Rookie Welder Advice

btdt just healing up the wrists now. the slag has a way of finding the littlest opening like your shoes or my personal fav the ears...

 

Roger that! I started wearing a hat that covers my ears after getting some slag in one.

 

Thanks for all the advice! The welder showed up, along with needed supplies, so now I'm on plan B.
B is comprised of talking one of my neighbors into letting me use their garage for a number of weeks. Then I can pop a top again...chop the body off, and roll the chassis into their garage while I repair ol' LindaLou.

 

Good Luck with your new machine.........There is plenty of instructional info on line regarding proper welding............don't hesitate to burn up some wire on scrap metal and get familiar with the welding...........everyone had a first day under the hood!

 

FWIW, I have ran through 3 of the large spools of wire and I am just now feeling good about my welds. I run my 140 as hot as it will go on most metal. I back off on struff only when I start to burn through. For thincker than 1/8" it works best for me to do a bevel and fill.

If you know someone that can weld, let them teach you how to do it. It is much harder to do on your own. Good Luck.

 

That sounds like a much better plan. You didn't mention what type of welder you bought. Hopefully it's a Mig. I don't think it's possible to weld sheet metal with flux core wire. At least it wasn't for me. Flux core welds a lot hotter than Mig.

 

I've been welding sheet metal with a flux core welder. It isn't pretty but on the lowest settings it can be done rather easily

 

Slag is a drag! Practice ,practice practice for Linda Lou's and your own sake. try not to burn to learn, but if you do you will not forget that lesson. Ask me how I know

 

Tank is dropped, fenders off, bolts chopped, and tool box removed, now I'm ready to put her up on 4x4 blocks.
Before busting the welder out and practicing, I was thinking I'd bit off more than I could chew. Now I'm kicking myself for waiting all this time and trying to find someone to do it for me.