Got a welder, now the fun begins...

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BrewBeemer said:
I must be different, I like settings of 40% over range not having the pedal
almost floored during welding.
I like it set this way to heat up quicker forming the puddle with less heat soaking the surrounding area.
Click to expand...

BB,

So you tend to have plenty of heat left in the pedal? With my inexperience, I have already seen myself focusing on the torch/arc and standing on the pedal, then trying to speed up the travel to keep up. Then realizing, it was too hot.

Another question on the same line. Is it better to heat and get a puddle quickly and maybe slightly overheat or slowly ramp up the heat until the puddle appears which may take longer to heat?

Ed
 
Ohio-Ed said:
I guess my question is, if you are welding something that requires say 60 amps, do you set the dial to 60, or where would you set it?

I know you could crank the dial all the way up, put it seems that would make the pedal real touchy.

Ed
Click to expand...

Yes, it would make it touchy. In general, a 60 ampish weld would see about 100 on the machine. Now there are some variables that go along with that decision. Does the weld at hand have holes in it like your practice piece, or does part of the weld at hand, cover up a section that has a piece of another member running across the back of it, sucking away the heat? Am, I purging the weld with a gas pocket, copper, or alum shoes?

So, my question to you is......with the welding you have done so far. How do you like the pedal to feel? Do you like to have a lot more amps available or, do you like to be pretty much maxed out? I guess what I'm getting at is, its all up to you and what you like to have at hand........or foot.LOL. Maybe you could find a setting that kinda resembles the car or truck you drive. Its kinda the same thing, more pedal means more heat or, you go faster.
 
It's a hand eye coordination thing everyones different I just get into it and weld not thinking about the foot control.
Made me laugh Ed, my comfort zone foot control is the left foot right never felt good. I drive stick shift vehicles plus left and right shift bikes go figure?
 
Ohio-Ed said:
BB,

So you tend to have plenty of heat left in the pedal? With my inexperience, I have already seen myself focusing on the torch/arc and standing on the pedal, then trying to speed up the travel to keep up. Then realizing, it was too hot.

Another question on the same line. Is it better to heat and get a puddle quickly and maybe slightly overheat or slowly ramp up the heat until the puddle appears which may take longer to heat?

Ed
Click to expand...


IMO, try not to focus on the arc so much. Stay tuned into the puddle. I find myself using the tungsten at times as a reference to the width of the puddle. When your punching through the material (on purpose) I look for the puddle to flatten out. That lets me know I'm getting drop through.

Just a thought here. Maybe this will help, but it might hurt too. IDK. My thought is to weld with the pulse on. Set the pulse on about 60 or so. That will be fast enough that you can't see the flashing of the arc staring and stopping but, you will hear it. As you weld the sound will change as you get further away from the puddle. The same will happen if you should drift toward the puddle. This might make things more familiar to arc welding. It won't give you the frying egg sound but it will be audible.
 
BrewBeemer said:
It's a hand eye coordination thing everyones different I just get into it and weld not thinking about the foot control.
Made me laugh Ed, my comfort zone foot control is the left foot right never felt good. I drive stick shift vehicles plus left and right shift bikes go figure?
Click to expand...


That's weird. When I weld on my bench I tend to use my left foot more. I never thought of it feeling more natural though, as I weld with both feet and both hands.
 
GreenMonti said:
IMO, try not to focus on the arc so much. Stay tuned into the puddle. I find myself using the tungsten at times as a reference to the width of the puddle. When your punching through the material (on purpose) I look for the puddle to flatten out. That lets me know I'm getting drop through.

Just a thought here. Maybe this will help, but it might hurt too. IDK. My thought is to weld with the pulse on. Set the pulse on about 60 or so. That will be fast enough that you can't see the flashing of the arc staring and stopping but, you will hear it. As you weld the sound will change as you get further away from the puddle. The same will happen if you should drift toward the puddle. This might make things more familiar to arc welding. It won't give you the frying egg sound but it will be audible.
Click to expand...

I don't have pulse on my welder :(

As I get more experience, I think I will want more pedal. For now, having the pedal pretty much maxed is like a safety for when I fall asleep on it.

Like I said, when I first set the pedal down, it was on my left. Until it becomes second nature, it just seems to feels better on the right.

"The puddle flattening means drop through" is great to know.

I really appreciate all the input you guys are giving.

Ed
 
BrewBeemer said:
I must be different, I like settings of 40% over range not having the pedal
almost floored during welding.
I like it set this way to heat up quicker forming the puddle with less heat soaking the surrounding area.
Click to expand...

I must add many times i'm welding different thickness materials I chose to have higher reserve heat available vs getting up and down readjusting the welder all the time. Maybe one of my bad habits I get away with it.

A friend of mine welds the opposite, I can take a nap watching him getting a puddle started plus going so slow the item welded has become completely hot with a wide area of burned off paint.
 
Ohio-Ed said:
I don't have pulse on my welder :(

As I get more experience, I think I will want more pedal. For now, having the pedal pretty much maxed is like a safety for when I fall asleep on it.

Like I said, when I first set the pedal down, it was on my left. Until it becomes second nature, it just seems to feels better on the right.

"The puddle flattening means drop through" is great to know.

I really appreciate all the input you guys are giving.

Ed
Click to expand...
I welded up a cart to hold my bottles and two welders and by the time I had the stand done I was most of the way to not thinking about the pedal anymore.

I thought I would post a pic of my backpurge setup.
manifold.JPG


I thought that if would give me more control over a straight splitter even though they obviously work for a lot of folks.
I even bought one of these first.
splittero.JPG

I got the flowmeter on ebay for about 25 bucks and the "T" for just under 20 from the local welding shop. The best I could find the "T" online was about 50 bucks.
while I am at it I might as well post a pic of the welder.
Saved my pennies for two years to buy this one.
htp1.JPG
 
GreenMonti said:
I'll be in touch. This is my last week of work for the year. So I'll gather what ever I can for you.

I would be careful about the exhaust tubing. Make sure it isn't galvanized. I'm not sure there is much of that out there, just a thought.
Click to expand...

It's all aluminized these days unless it's a "El Cheapo" using straight steel tube.
 
Berniep said:
I welded up a cart to hold my bottles and two welders and by the time I had the stand done I was most of the way to not thinking about the pedal anymore.

I thought I would post a pic of my backpurge setup.
manifold.JPG


I thought that if would give me more control over a straight splitter even though they obviously work for a lot of folks.
I even bought one of these first.
splittero.JPG

I got the flowmeter on ebay for about 25 bucks and the "T" for just under 20 from the local welding shop. The best I could find the "T" online was about 50 bucks.
while I am at it I might as well post a pic of the welder.
Saved my pennies for two years to buy this one.
htp1.JPG
Click to expand...

A picture is worth a thousand words...
Thanks, this makes it crystal clear!!

If I can round up the parts, this make put the purge in hand a bit sooner.

Ed
 
lehr said:
Man this looks like too much work thats why I JB weld everything !

Pat
Click to expand...

With the kind of mad skills you guys have, I don't doubt you could do better with JB Weld than I ever will with a torch. So do you mix your JB Weld 1:1 or do you use a custom ratio? ;)


BB / GM - To be clear, I should be using DCEN right?

Thanks all...

Ed
 
I'm thinking of building a small welding table 30" x 36".
What thickness is the minimum steel plate you'd recommend for a top?
I'm thinking 1/4" to 1/2".

Ed
 
1/2" would be the lightest I would go.
1/2" will give you the ability to beat on the table as long as you're not using a sledge hammer.
Will also minimize bounce back when doing so.
Or if you want something really trick, check this out...
http://www.acorniron.com/products/platen.html
I work off one of these, and it's a 5'x10' and weighs about 5000lbs.
If you build your own table I suggest putting leveling feet on each leg. You can buy them or make them yourself. Unless you make your table's legs exactly the same length your tables gonna rock. You could use shims under the legs but leveling feet will allow for uneven floors and unequal length legs.
Oh, and plate normally comes in 4'x8' sheets so your best bet is to just find a supplier that will sell you a half sheet.
 
Ohio-Ed said:
I'm thinking of building a small welding table 30" x 36".
What thickness is the minimum steel plate you'd recommend for a top?
I'm thinking 1/4" to 1/2".

Ed
Click to expand...


My table is 1/2". I like to over build a bit too. You could get away with 1/4" no problem IMO.

Yes you should be running DCEN.

Ed, Do you know if your torch uses 2 series parts?
 
GreenMonti said:
My table is 1/2". I like to over build a bit too. You could get away with 1/4" no problem IMO.

Yes you should be running DCEN.

Ed, Do you know if your torch uses 2 series parts?
Click to expand...

GM,

My torch is a "20 Series".

The table dmfa linked looks cool, but way beyond what I'm looking at (at least for now).

I won't be able to machine slots in the top or anything so it's going to at least start life as a solid surface. I called a local supplier and it looks like a 1/2" top would cost about $50 more than 1/4". They have 1.5" square tubing with 3/16" walls in stock.

I'm debating if I should have the top overhang the framing a couple inches for clamping or have the top flush with the frame meaning a 2" minimum to clamp at the edge.

I'll also need to put the table on casters so I can move it around.

Ed
 
Ed,
build the frame with a minimum 2" overhang you'll thank yourself later. Easy to clamp items down.
Weld pieces of metal at all four sides for the grounding clamp to attach, i'm lazy I have a piece of metal on the magnetic ground I attach the ground clamp. Below the table tubes to hold different rods with caps, keep your filler rods clean and dry. I would place a little spare tungstens container at the table, nothing worse looking for a replacement in the middle of a weld oops screwed up the tungsten moment.
 
Yuri - Thanks for the calculator, definitely give me some perspective. Your bench is much larger than the 2.5' X 3' table I am thinking of... I'm envious.

Carl - I was thinking some overhang might be a good thing, especially if I went with the 1/2" plate so it doesn't get bent down very easy.

To keep the pictures rolling, here is a couple pics of my attempt to simulate the "pumpkin repair project". First attempt, no filler, 50amps, 20cfh:
IMG_3457.jpg


After a few attempts, same settings:
IMG_3462.jpg
 
Ohio-Ed,
I was kidding about the platen, but since I work off one now I don't know how I'll ever go back to a common work table.
If you use 1/2" for your top you won't really need a frame under it, only legs.
For my own work table at home I have a 1/2" top and 3" sch 40 pipe for legs coming straight off the plate, and the top is rock solid.
 
Looks good, I think if the material is similar in thickness you won't have much trouble fixing that "thing".
Good job!
 
Here's another thing to consider once you improve on your welding skills.
"Flex head" torch. They've got me out of plenty a bind when welding in awkward situations.
Just thought I'd let you know about some of the other tools of the trade.
 
dmfa200 said:
Ohio-Ed,
I was kidding about the platen, but since I work off one now I don't know how I'll ever go back to a common work table.
If you use 1/2" for your top you won't really need a frame under it, only legs.
For my own work table at home I have a 1/2" top and 3" sch 40 pipe for legs coming straight off the plate, and the top is rock solid.
Click to expand...

dmfa200 said:
Looks good, I think if the material is similar in thickness you won't have much trouble fixing that "thing".
Good job!
Click to expand...

When I mentioned getting a steel plate to SWMBO, she gave me a look as if to ask "Just how far is this going to go?" Spending the money on the welder this time of year was a stretch, not sure just how much mileage I'm gonna get out of claiming it is all my Christmas.


Thanks for the encouragement... the problem with the Pumpkin is I only get one chance. It is a bit thicker than my test strips, BTW.

Ed
 
Ohio-Ed said:
GM,
I think it is a Weld Craft clone... It's made by Profax.
I was told that "20 Series" parts were compatible.

Ed
Click to expand...


They are both actually a clone of the ESAB/Linde Heliarc HW-20, and yes all the parts are compatible.
 
Yea, they look like the same parts I use.

That weld looks really good. You'll be just fine bro.:mug:
 
Yeah, if it's thicker than you should have no problem.
Generally the thicker your material the less critical your heat input will be.
 

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