for all you welding gurus out there

[oasis6x]

I consider myself to be a pretty competent mechanic and I alsways have a project on the drive, even just to make a few quid off. One thing I have never tried is welding for myself - I always end up shelling out pounds to get someone to do it.

Ive seen it done with a mig, and to be honest I know my initial technique will be terrible, but how easy is it to learn? also how easy is it to get settings right on the welder for welding sheet metal?

If i just pickup a welder, get some sheet metal, with the settings right, point and click will it just 'weld'? Daft questions i know.

I want to have a go and am tempted to go buy a mig after the new year. the latest project is a ford ka that failed an MOT for welding and I picked up for pennies, and as I only paid scrap value for what is (aside from the welding) a pretty good car - even if I totally balls it up ive not lost anything.

any advice?

[steveo3002]

yeah its not too hard to pick up ...practice on some clean steel and post pics for advice before doing it on a car

also a auto darkening mask makes it wayyy easier

[Blown_Imp]

Cleaning is one of the big things, make sure you have clean steel to weld to, and get some Zintec sheet to make repair panels with. Weld through primer is good too, helps with long term rust prevention.

Apart from that, it is mainly messing with settings and getting it set up right.

Oh and don't use the disposable gas bottles, they are a false economy and you will get frustrated with the variable results from them.

[Coo]

First port of call:

www.mig-welding.co.uk/forum/index.php

Go for it, pretty easy, hard part on welding cars is making the patches, when yo have them correct shape and fit it's much much easier.

[blown105e]

I was in the boat as you about 3 years ago, never welded at all! Then I was offered a mig welder for free, so thought curse word it, I`ll give it a try! I was rubbish at it to start with and got through loads of scrap steel and wire! But now I`m confident to tackle anything, I`ve built 3 full-chassis race cars as well as doing repairs etc. And I`ve also done arc welding now aswell, again hard to start with but I find it easier than mig now! The advise I`ll give to you is practice, practice, practice!! And listen for the weld to sound like bacon sizzling, you wont be far off once you hear that noise!! Good luck mate and enjoy it!!

[nomad]

^ very good advice in the last 2 posts

make life easy for yourself and get an auto-darken helmet.
not tried gasless but have heard it's not good
tiny gas bottles get very expensive very quickly, I use pub c02 and a refill lasts me a few years ;D
cleaning the metal is key, I use an angle grinder with a flapwheel.

thick metal is easiest, trying to weld to thin rusty sheet is hard work - often easiest to cut out a big chunk so you can get back to nice thick metal.

top tip : find someone who can spend an hour showing you how to set your machine up and giving you a crash-course, I found that helped massivley

I use a small Clarke (Pro 90), recently found a c02 fire extinguisher makes a handy gas bottle


Copes fine - all the way from very thin sheet to 3mm/4mm angle iron ;D


I only got my mig about 5 years ago, now don't know how I ever managed without one

[bl1300]

The only real way to learn is to pick up the torch and have a go. When your doing it you will know when your doing it right as the sound will be like frying bacon and it will just feel right in your hand.

Also be prepared to tweak your welders settings if you move from horizontal to vertical work and vice versa. Also when welding on cars keep your runs short so as to minimize distortion.

[oasis6x]

Some great advice guys and big thanks. Ive been on youtube and also on the above link for a good few hours tonight.

One question - i know what the difference is between gasless and gassed, however which do you guys prefer?

Ill primarily be doing chassis and bodywork repairs and probably sills.

[Mystery Machine]

Gas all day everyday. Gasless MIG is pretty poor in comparison, much tricker to lay nice welds etc...

The only downside of using gas is if you're welding outdoors and it's breezy because the wind will blow all the shielding gas away making it less or even non-effective. The way around this is to put up wind blockers (something as simple as a sheet to cut out any breeze) and you'll be OK.

As the others have said, disposable bottle are a real false economy and also tricky to get to run even because the pressure changes so much, so rapidly. Get a proper bottle and you'll not regret it.

Generally, cheap and cheerful welders will not help you to learn how to lay nice welds. It's always going to be hard to learn if your equipment isn't particularly good.

Once you get the hang of it, welding is one of the most useful things you can do when it comes to working on cars. Buy a decent angle grinder too with a nice pile of 1mm slitting discs. This goes hand in hand with a welder when it comes to making repairs etc...

[baracus]

As above don't bother with gasless, its very very difficult to learn with. The flux burning off means you can't see the weld pool, you get spatter everywhere and the welds look (and often are) bloody awful. After months of pratting around with gasless, i finally stumped up for a regulator and a bottle of argon mix and it was a revelation.

[Deleted]

All good advice above.

Just would like to add have a go on fresh metal on a bench to get setup and a good quality weld, starting under a dirty rust motor is not easy as the weld pool will want to fall to the floor gravity and all that lol, you will get weld go down your arm/ear hole and back of the neck!!

Remember to disconect the battery or your alternator will be toast!