NOT the best place to post this, it belongs in Chat.

 

You report it?

 

I'm generally not a fan of wire welders. I'd rather run stick or tig. I also tend to weld a little hotter than most folks.

With wire feed, penetration is going to be determined mostly by your wire speed setting. You need to adjust the heat(voltage) to the thickness of the material you're welding and the wire you're using. Thicker material generally means thicker wire(you can use smaller wire, you'll just burn more of it) and more heat. Listen to the sound of the arc.... If it's a crisp, continuous "bzzzzzz" then the machine is probably set about right. If not, adjust and try again.

With stick, it's a lot more simple. If I'm welding 1/4", I'm probably running 150 amps with an 1/8" rod or 175 with a 5/32" rod. Even on thin stuff I almost never drop below about 90 amps...I just move a little faster.

Definitely buy an auto darkening helmet. I tried welding with a standard hood a little while back and got a reminder of why I hate fixed tint lenses.

 

Adult education courses or perhaps night classes at the local vocational school. At least that way you have someone to critique your work, and hopefully prevent you from picking up bad habits. You could probably take it as far as a certification if you wanted to.

 

Keep it to yourself and just report it to a Mod if there is an issue.

I doubt it.

Cool thread BTW... I can throw a crappy bead right now but wouldnt trust it on your kids swingset or anything LOL, but i am looking into taking some classes now

 

Make sure you have the welder on a outlet that is on a separate circuit so you don't pop the breaker. This will cause the welds to look like chicken poop lol. Welding is tricky some times, I highly recommend taking a class at your local Jr college I took Stick and Mig class at my college and i learned so much. You can look at youtube vids. I didn this to learn how to weld sheet metal. I would get a god beed down then move to penetration and watch for undercut.

 

For me i started with my stick welder 225 lincoln learned how to weld on flat steel first then i bought a 125 lincoln mig then taught my self how to mig weld its all practice watch youtube videos and cop techniques they show and youll get it down after a few times of practicing

 

YouTube is a great place to start . Some of the video's on there actually show you through the shield so you will know what to look for .
Any classes you can get into are always a good idea . While the video's are a great source of information , not much can beat real hands on expirience . Some community colleges even have several different machines to use also . All welding machines have thier own personalities and most colleges will have all the big names :Miller , Hobart , Lincoln , Esab , Thermal Arc and many others . When you talk welding , stick / arc ( SMAW -Shielded Metal Arc Welding ) is definately the place to start . Master this technique and all others will follow . Lastly , cleanliness is key . It is not possible to get a good /pure weld over dirt , rust , and/or paint . These leave voids ( called porosity) and weaken the weld . Although these aren't always the cause or porosity , they are the leading cause .
Stick with your machine for now . There is no need to go spent over a grand for a brand name machine with all sorts of bells and whistles . This leaves too many adjustment/tweeks out there to be made long before you understand the basics of whichever process you choose to master . You must learn to walk before you can run , yes ?
I'm a steamfitter/welder by trade , so this makes me the premadonna of the welding world but I'm afforded no errors in my welds so it's a tittle I'm ok with . Any other questions , hit me back .

 

What is undercut on sheet metal?

 

I wasn't talking about undercut on sheet metal i was talking about welding in general.