First weld.!!

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..Hot d-amn ya never saw such a happy fool jumpin around a shop.. Made my first ever weld(sortof?) on my new-to-me welder. I know it ain't perty(understatement), but no matter. I didn't blow up or burn down the joint and I myself managed to escape without electrocution an' all my parts intact-n-unburned.  So since I ain't got the first clue what I'm doin, I'll take it..    For now..There was a hole in the middle of the weld I tried to patch and a screw hole right above it I think I did patch. Don't really know how to tell. I blew the ends out pretty bad. Wasted one tip on initial "spark testing" (other side) to see if I was gonna get vaporized or anything. Picked up a pile of scrap aluminum from an awning making friend who's kid had it bound for the scrapyard. It's square tubing that measures ~.084 wall thickness. It looked real similar to the material the guy I bought the welder from demo'd it on for me, so I figgered that was a good as any place to start with the machine at those same settings(Regency 250 @ Low Range #4, .030 4043/WFS ~#3). I was gonna wait till after I started classes but havin some material in the yard and everything ready was just too much.. ..I gotta go do somethin'. I'm all jazzed up..   Just had ta tell somebody who might can relate. 'Ol lady ain't figgered what the hub-bub's about.    d:^)  Schneeks.. ESAB 161 LTSCommunicate & adapt, diggit.?ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ
Reply:congrats  on the new toy 350P 30A spool gun cut master 51  syncro 250 other stuff " take a dog off the street and make him prosper and he will not bite you sad the same cannot be said for man" i didnt use punctuation just to piss you off
Reply:Originally Posted by umahuntercongrats  on the new toy
Reply:A sander or flap disk will make it easier to see how good the weld was in cross section. Not bad for the 1st run..No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. Government programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this earth! Ronald Reagan
Reply:Schneeky,Did you ever get my answer/pictures to your question on the bandsaws?  It took me a couple days to get the pictures rounded up, and by the time I got them sent, you had up and disappeared for a bit.Who is John Galt?
Reply:Yeah, I got it.. I thought I had replied back, but might have been geezin again. Thanks for the effort on that, very helpful. I've got a nice little 14" saw I'm s'posed to pick up here in the next week or so that I'm gonna try to modify for my uses via your example. DSW- I'll get it cleaned up.. What am I lookin for.?    d:^)  Schneeks..Last edited by Schneeky; 01-24-2011 at 06:28 AM.Reason: CRSESAB 161 LTSCommunicate & adapt, diggit.?ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ
Reply:.Took the "coupon" by Tim's and he said outside of being ugly it was a pretty solid weld.. Aaaaaight.. Cut s'more of the 'loominum up for practice today.. Decided to fix a coupla pieces and add a support. Got it done with some time and the grinder.  But looks and feels solid enough. Things I learned today:1. Migging in the wind sux.2. Flick yer bic in front of the AD helmet to make sure it hasn't shut off before striking an arc. 3.Yes, I actually hafta clean prior to every weld on older 'loominum no matter how "clean" it looks. 4. Don't get in too big of a hurry to cut that little ball off the end of the wire. ..Went to my first welding class tonight. Lucky me, they decided that this semester they'd institute the 10HR OSHA cert into the beginning of the class. Oh well, 'least I'll have another piece of paper when I get done.!!    d:^)  Schneeks..ESAB 161 LTSCommunicate & adapt, diggit.?ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ
Reply:miggin in the wind will never work! all aluminum needs to be cleaned before welding or you soon discover that the oxide layer doesnt melt and flow nearly as nice as the metal under it and a hole soon develops that is hard to fill. Other than that the OSHA cert could come in handy.  I work for a general contractor and many of our jobs require at least 1 person with the cert on the site. any work we do on mine property and all employees need to have MSHA to even come on site.
Reply:Originally Posted by ironmangqmiggin in the wind will never work!
Reply:Originally Posted by 7A749Glad you bought it.....Huh?? Glad it's working out good for ya!! Gotta get you some 'o that wire we were talking about.We'll talk about it soon, I'm sure.