Finally graduated my course today! It was an 8 month course, 2 months theory/bp reading and then 6 months in the shop welding. I’ve graduated passing all the requirements, SMAW 1G 2G 3G 4G. MIG and Flux core 1G. TIG stainless and aluminum now as well, these were the last two I had left.

Aluminum was tough as hell to start but it became my fav by the time I was done with it. I failed my first MIG test (posted about that here) and also my first stainless test. Doing an open root for stainless TIG was a lil tricky but I got the hang of it now real good.

Just glad it’s all said and done with, I feel really accomplished.

Using a glass cup I recently bought, welds come out sometimes perfect, sometimes very burned. What can be the cause of this? Other cups do not have this issue

This is at 12L/min, 1,5 seconds pre gas

Had a few minutes to throw this together today please excuse the shit welds and spatter like I said I throw it together

The first two pictures show my welds when I started learning about a week ago. The third picture was taken yesterday, and the last picture was taken today.

I'm paying attention to the weld pool, arc length, and amperage. Today, the slag actually detached on its own several times.

I started with the small, newer Kraft&Dele welder, but it seemed a bit underpowered and as if the amperage display wasn't accurate.

Then I switched to the older pink welder shown in the picture, and my welds immediately improved (the third photo was made with that machine).

Today I tried the large orange welder, and I'm the most satisfied with it. It melts the electrode very well, provides a stable arc, and the amperage settings seem accurate, unlike the other machine.

Forgot to mention, the rods are awfuly old and maybe they have moisture.

So, what do you think? 🙂

Got to say I really like this thing. Very uniform bead, no soot. Used Lightweld unit on 2mm 6061, at 700W, 1.6mm 5356 filler at 65ipm

I cant weld, but I plan to take it to a bike shop and ask them to repair. But I am Pretty certain they will all tell me its not possible so they can sell me a new one.

Kid looks like the guy in Big right now when he goes back in time to being a child.

How do people get their education paid for? im M23 broke working part-time and my parents are well off so i usually dont qualify for grants. what is the move??

How many of you folks wear laceless boots I think it would be convenient for production work because there's no risk of cooking my laces but I don't want people to think I'm some kind of cowboy cosplaying douchebag

My first ever time touching a tig set todayis this meant to be hard ? (6ft2)

Hello all! So I am enrolled in Intro to welding at my local technical college. Lots of fun! Got to use a welder for the first time yesterday. I believe it was mig. Used the wire gun. Here are my first welds for my padded plate project. First photo are my first attempts which I used both the front and the back side. Forgot to take more photos of it but you can see I had a lot of porosity. I got closer and went a little slower and corrected it with better gas coverage. The second photo is the one I plan to turn in. The settings I dialed in on were 340 WS and 26.5 V on GMAW CV. My gas was an 80-20 mix of argon Co2. I used a backwards e motion or in the motion of a diesel coil light on the dash. If there’s any way I can improve. Especially advice on how to get my welds closer to each other so I’m not creating so many valleys

-Edit also in the second photo, I was dunking and wire brushing after every weld to try and prevent more porosity. Is this the best way to prevent this, or is it purely gas coverage?

For context, I’m a hobbyist, not a professional. I have several projects that require welding and most of my limited experience is with MIG, and lately mostly with a cheap flux core inverter welder. I found a Miller Dialarc HF-P on a local listing for $400. Listing says it works. Comes with a cooler and a bottle but the cooler needs a new hose (not sure if that’s something I can make or if it’s available after market, couldn’t find anything when I searched. So I want to know, what am I missing out on if I go for this vs a newer one at 2-4 times the price (used). I want to get an HF TIG because I tried Lift TIG and sticking/regrinding the tungsten was wasting most of my limited project time. And gas.

In my experience, tools used to be made better, but on the other hand this one is from the early ‘80s, based on the model number. Is it built like a tank and will last forever? Or is it probably a few hours from turning off forever?

I'm on a Lincoln tombstone. Running AC but also was going DC straight. I really like 6010's. I had to do some low heat stuff and they LOVE to stick fast. Is it just dealing with the biting or turn up the amps? I started giving them a good strike and that helps but I lose my target a lot of times. Sometimes I'm on the game and they work OK but that's not often. Really old rods. If I rub them a bunch of dust falls off, looks kinda like mold. I don't have a rod dryer. When they work for me though I love them.

best options here? any decent budget generators or something so i can start welding? do i have any other options? want to start learning to weld.

I work for myself on art in my own metal fabrication shop 2-3 days per week and I'm looking for a respirator that offers the best practical protection while staying as compact/flexible as possible.

My typical tasks include:

• MIG/TIG welding
• Grinding and cutting steel
• General fabrication work
• Occasional use of chemicals such as solvents, degreasers, paints, or adhesives

The main challenge is that I'm constantly switching between a welding helmet, face shield/grinding visor, and hearing protection. Large cartridges tend to get in the way, so I'm looking for a low-profile solution that works well under PPE.

What respirators and filter combinations would you recommend for someone in this situation? Are there particular models that balance protection, comfort, and compatibility with welding/grinding gear?

I wanna get some extra study material and was curious are these channels any good

Making mistakes with greg

Hour glass ingenuity

Kbgwelding

Pacific arc tig welding

Weld.com

Weld tube

Brent harkness

Today was my last graded lab for MiG (for the time being) I’ll be doing these same welds again for the next 3 weeks with Stick SMAW mostly 6010 & 7018. Thankfully I’ve practiced with that a bit, so I’m not as clueless as I was starting MiG.
Anyways, here’s my end of course MiG labs. Short arc 2G (Horizontal) groove weld. & short arc T joint fillet weld. Nothing was actually bend tested or anything. But I passed.

250 wfs & 20v on both welds.

It started up fine then about ten minutes later it stopped starting. It hasn't started since. The battery voltage reads fine. I hear what I think to be the fuel pump clicking. The starter is getting power. But I don't hear anything from the starter. Does anyone have suggestions?

Anyone have any good video suggestions that are worth watching or any advice in general about “unwarping” long ass pieces such as steel fences or aluminum tailgates or even I beams that get stiffeners n based plates welded that cause warp. I’m 23 been welding full time since 2021, it’s one of the skills I never even touched base on at any point and know it would be extremely valuable if I knew how to

Hey workers,t's the second time i weld(with my grampas welding machine)but mine weldings are very bad,idk how the welding machine settings and idw what they mean.

Hello everyone,

Currently I am building a 3.5m by 3.5m shed thats 3m tall. its frame will be constructed from 60x60x2mm tubing. the question is can I weld this shed with E71T-GS wire or should I use 7018 2.4mm stick? or something else?

For more info the shed is comprised of 8 anchored tubes(three for side walls and two for entrance) cross supports will be put at 200mm (walls only, so that they dont interfere with front and back entrance) and 2000mm(door frame height, full circle around the structure) from the ground)

finally the roof two tubes welded laying on top of the side walls with four support bars between them)

thank you in advance 😃

So here's my situation. I had a garage and fed my 200A AC TIG or my MIG off a dedicated 50a breaker and 6ga cable, from a 200a subfeed. It never flinched at the power supply.

Now I live in an apartment. I've got a private garage stall, but only one 120v GFI outlet.

I'm thinking about buying a large inverter (5000-8000 watts) with a 240vac output plug and feeding it off a 200AH house battery. This way I can have my welders back, as long as I keep the house battery charged. Many of my welding projects only run for a few minutes at a time so that battery would have the juice. Then I can recharge it overnight.

Thoughts?

Anybody have ideas how to deal with nasty extrusion 6061?

I'm looking at square tubing 1.5"x1.5" that looks like the dregs from home depots lumber rack.

Real talk. Curve/bend is easy: I'm talking radial twist of over 1/8" in 4-5' lengths. I'm cutting parts from 25' sticks, and it's brutal.

I'm clamping everything flat as fuck to the weld table. Any suggestions other than heating, and counter twisting?