On Wed, 12 Nov 2003 12:35:38 +0000, Andy Dingley
wrote something
.......and in reply I say!:

I am with Andy.

There is nothing as satisfying as getting a _good_ weld in a nice
thick (6mm) piece of steel, and nothing as frustrating as trying to
weld Hi-Ten roofing iron (0.4mm thick).

I tried the smartarse approach. "How thin can I weld?" when I started
learning. It is soul-destroying, although fascinating.

About the only thing I would say (about MIG AND stick!!!) is that a
good-looking weld is not necessarily a good weld. Bend it. Hammer it.
Grind it. Learn what was wrong with it. The base metal should break,
not the weld, in most mild steel welds. The weld should be the same
along the whole joint.

Having said the above inflammatory comparison between MIG and stick, I
will admit that a MIG will give a false, nice _looking_ weld easier
than a stick.

OK. Next. (Bugger me and my big keyboard!) I do not agree that using
spray transfer is a good idea. Spray is a good way to get a
penetrating joint, but not a good way to learn MIG welding, especially
if you do need to do down in thickness. Learn globular transfer ( the
normal way to work with a handyman MIG) and get that frying bacon
sound going. Try even using thicker steel, and trunning a pss that is
too low a current for that joint. It should still fail in the parent
metal, not the join, if correctly welded. What you have done is creat
the root pass of a multi-pass weld. Very useful if you wekld heavy
material.

blah blah blah. I love laying down MIG butter. Sorry for the rant.

Be prepared to _learn_. If you are a WWer, you will understand the
"getting there is half the fun" statement.

On Tue, 11 Nov 2003 00:37:31 -0600, Don Foreman
wrote:

It's an easy process to learn, but
you _do_ need some practice (start on 1/4" plate with the dials
turned right up, then learn to go thinner and turn them down)

But I'd
challenge the "start with 1/4" steel" advice. A lot of useful stuff
can be made out of 3/16" and thinner steel.

I'm not talking about making stuff from 1/4", just using it as a
learning exercise. 3/16" would work as well.

************************************************** ****************************************
Until I do the other one,this one means nothing
Nick White --- HEAD:Hertz Music

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