Hi folks.

It's been a long 30 years since I last mig welded anything, back then I used to finish the odd job here and there I could be trusted with, so nothing that would ever be seen by the public. Or anyone else. Ever!

I'd go to the machine, look at the dials, check the wire was feeding, forget to attach the earth, forget to check the gas and generally produce bird poop all over the place. However, on the right day, with the wind in the right direction, my head working forwards not sideways, I could produce a decent looking weld.

I retired a few years ago and I'm now the proud owner of a huge man shed with a welder in it, so I've been out there all day building a storage rack for metals and plastics, a new lathe is arriving tomorrow and my old mill will get moved in there as soon as possible. Where was I? Oh yes, so, I'm out there welding away, happy as Larry getting used to things, dialling in the settings and everything's going ok, except I seem to be creating a large amount of soot. I don't remember creating soot in this volume before, but I've forgotten more than I ever knew. I'm getting good penetration, I've sawn up a couple of bits and etched, the bead is acceptable, not beautiful, but I'm getting a decent mound. I'm getting a nice visible puddle which I can play around with, I'm getting a nice rainbow from the bead edges. My gas (100% argon, that's all I've got on hand) is up to a decent volume, no pin holes or voids and it's definitely not flux wire. My technique could definitely be tweaked with some time behind the trigger, but even spots are creating a large sooted area, I'd say half an inch radius from a seconds worth of crackle. I'm definitely frying eggs and bacon, not banging saucepans together, it actually sounds really lovely and the results are ok, there's just lots of soot.

I've looked at a few tubes and they don't seem to create so much, could you kind people let me know what I'm getting wrong and point me in the right direction?

Many thanks.
Sorry for rambling. (First Speckled Hen of the night)

[edit] I should have mentioned, this is 'easy machine, easy weld' steel, I don't know the number. And It's been thnner-ed, then put on a Scotch Brite wheel and thinner-ed again, so it's pretty clean.


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