hey guys, im very new to welding i have a little arc welder that i mess with. its 220 volts and like 115 amps

now when i touch the rod to the metal it sticks, i mean it gets stuck all the time. i have only been able to run one good 'bead'. im not trying to weld anything yet just get the hang of it.

they are 5/16 rods and im just messing with steel extra car parts like hoods and stuff. any help would sure help

 

Forget the arc welder and learn mig!

 

Having learned on stick, I can sympathize.

First of all, as a newb before you start welding you should grind all of the slag/rust/mill scale etc off your material. Believe it or not steel is actually bright shiny silver colored, not dark rusty colored like I thought until I got into the fabricating business.

Secondly, get comfortable. Put your material on a waist-high table and sit in a chair that lets your rest your elbows on the table with your hands in front of your face.

If your holder is like mine, it has three grooves cut into it where the rod is clamped. One puts the rod at an angle pointing away from you, one points the rod at a 90-degree angle to the holder, and one points the rod back toward you. You want to clamp the rod so it is pointing back toward you.

(From here on out I'm assuming you're right-handed like me. If you're not, replace all the "right" with "left" and vice versa)

Put your workpiece on the table and ground it. My table is metal so I have the ground wire bolted to the table and I lay the parts directly on it. Otherwise, clamp the workpiece down and affix the ground to the workpiece (usually with the big spring-loaded clamp).

Take hold of the rod holder with your right hand and rest your elbows on the table. Wrap your left hand around your right wrist. At this time, if you were to rest the end of the rod on the table, your two arms and the rod would form a tripod. We'll call this "the position."

This is where the fun begins.
Turn on your welder on and assume the position again. To strike an arc, do just that. Strike it like a match. Sure, you could bring the rod down to the workpiece like a drill and try to weld that way, but that's probably what you're doing now and it isn't working.
Start with the rod a few inches from the part, and rotate your wrist counterclockwise to strike it across the metal. You should be able to strike the arc and then lift the rod off the workpiece and move around without losing the arc. This will make a hell of a mess on your piece, as it will leave little snail-trail like burns everywhere. But we're practicing here, right? Keep in mind the rod doesn't even actually have to touch the metal, it just has to come close enough for the electrons to jump across.
When you're ready to weld, place your workpieces on the table in such a manner that the weld will go from right to left. This will allow you to use the same technique to get each weld started.

This is the most basic way I can describe to get started. Bringing the rod straight down only works when you're a seasoned pro, and welding in a straight line toward or away from you is difficult because either your hands are in the way of seeing the puddle (away), you can't tell how long the puddle is (toward) or you are putting more heat into one part than the other (toward or away, if you try to hold the rod pointed toward one piece).

Good luck.
Brandon

 

I'm trying to aquire knowledge regarding welding and posts like this are great. Thanks man

 

Make sure you have clean metal where you are applying the rod and where you have the ground clamp hooked up. Other than that, make sure you have enough amperage and don't forget to "strike" the rod on the metal, don't just push the rod onto the surface. Just smoothly drag the tip of the rod against the metal the opposite way that you have the rod pointed. Then just go at it

Just curious, what exactly are you welding? Arc isn't the best for sheet metal. Its too thin. I only use MIG on sheet metal, and I leave all of the suspension/frame stuff to the arc welder. I understand though for just running some beads.