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“All the videos, songs, images, and graphics used in the video belong to their respective owners and I or this channel does not claim any right over them.
Copyright Disclaimer under section 107 of the Copyright Act of 1976, allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, education and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing.”
Use mild steel to practice. When would you ever need to weld on a break rotor? The alloys in a rotor will make it splatter
on the mig you are using mix gas
but looks like flux core wire and the nozzle is for flux core and not mix gas
so youd need to change the roll of wire out and get a diffuser nozzle if you are using mix gas
also there is polarity difference between mig and flux core
it is near the feed rollers
best thing i recommend is watch welding tip and tricks on here. he had a dam good set up to be able to see what's going on. you gonna get and already got every type of welder commenting here lol from the "im a 20 year certified" to back yard hill Billy. George there gave you an answer to every question you never asked and almost every one you will never need to know all you are wanting to do is mig weld and on automotive stuff with a 140 amp welder……. well that's cake you don't need a 2 year degree to do it well just some direction and trigger time. no need to even bring up stick welding or high carbon tool steel on heavy equipment and defining all the WABO AWS cert lingo HAHAH
if you are going to open a weld shop then George is your guy but to weld Sheetmetal, exhaust tubing and automotive steels hes not. As for my input, 1st we don't know what wire you have, it looks like flux core but that would be important to know to help. 2nd, that rotor is on the thick side for a 140 welder. 1/4 is pushing it. get some 3/16 to play with, check what wire you have and if its flux core leave the gas off and spray your steel with pam cooking spray. it will help with BBS sticking, BBs happen. get some exhaust tubing and play with that, you got to move fairly fast to not blow a hole and then you can add welding on cats for people who got jacked to your business.
inside the welder is a chart to get you close to what setting you should be at so you just fine tune it. push, pull, wip back and forth or wiggle left to right or drag…..that is MOSTLY preference or cosmetic decoration. keep it simple do a slow steady, keep a 90deg to 15deg angle to the work, do a no wiggle or anything "stringer" and later work into the most common slight whip action or lower case e pattern. just FYI for those thinking i fall in the 90% non welders….. i have a degree in welding, i am certified 6g pipe in tig, stick and dual and have 15 aerospace certs in TIG. i weld Inconel titanium and aluminum for a living.
summery, get thinner metal to play with, get set up for wire ER70s and 75-25 gas for that pretty weld. run 6 inch long welds and let it cool in-between so every time you weld its the same results. those little short runs wont tell a beginner much.
Buy a better welder! Those things suck,look at the cord for crying out loud! Get a Miller 211
The only thing I have other than practice is that's not a drag tip on the end of the gun. Ideally you should have about a 60 degree angle at the nozzle so the gas doesn't 'bounce' off the target into atmosphere.
Oh, and yes. When shutting down zero the regulator output. Otherwise the gauge will go wonky and/or the regulator won't work properly the next time it's used.
Considering you're in Florida where it's always hot, no doubt there is one or more floor fans running, and the doors are up as well. Might be losing gas coverage, and yeah, you're trying to run beads on cast iron. Should have a flow meter to control the volume of gas as well.
It looks like you’re using flex core wire.
I have never welded, but I did stay in a Holiday Inn last night, so let me chime in…..First off….Looks good to me.
-Starting ego
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your welding the wrong type of metal for starters and resting the shield on the job, set the welder as you started and use the gap between the gun and the job to fine tune the heat into the job.
Polarity on the welder is backwards – I cleaned up my spatter a lot when I switch the positive and negative on the welder – found this tip online
One of the hardest thing to find is a good video that explains what a good weld looks like, what bad weld looks like and the symptoms of both. Splatter generally comes from being too far from your welding surface or a too fast wire feed. I find more often its being too far away and the angle of the welder being more than 45 degrees. I'm a sometimes welder and believe in the adage, a grinder and paint makes you the welder you ain't! The next move is to remove the tip which I've been told gives a better view of your work and allows a closer weld distance. all that being said, you def have a knack for welding! A couple weeks of practice and I'd say you'd have a perfect stack of dimes!
Metal is too thick/wrong type for that kind of welder. That's your biggest issue.
Also try pushing the puddle not pulling
1) !!! Dude, are you using shielded wire with gas? Use one or the other. In the shop, use solid wire and the gas. That spatter (and brushing) looks like that of shielded wire. Solid wire/gas requires no brushing, it's clean as soon as you're done.
2) That rotor is iron and I wouldn't be practicing on that. Get yourself some scrap A36 (plate, angle, etc).
3) Get your gun angled right (looks like you're kinda laying it down in the video). Push and pull give slightly different results – and don't really matter with what you're doing – but you need to get that tip closer to perpendicular with the work. If I were right-handed and pulling on a flat piece of scrap like that, that tip would be close to 90 front-back and tilted to the right a bit, maybe 30-ish degrees or so.
4) When using the flux wire, with gas or not, every time you strike an arc it blows some of that dusty shielding on to the work. You have to brush it every time, even if you accidentally hit the trigger, because the next bead will not want to stick correctly and will spatter. Once you start a bead, stick with it, because you have to brush it to do the next one. I see you making a lot of "nothing sparks" when you start, you are spraying down a lot of shielding that makes the rest of your bead not want to stick. You don't have to do any of this if using solid wire/gas.
5) Don't expect pro results of that 120V. They're handy but you can only get so much heat out of them. I would leave it on D (70-80 amps, the upper limit of these 120V guys) for everything down to maybe 12 ga. I don't know how that thing behaves but just to give you an idea. I have a 120V one that only has a Hi/Lo switch and I only ever switch it to low for really thin stuff like lawnmower decks or chintsy fence pieces.
Ray, haven’t touched a welding device of any kind sense my High School days in the early 70s. Mr Elder would have kicked me out of class if I had done some of the welds you have put down. But in your defense, it does take practice to do it correctly every time. I’m sure there is a general guide available to reference before you attempt your welds. Better you than me! Long time subscriber, Roger in Pierre South Dakota
Ive been welding for like 4 months maybe 5…. And a buddy showed me that if u pull and make little “e” motions they come out looking a lot better. Also i wouldnt rest the gun on the actual welding surface. Hold it just over the material. Next from what i was told, The thicker the metal the higher the temp and wire speed… it made sense when i saw it. Im not the greatest welder by any means im learnng just like you but somebody took the time to show me so i figured id try to explain my rendition of technique to you. Maybe it helps.
If you want to learn to weld, get in a class. You can learn to make a bead without actual certifications, but you likely won't learn to weld. It's more about what settings to use and what materials to use in a particular situation than actually laying a bead.
"Get some regular old mild steel if you want to practice on something. If you actually want to learn to weld, start with stick, not mig."
Exactly the same thing every welder I worked with ever told me. See I'm not a welder, I worked as a foreman, but I worked directly with welders all day. For me welding is very very easy. Step 1, ensure position of material is correct, step 2, tell the welder to weld it up.
turn your gas pressure up /down & make sure your wire is for gas welding
You can teach me, your WAY better than me.. Keep the videos coming ………………………. Click
Ray it looks like the welder has the wrong kind of bottle? it appears to be a 100% CO2 with a liquid dip tube? Anyone else see that?
I weld with a lincoln buzz box and 7018 1/8 inch rods. Buzz box is older than me and i just put my helmet on, crank at' sum beach wide open and give er hell! Hope this helps………somehow…….
My many, many years of 'Welding' experience amounts to 'Call A Welder' before I start a fire or blow something up or likely both events
Often forgotten fact, that unless your gauge has been calibrated and been taken care of you can't guarantee what you see on the gauge is coming out of the torch there are a couple of solutions.
One is a regulator mounted flow meter after the gauge, the other one is the old ' peashooter ' type which measures the flow at the torch tip, simple to use and cheap, all you have to do with either is set the little ball to the right setting, the better ones show both LPM and CFPM.
I think most folk who have been welding for a while both professional and diy will agree that starting off with text book settings for gas flow, speed, volts, amps etc is a good start, but like many things once you get practice under your belt you lean the seat of your pants style tweaking a setting here and there improves your weld.
As others have said some mild steel scrap is good to practice on, set everything up as the text book, run a couple of beads then play with the settings one at a time, say gas, raising the pressure, run a bead, lower the pressure, run a bead, then return it to the text book setting, then do the same with the rest of the settings.
What this will do is that you will be able to see from the appearance of each bead and hear what the different adjustments make, recognise these in your welds which will help to correct any faults that show up.
But as everyone says, its one of those things where practice makes perfect.
With all the free scrap parts a garage produces, you could also become famous and wealthy doing scrap sculptures,.😉👍
Looks like you are using flux core wire with shield gas. Look at the spool of wire in the machine. Also make sure your polarization is correct for your choice of flux core or gas wire. Can’t mix them up.
are you using flux core and gas?
I'm not a professional welder but I do stay at a Holiday Inn…….. you should try it……it works.
I am a certified JB welder, sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. 😀
Just quit while you're ahead. 🙂
Make sure the ground clamp bolt is tight!
Several things we need to know there Ray! Retired certified welder here that also has an associate of science degree in welding fabrication!
Need to know the kind of shielding gas you are using? Wire size and various other factors! It’s looking like your shielding gas flow is too high or even to low! 20-30 CFM should be good the other thing is brake rotors are cast steel and therefore quite dirty material. Find yourself some good old fashioned mild steel to practice welding on and to set the settings if your machine! Welding on cast brings up a whole other can of worms!
Mild steel….. cast iron is almost impossible with MIG…..
Pal – I think you are laid over too far. Try keeping the head angle between 5-15 degrees off vertical to reduce the splatter…so, more straight uppy downy
You need to push gas shielded wire not drag . I have welded fertilizer vehicles man lifts and car trailers with gas shielded wire and always pushed. Wen I use flux core wire I would drag like you show in video
Wow and I thought soldering a circuit board was tough.
Though it does look like a fun time. Have to add welding to bucket list lol
I'm a retired welder, 33 years of experience. Many certifications, countless hours of sweat. The day I retired I forgot everything I knew.
So you're dealing with the shop welder and however it is equipped and loaded – gas, wire type, etc. Let's start with that as a baseline and explain that this is what you have to work with, but you might be able to get changes in the gas and wire type if you request them.
I am NOT a welder. I can throw down a bead and have things hold together, but it is an art like playing the guitar as much as it is a science. A friend of mine used to work in a restoration shop and he brought me in to show me quarter panels the shop's expert welder had installed on a Road Runner. It was breathtaking, the only mark was a color change where the old and the new steel came together, ground and polished beautifully flat inside and outside, not a ripple of heat stretching, and not a bit of body filler required before paint. The guy was an old-school coachbuilder at The Guild of Automotive Restorers in Bradford, Ontario. Amazing work, and I admired his skill.
Great video Ray. The comment section wins the day on this one! The level of knowledge is massive and priceless. This is what makes the internet and specifically Youtube priceless! 😉
Brake rotors are cast you need to practice on some mild Steel
1- the second side of the regulator is cubic feet per min of gas. Typical setting is 20 to 40 fpm but varies with conditions, wind and wire. Travel direction of handle should be towards the puddle to get proper shielding gas protection. That can change with experience and practice. – 2 if you do not have a good ground you do not have a good weld. Ground continuity effects physical amperage of the process. MiG is a constant voltage process, Heat setting determines voltage and wire feed determines amperage. Choose heat(voltage) setting based on wire diameter and base metal thickness start wire feed( amperage) low and turn up until appropriate. Easier to clean up and make another pass due to low pen then it is to close up blow out hole from starting too hot. 3-Clean, Clean, Clean. You're welder is a solid filler wire from what I am seeing. Not as forgiving as a flux core wire but much cleaner. Flux core has more splatter and slag to clean up then straight wire. If you are running vertical weld climb bottom to top. Running downhill look's better and I use it for final in a multi pass weld but root weld and build up should be bottom to top due to contamination of the base metal boiling out as you weld. If you down hill from the start and grind it out you will see porosity which cut's weld strength substantially. 4- you are welding cast iron with steel filler wire. Does not mix well. You need to practice with steel not cast iron. Frames, exhaust, even spring's are steel and good practice welding. ( do not weld spring's in actual repair, they become brittle without the right process) but cast iron base will not weld correctly with steel filler wire. Read over GeorgeGeorge post prior to commenting and I will hole heartedly agree with him. I do not have certification but lot's of experience.
Never be afraid to ask some one with experience a question. We have to pass the knowledge on or it will be lost. Also remember to never stop learning. I havn't known it all since I was 18. And every day of my life I learn something new. (usually how not to do it next time)
You are welding cast iron heat the rotor first with a touch then weld no splater
As far as your welding skills are concerned; As long as your welds hold for what you are trying to accomplish then enjoy yourself!
If you're using fluxcore wire you dont need gas. Your polarity may be wrong. If solid wire , then you need the gas, and again polarity must be right.
Splatter means your wire feed speed is too low or arc voltage is too high, push the puddle dont drag it and it will wash in the sides better, a slight side to side motion without leaving the puddle helps a lot too, also the welder your using needs to be plugged into a better power source or closer to the breaker box in the shop, you can hear the machine bog down under load.
watched your welding attempt with 2 other retired mechanics. We are in terrible pain. PLEASE go to a adult welding class at a local school tech center. Most school systems have them. A Hint: inside of the side panel of most welders is a chart of settings to get you close on settings. Really entertaining stuff!
(Hey Ray, check your wire, are you using flux core wire WITH gas?)
Why is there so much spatter?! I weld with flux core (no gas, there is flux in the wire so you don’t need gas) and flux core is kinda known to have too much spatter sometimes and even my flux core wire doesn’t put out that much spatter. Possible you need more gas? Maybe your clamp is jacked… the shop should buy a new clamp (thats their welder, right?), they’re like $12 or go to Harbor Freight and get one for $5. Get a decent one, Harbor Freight has decent ones now actually, I replaced the one on my Hobart welder with a nice Hobart clamp so I paid a little more.
But yeah… that is WAYYYY too much spatter, something is wrong with your welding setup… Could you possibly be using flux core WITH gas?! Anyone know if mixing “two gasses” (the flux in the wire burns to make its own gas instead of having a tank full of gas to protect the weld) will cause extra spatter?
Ray, repeat after me: “Welder and paint makes me the welder I ain’t.” 😎
Your first weld was actually Really good bead wise. I believe you need a little more shielding gas. I really just use a flux core welder,
so I’m not really a pro by any means. But from what I’ve gathered from watching videos here and there, sometimes you have to adjust the shielding gas
Hey Ray, I can only speak from experience using clapped out old welders to get me by, learnt by doing rather than any formal training, but I would have the gas at about 5-10 psi, (15+ maybe, outside with wind) more gas cools the weld and prevents penetration, with different materials and conditions its good to do a test weld before the actual job at hand, try keep the shroud of the torch clean from spatter for even gas flow and practice loads, you'll get a feel for it!