Ok well heres the deal i bought a mig welder a few months ago from sears. now the welder is nothing too special just $290 mig welder no gas just wire. now i havent touched it in a couple of months but now i gettin ready to start working on my car and fabbing up a few thing.
Heres my problem tho, ive never really welded b4. just messed around wiht this one some and was close to as good as my buddy who took welding classes for 2 years. now he was tryin to help me but not to sound mean but hes not one of the brightest kids so i took what i could from him and learned the rest on my own. Well my welds r strong from what i can tell, ive welded some 2 inch exhaust pipe together had me and my buddy stand bounce on it and the pipe bent b4 the weld even thoguht about lettin go. But my weld it skinny and pretty tall, like it doesnt sit flush wiht the metal im welding. Is this just what its ganna be like wiht the cheaper welder or do i just need more practice and more heat to get the welds lookin better. Or would it just come down to suckin up buyin a desent Tig and learning that to get the welds im lookin to make.
Any info would be great thanks guys.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by MindLess311 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote"> But my weld it skinny and pretty tall, like it doesnt sit flush wiht the metal im welding. Is this just what its ganna be like wiht the cheaper welder or do i just need more practice and more heat to get the welds lookin better. Or would it just come down to suckin up buyin a desent Tig and learning that to get the welds im lookin to make.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Try to figure out if you machine will convert to gas because this is sooooo much nicer to work with.

For a new welder thin materials are a little bit harder to weld due to burning through. In your case you need more heat or move slower. More heat will flatten out the weld making it wider and shorter. More heat means either less wire feed speed to let the wire get melted off faster or more voltage is needed.

If you start with burning through than either you need to start to slow down or maybe a little manipultion(weave the wire left to right).

Definatly PRACTICE with every possible setting and every material thickness will need a different heat setting. Adding gas is much better unless you can't get penetration like you want, then Flux Cored wire is better.

Manipulation is a must! Either you need to left or right whip and pause or cirle motion. I prefer left or right in all positions except vertical up then move in a circle.

Anyways I love to teach and help in the ways of welding.

KEEP ON WELDING!!!!!!!!!!!

 

thanks i was think along those lines but just wanted some verifacation on what to do.

 

def. turn down the wire speed and make sure you are getting some movement.

pay attention to how much wire is sticking out the end of the gun (called stickout). When I weld exhaust tubing, I try to keep it at about 1/4 inch. That's gonna be a little harder for you to see using flux core though..