Welding my burner top-question

Hello all-

I needed to make a larger top for my burner to support my sanke 15.5G keg, which is slated to become my boil vat. I have a MIG welder (long story short-friend moved and couldn't take it with him) but had never used it, since I didn't have a 220V circuit. I put one in over the weekend while adding circuits for the basement, and fired up the welder. Took a while, but I was able to fashion an additional grate to go on top of my burner that will support my keg. My question is for any of you out there that weld- can you recommend any good books for a starter? I found a class that I am going to take in the spring, hopefully, but I am in classes right now for my masters, and cannot fit in another class, but wanted to at least get some instructional material.

My welds look like a rat was gnawing on them.

Watch the puddle, not the spark. Try to keep the puddle on both parts by moving the arc to the smaller side. You'll need to learn to wash the weld in patterns to get neat beads, but sloppy should stay stuck too.

My welds look like pigeon droppings.

Maybe there are 'how to' articles on the net? Or eBay any textbook.

And like the cab driver said to the violinist when asked "Do you know how to get to Carnegie Hall?" The driver replied "Practise!"

You said that it is a MIG welder. Is it a gas shielding MIG with a bottle or is it a wire flux MIG welder. The shielding gas used or wire with flux will affect how your weld comes out. Look on amazon.com and you can get a good book to start. What I do is get some scrap steel and practice for a bit before I start welding on my project.

It is an argon(75%/CO2(25%) gas shield MIG (it's a Hobart, FWIW). Casebrew had me made, though-I was fixated on the spark, and ended up with globs. It is sturdy, though I need to practice some more. This was more of an "in a pinch" project that killed 2 birds so to speak:I now have my large grate for my burner, and I got off my @ss and wired in the circuit for the welder.

Next up is my brew stand. I am farming out the TIG welding for my kegs, though, to a guy in town.

I am going to cruise to thte book store later on and see what I can find.