I know what you’re thinking. Only a semester of welding school at a community college a decade ago and this guy is basically a pro!
Just kidding. I know I need to slow down on the welds and keep practicing since it’s been an actual decade since I’ve even touch a welder. I’m using a borrowed stick welder, but my question to the experienced is: what are these pockets I’m getting at the end of the welds?
You’re probably pulling up to quickly, allowing the end of the weld to cool and makes an air bubble that cools and pops. Try pushing instead of pulling and see if it makes a difference. Just speculation. I haven’t owned a stick in 20 years. I may be old school but I love wire fed.
try slowing your speed as you get to the end of your pass and or overlap back about a half inch or so and see if that’ll help. I’m with innocent on the mig part though, been a while since using a stick welder.
Nothing yet. Just beads on a flat sheet for the time being. I’ll move on to welding angles together when I’m comfortable here so I can make a rack for the reels I have wasting their lives in boxes. Then I’ll start on that truck bed rack for the reels and machines on bed rails I showed you in New Orleans.
@Innocentbystander and @CCS I don’t have any familiarity with MIG as the course I took was 2 weeks familiarity with oxyacetylene welding and the rest was stick. The two instructors always teased us about how easy MIG was but we had to get through Intro 1 and Intro 2 before we could go to the MIG shop.
I wish I had gone on to at least the MIG part, but I was in the Navy and wasn’t going to be in town for the next semester. It was a really fun way to spend 3 hours every Friday though. I really enjoyed it.
I haven’t built an aircraft carrier but I built a bridge for NC State Park system for my wife when she was a park ranger. Nstional guard chopper picked it up in the parking lot, flew it into the forest a half mile and lowered it into place crossing a stream. Pretty cool. That was over 20 years ago but I can take my boys hiking and cross over that bridge now and show them my initials in the weld.
Lol, it was on an old Cookie Truck that I bought from Jim. Fulford and I put a 6 foot piece of rail road track with chains hanging off of it on his old Dodge.
Definitely Thurs and Frid. I’m installing some machines and setting up a box truck for Brandon. Probably working Wednesday. Daniel’s last day was last Wed and someone else turned in a 2 week notice last week so I’m hurting for help.
Not that I could keep up but I have a day here and there open between jobs etc I could sit down and figure out the days if you get in a bind locally. I am probably way too slow for you…going down to BC for three jobs and storm prep Thursday -Sat.
Will do! It’ll be a little while as you can tell from those welds. Lol.
I found a 220 outlet in my shop while moving plywood the other day (had no idea) and it was like the welding gods shined their light down and said, “This gift we give to you. Go forth and buy a proper MIG machine.”
