse on itself in the middle? that's the difference between a weld that's got the right heat and one that's too hot and on the verge of blowing through your material. and really, what Freebird said about the heat pattern on the back of the metal is only partly true. yeah it means the base metal is heating up quite a bit, but you can get the same pattern with a torch by heating it cherry red and letting it cool (ever temper a chisel or punch?). it just means the metal is hot, it doesn't mean you're penetrating as deep as you need to, after all, cherry red isn't close to the melting point which is what you need to achieve to penetrate into the base metal. the only real way to know how deep you got is to cut the weld apart and etch the metal at the weld. the welded material will be a different color than non welded base metal. or, the more fun version, take a sledge hammer to it until it breaks off. if it does, you didn't go deep enough and if it doesn't your weld was good. :wink: