Any old hand welders have advice for a rookie? I made my first attempt at my own exhaust and it looks pretty terrble. I have learned that exhaust is nothing like sticking two pieces of metal together for structural welding. I kept burning straight through the pipe leaving big holes. Hobart Handler 140 rig had my voltage on 1 and wire speed on 30. Help ?

 

All I can Say is ........... Practice makes perfect.... I'm not a welder...

But I do Weld......

 

Like Bob said practice, but for starters if you are burning through on the lowest setting you need to increase your wire speed. Is it flux core wire or gas shield mig? If it is gas shield you can increase the flow of the argon/co2.. to help cool the weld..If that is still to hot you will have to weld short bursts and let them cool. Basicly just be trigger happy on /off and fill the gap/hole...Is this new pipe or old rusty pipe? with a wire feed welder the metal needs to be clean,. free of rust...Bill

 

everything bill said. you can weld it in section also like a body panel. use a weave pattern alsp
mostly take your time. im no expert welder but a do dabble when i get the chance

 

I haven't upgraded to the gas setup yet. I am still using flux core. It is old rusty pipe but I did a thorough job of cleaning up each side of the parts I was to be welding. I actually decreased the wire speed thinking I was "pushing" through... So I need to increase wire speed and fill in the space as I am burning? Thanks for all the input guys. I know practice is the best method but I want to make sure I am practicing good procedures not just wasting wire and metal.

 

slow wire burns hotter

 

You want to make small 1/4 to 1/2 inch stitch welds leaving a 1/2 inch of un -welded space between wleds as you walk around the diameter of the pipe. This will insure you are starting on cool metal and not having you chasing heat settings.

Slightly bevel the outside edge of both pipes by running a grinder at a 45 degree angle along the to be welded surface. Almost like sharpening it. But just make a pass to knock off contaminates.

 

Use some 0.025 wire. You will see a world of difference!

 

Is this recommendation for thin welding jobs in general or steel pipe/exhaust in particular? So much to LEARN!!!

 

Do yourself a huge huge favor. Buy whatever it takes to upgrade the machine to gas, and if it cannot be, sell it and buy one that "is" (gas) even a used (brand name) machine.

I don't even bother to use "fancy gas" on my two MIGs, I use straight CO2 which is a heck of a lot cheaper. It's a little more on splatter, otherwise works fine

Last, welding used rusty thing exhaust, full of junk and carbon, CAN be a little difficult. New pipe--not so much.

As above it takes practice, use short beads, and if possible, rustle up some scrap that you can practice on in a good position where you can concentrate on learning how.

 

Fortunately all I need is the tank... This welder came as a kit (gas ready) just buy your own expensive *** tank and viola! Any recommendations on tank size for a guy who fires up his welder maybe once a month?

 

I found this very helpful on Miller's website. Very direct and written in a "welding for dummies" kind of way. Thanks for all the tips and advice guys. Hopefully this thread will help others as well!

http://www.millerwelds.com/resources...tips/index.php

 

If you have any welding shops around you, give them a call and as if they offer day or two day classes on basic welding. You can pick up so much from people who weld for a living.

I'm no welder, and I'll go months between laying a bead. Before that happens, I'll grab some scrap metal close to what I'll be welding and get some practice beads in first.