The Fabrication/Welding Thread

[swervin36]

I've been practicing on my tig welding for a about a month or 2. My question is if I'm using enough heat? How is the color suppose to look? I used 65-70 amp on the right 2 and 70-75 at the left 2. With a ER70S-2 filler rod.

[M.Doban]

this thread has turned into a show off instead of actual questions lol.

Some people just don't read. I don't think I could have made it any more obvious on the first page. Oh well.

I've been practicing on my tig welding for a about a month or 2. My question is if I'm using enough heat? How is the color suppose to look? I used 65-70 amp on the right 2 and 70-75 at the left 2. With a ER70S-2 filler rod.

Very good question and I would like to know the answer as well!

[ShEck3lls0]

Could use some advice for my current body work I am doing.

First is welding two body panels together. I cut my rear quarters on my e30 for the flares, however, since it is unibody, the panels need to be welded together after being cut. Any advice? I will post pictures tomorrow of my current progress. Obviously I am going along and tacking every so often and then let it cool a minute as to not warp the panels then do another set of tacks, etc. I have a lincoln 110V 130amp mig. I am having issues stacking the tacks however though. Also since the metal is so thin it gets difficult. I am fine with thicker stuff and higher heat.

Also going to be replacing the battery tray shortly as it has a lot of rust. Any tips there would be appreciated. Thanks.

[CBURKE]

Started welding again so I can make my strut bars and other metal art.
Ran a bead on some 3/16, not to bad... It's been about 5 years since I last welded anything.

[M.Doban]

Could use some advice for my current body work I am doing.

First is welding two body panels together. I cut my rear quarters on my e30 for the flares, however, since it is unibody, the panels need to be welded together after being cut. Any advice? I will post pictures tomorrow of my current progress. Obviously I am going along and tacking every so often and then let it cool a minute as to not warp the panels then do another set of tacks, etc. I have a lincoln 110V 130amp mig. I am having issues stacking the tacks however though. Also since the metal is so thin it gets difficult. I am fine with thicker stuff and higher heat.

Also going to be replacing the battery tray shortly as it has a lot of rust. Any tips there would be appreciated. Thanks.

Sounds like you've got the proper technique in mind. Are you using gas? What kind? What wire are you using? Pictures will most definitely be helpful. If all your equipment is set up correctly then I would grab a couple scrap pieces of sheet metal and start tacking them together. That always helps me get the hang of welding new stuff.

[_HeC_]

First is welding two body panels together. I cut my rear quarters on my e30 for the flares, however, since it is unibody, the panels need to be welded together after being cut. Any advice? I will post pictures tomorrow of my current progress. Obviously I am going along and tacking every so often and then let it cool a minute as to not warp the panels then do another set of tacks, etc. I have a lincoln 110V 130amp mig. I am having issues stacking the tacks however though. Also since the metal is so thin it gets difficult. I am fine with thicker stuff and higher heat.

I'm no pro by any means but just did inner/outter lower quarter panels on my SUV not long ago and all i did was a bunch of spot welds till it was solid, grind and spot weld any pinholes and regrind etc I didn't want to attempt any bead with such thin metal and a newb welder lol turned out great in my eyes... used a Lincoln 140 with gas

went from this on both sides

to this


peoples thoughts on frame work with a 110? Planning on a solid axle swap in my truck and was hoping to use it, was practicing on some scrap metal the other day... any tips?

[M.Doban]

It looks like the weld is just sitting on top of the metal. You may need more heat. Any pictures of the backside though? That'll tell us if the weld penetrated.

[CBURKE]

Yeah, just a little more heat or move a little slower. You want the weld more flat. Still not bad at all!
Maybe clean the surface a little more too.

[_HeC_]

ok thanks guys ill try a little slower and see what happens, if i remember right that was with my Lincoln 140 maxed out with .025 wire which isn't really meant to weld anything to thick I don't think... seen someone in this thread and other boards mentioning welding with dual shield(flux wire and gas) to get the most penetration out of a 110 machine

M.doban Ill see if i can find that piece to inspect the back, have a parts car in the garage right now and its buried inside with other scrap i think lol if I cant find it ill try welding something else up and see what it looks like

[M.Doban]

...welding with dual shield(flux wire and gas) to get the most penetration out of a 110 machine

This is absolutely true.

M.doban Ill see if i can find that piece to inspect the back, have a parts car in the garage right now and its buried inside with other scrap i think lol if I cant find it ill try welding something else up and see what it looks like

Haha! Cool beans, man.

[notsolow]

Done with a northern tool Flux core welder. I don't think it looks too bad for my 1st fab work

[anti.engineered]

okay I'll bite. I need any and all advice I can get. Teaching myself with an entry level gas mig. unfortunately not able to adjust voltage and wire speed separately as it auto adjusts.

most of the stuff I need to weld is vertical and also paper thin (think firewall) which I am finding it very difficult to learn on. getting better but honestly it's hit and miss at this point. welds are usually consistent once ground down... usually

pictures below, all educated opinions welcome.

[anth]

Looks like you're doing okay to me, shame you can't adjust the settings though. Thin metal means you can only really do a series of tacks, which it looks like you're already doing. Just make sure you move around so you don't put too much heat into one spot and warp the metal. If anything the welds in your last pic look a little high, which you could fix by turning down the wire speed, but again that comes down to your machine! I wonder if there's any way you can override the auto adjust?

[anti.engineered]

thanks for the feedback. there's only one adjustment knob on the whole welder, which goes through three settings - the first of which is combined voltage and wire speed. not individual I am doing lots of tacks, yes. learnt that the hard way haha.

my issue is the inconsistency. i think a lot of it might be to do with my position and not cleaning the metal regularly enough.

[anth]

I wonder if you can "hack" the machine with some DIY wiring to make it more adjustable? Maybe google the model name and number and see if anyone has done it? One thing I thought of that you could possibly adjust is your "stick out", which is the amount that the nozzle protrudes from the shroud.

Yep preparation and clean metal are both very important. Do you have a good ground clamp? You can wrap some copper wire around where you put the clamp to get a better ground on the cheap. Don't forget to NEVER use brake cleaner on your metal before welding, it's highly toxic when burnt.

At the end of the day I'm just a noob with an entry-level MIG too but these are the just some of the things that I've watched/read in the past 12 months. Most of what I've learnt, apart from practicing on scrap, comes from weldingtipsandtricks.com and migwelding.co.uk, give those places a visit when you have time