Thread: Advice

Garfield im at erskine park,i have a bit of free time during the day would you be interested in me having a look and giving a bit of my limited experience.

Originally Posted by garfield

1. how important is it to chip off the slag?
2. will it be a defect weld if i was to re-weld over a bead that hasn't had the slag chipped off?
3. and what about the wire brush

... is that necessary?

1. Slag not chipped can form a slag hole in the next run
2. A slag hole( inclusion ) is a defect in that it weakens the weld.
3. Along with the chipping hammer ,important to clean up the weld bead and present it properly-honestly grinding up a weld bead its a statement that the operator can't be bothered to learn the skill properly or they are ashamed of their work.

Grahame

Originally Posted by pipeclay

Garfield im at erskine park,i have a bit of free time during the day would you be interested in me having a look and giving a bit of my limited experience.

sounds good to me pipeclay... you may regret trying to help the worlds worst learner

I'm convinced I should just give up!!!!! I've spent 2 days non stop welding, and I still haven't got it.

Surely the migs sh@t all over stick welders...?? I'm sure everyone prefers the mig, even the pros.

Originally Posted by garfield

I'm convinced I should just give up!!!!! I've spent 2 days non stop welding, and I still haven't got it.
Surely the migs sh@t all over stick welders...?? I'm sure everyone prefers the mig, even the pros.

I believe that this is the crux your problem.You need to practice a bit then stop and reflect upon what you have done.
Keeping at it when things are turning to ????? only reinforces your sense of frustration,annoyance and gives you the urge to bail out.

Besides that a few here have made the effort to help you.I believe at least, you owe it to them to keep at it for a while yet!

Take a break and take up Pipeclays offer who can take a fresh look at your problems.A penny to a pound it just
some thing simple and basic that was overlooked.

As far as the Mig goes it is an assumption that it is better than a stick welder.
It is like saying that the shifter spanner in your tool box is way better than the socket spanner.While they are made to do a similiar job the application of one to another is way different.

If the mig is way better then,why don't pro welders drag them up the side uf buildings?The answer is of course is that the application is not suitable for the machine.

Some in this forum may make that mistake.To get the best from the machine one needs to understand the machine.

My own students head for the mig machine in preference to the stick. The machine is not automatic or imbued with a computer brain that will do the thinking or set up for them, but there is this belief that mig is way better.

That idea collapses in a substantial heap about the time they discover I have changed all the settings back to zero and THOUGHT and UNDERSTANDING needs to be applied to set the machine.

The knowledge from the theory of process and operation is a necessary part of learning to weld using stick or mig.

Chill out and take a break and do a bit of reading.


Grahame

garfield also remember one thing if it only took two days to produce perfect welds there would be no need to have a four year apprenticeship, nobody can master anything in two days, as said above take it slowly and will come to you

Its extremely frustrating Just when I think I've getting the hang of it, It quickly lets me know that I haven't. A few times there I thought I had done a good bead, but then when i chipped away the slag it had holes and was only stuck to one side of the two pieces. I did manage to have some pieces stick, but the weld looks bloody terrible.... I grinded most of it flat-ish and re-welded them.

I will say though Grahame that having a striking plate made a difference... It didn't end up sticking to my job as much and the job didn't look like it had the mumps.

When I did get a good arc, it was hard to get a good bead going with out it blowing holes in it.... If I get some 1.6mm rods and give them a go will that make any difference? Is it even possible to weld a tent pole with a stick welder?

Originally Posted by garfield

Thanks Grahame....
One more thing mate, how important is it to chip off the slag?

Very.

will it be a defect weld if i was to re-weld over a bead that hasn't had the slag chipped off?

Yep!

and what about the wire brush... is that necessary?

Yep, that helps cleans the various slags and oxides and loose bits of the old weld. You have to apply a fair bit of elbow grease - the weld surface should be a dull shine.

If the weld is really bad and pock marked you are probably best grinding the whole weld off and starting again.

Garfield send me a Pm and we can see what we can arrange,Im free most days thru the day for acouple of hours till the 23rd.

Originally Posted by pipeclay

Garfield send me a Pm and we can see what we can arrange,Im free most days thru the day for acouple of hours till the 23rd.

Ok great...

I really need an answer to this question guys....

When I did get a good arc, it was hard to get a good bead going with out it blowing holes in it.... If I get some 1.6mm rods and give them a go will that make any difference? Is it even possible to weld a tent pole with a stick welder, am i wasting my time?

Originally Posted by garfield

If I get some 1.6mm rods and give them a go will that make any difference?

It sounds like you are still trying to weld the tent pole.
It is difficult to get an idea of what thickness you are welding on at the moment.Once we know that, your question can be answered much better. 1.6 mm diam rods won't help if you welding on foil paper thickness

Originally Posted by garfield

Is it even possible to weld a tent pole with a stick welder, am i wasting my time?

YES
If its a thinned walled commercially available jobbie, more than likely ,you are.

You have not given any dimensions or other information that would help clarify the job. Diameter or H x W and wall thickness and surface coating for example.

Grahame

Sorry.... the wall is exactly 1mm thick

Garfield ,
To weld 1mm thickness with a choke /transformer type stick welder is pushing he envelope hard even for an experienced welder.
You are wasting your time trying to do so.It might work with 1.6mm rods using an inverter welding machine .Note ,that is for an experienced welder.
Attempting to learn on 1mm thick sheet is not the way it should be done.

3mm is the minimum sheet thickness I would recommend for a beginner to practice stick on. Get a piece big enough ,say 150 x 100 x 3 which will allow the sheet to dissipate heat quicker and make the possibilities of burn throughs a lot less. Chip the flux of between passes and there you have it.

I predict much better results for you this time around.
We can sort the tent pole out later,first things first.

Cheers
Grahame