Welding Thread
- Thread starter magnumP5
- Start date
AzteCypher
black ops modifications..
- :
- 2001 Mazda Protege LX
I like this thread! Been wanting to get into welding but wasn't sure about spending the money on a welder if I didn't know what I was doing. Giving it some more thought after reading everyone's suggestions examples.
Subbin. I used to mig weld brackets when they would break at the powder coating shop where I worked. But that was about 10 years ago and everything was already set. But man, was it fun. I would like to get into it but I am a cheap bastard and Prince Valorum and Josue6WGN are friends of mine so they can do my welding for me for a small fee. Win!
Here's an O2 bung Josue welded up for me as my contribution to the thread.
Here's an O2 bung Josue welded up for me as my contribution to the thread.
PrinceValorum
Member
- :
- 95 626 FS, 89 Toyota Derux 4x4
^Lol all you need is to be laying in a hammock, striking an arc...
AzteCypher
black ops modifications..
- :
- 2001 Mazda Protege LX
Welding in flip flops! That's definitely hardcore! You sir have a brass set... or a small brain... j/k!
PrinceValorum
Member
- :
- 95 626 FS, 89 Toyota Derux 4x4
What do you guys do when you're running a longer bead and your glove starts to feel like it's about to catch on fire?
- :
- aggressive auto culture
Where damp mechanics gloves under your leathers...
flatlander937
Member
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- '11 Mazda2 Sport
Buy better gloves.
How long of a bead? Depending on what you're welding, you'll warp the s*** out something. I have a friend who ruined a D70 axle by welding his truss in 2 passes(one for each side). It looks like a giant smiley face now. This was with a 180 Lincoln welder... the tubing is 3.5" dia and 1/2" wall thickness... so don't think that it won't warp... it will.
I use these gloves that I got from Northern Tool:
They are stupidly thick, I generally will only use the one on my left hand, and use a really light glove on my right hand... works well in 95% of the situations.
How long of a bead? Depending on what you're welding, you'll warp the s*** out something. I have a friend who ruined a D70 axle by welding his truss in 2 passes(one for each side). It looks like a giant smiley face now. This was with a 180 Lincoln welder... the tubing is 3.5" dia and 1/2" wall thickness... so don't think that it won't warp... it will.
I use these gloves that I got from Northern Tool:
They are stupidly thick, I generally will only use the one on my left hand, and use a really light glove on my right hand... works well in 95% of the situations.
mymmeryloss
Member
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- 13bT Mazda B2600i
Yep. I wear a thin leather glove on my trigger hand...
PrinceValorum
Member
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- 95 626 FS, 89 Toyota Derux 4x4
Wow, that's huge material. I've never done anything that thick before. I usually just wear a mechanic glove on my trigger hand and leather on my left. I'll blame it on the 5$ gloves I got at Harbor Freight, but if they serve as an early warning for warpage, all the better!
I take it when you look out from behind the shield and the whole end of the piece is glowing bright orange that's bad?
flatlander937
Member
- :
- '11 Mazda2 Sport
Depends on how critical it is 
On stuff that can NOT warp(which is most of what I have welded unless I'm just practicing), I will just run 1 to 2 inch sections at a time, if you're doing a 2ft long section for instance... do about 2" of welding on the left side, then the right side, then the center... let it all completely cool(at least down to where you can touch it with a bare hand). then weld a 1-2 inch section at a time in-between the first 3 welds and let it cool again. Repeat.
For instance, I welded this front part of my bumper up over the course of about 2 hours IIRC. Did a few small parts, went elsewhere and came back 15 min later.
edit: Also a really good tip that I was given by a guy way better at welding than me: When continuing a bead... strike your arc at the end of the last bead, then move backwards by about 3/16" and then continue welding like normal. With a bit of practice you can get pretty damn good at blending welds into each other.
Also the more like birdshit that your welds look like... the easier it is to blend them in... worry about blending them once you can make acceptable looking welds that have sufficient penetration
On stuff that can NOT warp(which is most of what I have welded unless I'm just practicing), I will just run 1 to 2 inch sections at a time, if you're doing a 2ft long section for instance... do about 2" of welding on the left side, then the right side, then the center... let it all completely cool(at least down to where you can touch it with a bare hand). then weld a 1-2 inch section at a time in-between the first 3 welds and let it cool again. Repeat.
For instance, I welded this front part of my bumper up over the course of about 2 hours IIRC. Did a few small parts, went elsewhere and came back 15 min later.
edit: Also a really good tip that I was given by a guy way better at welding than me: When continuing a bead... strike your arc at the end of the last bead, then move backwards by about 3/16" and then continue welding like normal. With a bit of practice you can get pretty damn good at blending welds into each other.
Also the more like birdshit that your welds look like... the easier it is to blend them in... worry about blending them once you can make acceptable looking welds that have sufficient penetration
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PrinceValorum
Member
- :
- 95 626 FS, 89 Toyota Derux 4x4
Gotcha. I've heard that time and again, and practice it, but haven't had to do much stuff so far that mattered, warpage-wise. I've read about applying heat to the backside, to warp it back to square, essentially, but haven't practiced it yet. I hear building boxes is great practice for that. I plan to build a bumper eventually for my Yota, so I'm sure I'll get plenty of fun trying to get that right.
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- 99 protege
can you get a closer pic on them welds! i wanna see
flatlander937
Member
- :
- '11 Mazda2 Sport
Gotcha. I've heard that time and again, and practice it, but haven't had to do much stuff so far that mattered, warpage-wise. I've read about applying heat to the backside, to warp it back to square, essentially, but haven't practiced it yet. I hear building boxes is great practice for that. I plan to build a bumper eventually for my Yota, so I'm sure I'll get plenty of fun trying to get that right.
Yeah... try taking a piece of 1/4" thick steel that is about 4" x 4"... weld a flat bead on it right down the middle, and watch how much it bows(boom06)
can you get a closer pic on them welds! i wanna see
Sure... not exactly great welds, but nothing broke when I slid downhill into a tree either so I reckon they're OK. That is a piece of 1/4" angle welded to a strip of 3/8" thick along the bottom to turn it into a "C" channel sort of to prevent buckling.
As long as we're talking about metal fabrication... something AWESOME to have is a press brake for bending small parts. Giant brakes capable of stuff 1-2 feet wide is super expensive, and you generally need a BIG press to do so... but with a 20 ton HF press and a few scrapes I built a few dies that will bend a 3-4" section of 1/4" to 90 degrees:
I have no pictures of my "dies" but here is a video and you can see that all I used was a piece of 1/4" wall rectangular tubing cut in half, a piece of 1/4" thick DOM to act as a brace in the male die, and some 1/8" thick angle iron welded into both the top and bottom dies so they mate together when pressed. I would recommend using at least 3/16" thick though, my dies are still usable, they have just warped a bit from bending thick stuff, including 2" wide 3/8" thick once or twice.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PjBr...DvjVQa1PpcFOn4YNmYBMPnJp6jyEokXh2c_Q6yvMkYbY=
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- 99 protege
nice brotha!
