Looks like my welds. I'll post what I've been building at work tomorrow.

 

 

welds are looking nice man

 

Thanks. Working with a nice Hobart is much better than the little machine I have.

 

Mock up for a customer, I know the picture is after I mirror finished it but oh well.

 

Would anyone have any advice or tips for a beginner welder? I just picked up a Hobart 140. I've never welded before. So... Anything is helpful. If you're in the Northern VA area, hands on help would be awesome too. I have to replace the rockers, passenger floor pan and there's a decent sized whole in the rear cargo area where the rear quarter rusted out too. Thanks & KCCO.

 

Go sit on YouTube for like 8 hours watching how to and tip videos on it. Then just practice..

 

X2 that's what I did .googl and youtube.

 

Practice is the key but, as for tips and tricks, welding sheet metal can be a pain for beginners, especially when it's rusty. Get rid of the flux core wire and go to .030" solid wire with a bottle of 75/25. That will make a huge difference and be much easier to make a nice looking bead. When working with sheet metal, patience is the key. Weld in small, short bursts and allow the metal to cool a little in between passes. I have done a lot of rocker replacement panels and floor pans with my Hobart 190. It's a little overkill for sheet metal but, it will lay a really nice bead once you get the heat dialed in. Go to your local steel supplier and get some piece of sheet metal. Tack them together and then weld them overhead and vertical. If you can weld it overhead, you can weld it anywhere.

 

Brought home a new addition today (the 252) they look so good together!

 

Should probably put a picture with it....

 

welding sheet is TOUGH. I recommend get a bunch of scrap 3/16 and start making angles and welding. the biggest change for me going from bad welds to good welds were

a) hand stability. if you're not holding the gun steady you're gonna have a bad time. and get up in there. if my face is more than 12" away from my weld it gets messy. you need to see what you're doing
b) always push, unless you're welding downhill. I learned how to weld by dragging, and I one day realized I had a lot of trouble seeing where I was welding! I'd rather watch exactly where I'm pointing the gun and trust that I've got a good puddle going
c) stop trying to make C's or cursive E's. once I gave up on the "technique" I began laying down hot good looking welds. I just push back and forth with a big puddle. this method is simple and has yet to fail for me

I've got no formal training, but these 3 things were the biggest changes I made that helped me start welding better. that and continual practice and failure. that's not the same methods I would use for welding sheet or doing body work though. I use a lot less welding and a lot more bondo

 

[QUOTE=Atmos;2910691]
b) always push, unless you're welding downhill. I learned how to weld by dragging, and I one day realized I had a lot of trouble seeing where I was welding! I'd rather watch exactly where I'm pointing the gun and trust that I've got a good puddle going
/QUOTE]

This one is controversial, Im in the process of getting my Certs, and from the 4 teachers I've had it was split, 2 for push 2 for pull. Unless the job calls for the other. Personally I always pull when I can. Of course my welding usually lets me set up my station exactly how I want it and I tend to know where I'm dragging the puddle.

And yeah that c or e crap is to fancy, the way I think of my technique would be 2 steps forward, one step back.
Of course this is for mig. I love me some tig, its almost calming, pop a headphone in and just get in the zone haha god I love tig, its so purty. Considering tiging my exo when I get to it.

 

truly it is a crap shot. even penetration/strength wise it is almost identical. but I learned how to weld by dragging. and the day I switched over to pushing my welding experience (and the quality of my welds) drastically improved because I could see what I was doing. often when I drag, my hand covers where I'm going. it just didn't work out for me. so if I could give my beginner self some advice, that's what it would've been. start pushing. but it is purely preference

2 steps forward and 1 step back is a good way to describe mig. that's exactly how I push my puddle too. my buddy tigs stainless for a living. it takes too long when you're fabbing a crawler. mig is faster and I'm impatient lol

 

Good advice guys I'm going to spend some time pushing 2step foward and 1 back