Welding ... ... 'snot woodworking, but :-/

[CelticRambler]

Am resigned to the fact that it must be me doing something (or everything) wrong: despite almost a year of (on-and-off) practice, I just cannot get a "good start" on any of my welding jobs. What bloomin' obvious technique am I missing? Without wishing to indulge my ego too much, I have really good fine motor skills (need them for work) and can adapt from a scale of metres to millimetres or less in every other field of craftwork.

But no matter how many YouTube videos I watch, no matter how many tutorials I read, no matter what settings I use on my (stick) welding machine, it takes me on average about 15 attempts to get a nice arc going, in which time the electrode will have stuck to the piece being repaired in at least half those, and pulled itself out of its handle, pulled the piece off the clamp, pulled the clamp off the table, feckit I've even pulled the table off the ground at one point.

Once I get that arc, I'm usually grand and can do a lovely line of molten metal for 10 or 15cm. At that point, I'd tend to run out of electrode, having burnt most of it off in the first fourteen strikes, and have to go through the whole rigamarole again. My welds end up being functional and stand the test of time and stress, but they're seriously fugly, use a huge number of electrodes, need to be ground down and re-done several times, and - because of the need to "get a run at it" - I can't do satisfactory quick fixes on smaller pieces or lines that aren't straight.

It all comes down to not being able to successfully strike that arc - can anyone put me out of my misery?

[tangy]

Biggest help for me - and I'm no welder - was getting an auto-darkening helmet. Just being able to see the electrode made a huge difference. No more fiddling in the dark

Also, cheap kits usually come with a hand-held mask, but the helmets leave your non-welding hand free. I've seen people supporting the electrode with that hand, which might help, even given your motor skills (not being sarcastic, just couldn't think how to say it).

[kadman]

Secret to good welding is a good earth and clean , clean, clean, clean, did I say clean Metal.
And if you keep welding rods in a damp shed out side, forget about welding. If its taking 3 or4 false starts to
get going, then its either damp rods or bad earth.

Nothing else will break your heart as much.
Get it right and you can turn this


Into this



Of course bodywork is mig and tig welding, but they also are dependant on good earth.
If I am having any issues with rods sticking, I pop em in a microwave for a few seconds, but I normally keep my box of rods under the range.

[tangy]

If I am having any issues with rods sticking, I pop em in a microwave for a few seconds, but I normally keep my box of rods under the range.

Ha! Back in the days when cookers had warming drawers under the oven (and we had stand-alone cookers ), I was advised to store welding rods in there.

Didn't know you could microwave them.

[kadman]

Ha! Back in the days when cookers had warming drawers under the oven (and we had stand-alone cookers ), I was advised to store welding rods in there.

Didn't know you could microwave them.

Dont know whether you can either, but I did for a few seconds.
If you are still having problems, then dial up the setting it may help.

HEY...what am I doing answering welding questions on a woodwork forum, I could do meself out of a job

Gaw on get outta here

[kadman]

I just welded up my exhaust pipe onto the silencer.
Tough old job due to the cratered pipe surface. Even tho it was cleann, craters give an erratic
weld due to the hit, miss connection of the arc.

And my lead gives an intermittent stop go feed on the wire, so i need a new lead ideally.

[CelticRambler]

Biggest help for me - and I'm no welder - was getting an auto-darkening helmet. Just being able to see the electrode made a huge difference. No more fiddling in the dark

Ah yeah - learnt that trick before even getting the machine, and that side of things is not a problem (well, apart from these feckin varifocal lenses I was talked into buying ... can't ever tilt my head back far enough to be able see through the close-up zone, especially when I'm working overhead or upside down! ) The "two hands" technique is something I (need to) use regularly in work, so was already primed to the advantages of not wasting one on holding a filter in front of my face.

Secret to good welding is a good earth and clean , clean, clean, clean, did I say clean Metal.
And if you keep welding rods in a damp shed out side, forget about welding. If its taking 3 or4 false starts to
get going, then its either damp rods or bad earth.

Well now ... in all the pages I've read, no-one ever mentioned damp as a possible explanation, and that'd definitely be high on the list of possible causes. Will re-locate the rods to a non-damp location tomorrow and see how things go the next time. I would think that it's less likely to be a bad earth if I can do a lovely job once I get past that first 5mm? For the most part, on the jobs I've done so far, I'd have ground the relevant edges back to shiny, shiny steel before starting (and again and again and again each time I mess it up).

[CelticRambler]

Ooooh! I've just thought of something I can use my new food dehydrator for when I don't have enough food to fill all the trays ...

[Scotty]

But no matter how many YouTube videos I watch, no matter how many tutorials I read, no matter what settings I use on my (stick) welding machine, it takes me on average about 15 attempts to get a nice arc going, in which time the electrode will have stuck to the piece being repaired in at least half those, and pulled itself out of its handle, pulled the piece off the clamp, pulled the clamp off the table, feckit I've even pulled the table off the ground at one point.

LMAO!! Ahh that brings back memories. It sounds like my first 3 years of welding. All TIG welding stainless steel. I used to electrocute myself 30 times a day and the amount of burns from grabbing hot metal!!

It's an old cliché, but practice makes perfect. There's no secret fix (as long as the machine, the piece, and the rods are good).

[CelticRambler]

Glad to have brought a dose of laughter to your day!

I cooked a selection of rods in the dehydrator yesterday; was going to try them out today but got distracted doing woodwork instead.

[kadman]

Glad to have brought a dose of laughter to your day!

I cooked a selection of rods in the dehydrator yesterday; was going to try them out today but got distracted doing woodwork instead.

[CelticRambler]

Yeah ... and then I got distracted from the woodwork by a frog in a ditch!

[kadman]

There is now an empty workshop over the udder place you could rent as a welding shop.
I put up a post renting it out

[CelticRambler]

Isn't the power supply a bit erratic in those parts? And some doubts as to how well grounded the infrastructure is. Thought you said I needed a good earth ... ?

[kadman]

Isn't the power supply a bit erratic in those parts? And some doubts as to how well grounded the infrastructure is. Thought you said I needed a good earth ... ?

Take your shoes off you will be well earthed

[CelticRambler]

Well now ...

Never got around to doing any "practice" since the earlier posts, but had to a "real" fix today on a mower part. Prep of the pieces was the same as usual, working conditions were the same as usual (damp and draughty), welder settings were the same ... but the process was sooooo much easier than before.

Which means that either it's coz I'm fully vaccinated and my newly magnetic arms make for a better-guided arc ... or perhaps it's because I cooked the electrodes in the dehydrator for a couple of hours (twice, coz i forgot they were in there when I put the next load of herbs in ) and the problem has been damp electrodes all along.

That kadman lad might know what he's talking about!

[kadman]

Well now ...

Never got around to doing any "practice" since the earlier posts, but had to a "real" fix today on a mower part. Prep of the pieces was the same as usual, working conditions were the same as usual (damp and draughty), welder settings were the same ... but the process was sooooo much easier than before.

Which means that either it's coz I'm fully vaccinated and my newly magnetic arms make for a better-guided arc ... or perhaps it's because I cooked the electrodes in the dehydrator for a couple of hours (twice, coz i forgot they were in there when I put the next load of herbs in ) and the problem has been damp electrodes all along.

That kadman lad might know what he's talking about!

Aye, and look at the amount of time it took me to convince you. At one time it as getting so hard, I was gonna ask Gubner to move it to the Dentits forum, because thats where teeth pulling tasks are dealt with

Nice to hear things worked out for you. I suppose you found it a major improvement. If you have a spring type earth clamp on the welder, get rid of it, and replace it with a bolt clamp, its a better job for earthing. Not too mention on the earthing something you probably knew, cycling teams now use an earthing therapy to recuperate after long exercise stints.

[CelticRambler]

Not too mention on the earthing something you probably knew, cycling teams now use an earthing therapy to recuperate after long exercise stints.

Sure isn't that why most of my dancing buddies dance in bare feet! Don't need no recuperation when you're properly earthed for six hours straight.