Computer/Student Desk

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Hey folks, here's a desk I did for my son for his computer. It's made from 2x3 14 ga. tube with a shelf below for his video game consoles. I'm a beginner when it comes to welding and I'm having trouble with thinner gauge metal, blowing holes in it when laying down a bead. I've turned my amps down on my Hobart 187 mig but then I get cold welds. I'm wondering if I need to leave the amps up and adjust my wire speed up or down. What I did for the top on this desk is kinda manually pulse welded it I guess you could say, like a series of overlapping tacks. It looks like dog butt though. I know I need a lot more practice on the thinner stuff. I usually use 11 ga. material and have more luck with it. Any tips you good folks can impart would be appreciated
Reply:Still looks pretty good dude.  The welding will come with practice.  On the thinner stuff, the tighter the joint, the better.  You can also bevel the edge a bit to get the weld to lay down a bit.  What size wire are you using?  0.023 would be your best bet.
Reply:nice looking desk. maybe sanding the top welds flush? you did ask.i.u.o.e. # 15queens, ny and sunny fla
Reply:Nice, but like you said, the joints need work.Thin mig is an art all it's own. As said .023 wire and C25 gas is the way to go. There is often a fine line you are walking with this stuff. Too cold and you don't get good penetration, too hot and you blow huge holes.Fit up can be key. You need to find what works for you. As said as things get thinner, a tighter fit up can make a world of difference. However in that 16-11 ga range, some guys find just a slight gap to be helpful. The material is thick enough to soak up some heat without burning the edge back instantly, but with a gap, you get more penetration and have a place for the weld material to go vs piling up on top. How much gap will depend on how you weld, what your settings/ wire is and how good you are at reading the puddle. 1/8" ( 11 ga) but joints we use 3/32" gap because it gets guys ready later for open root bevel buts with 1/8" land and 3/32" gap. Thinner material like 16 ga you may need to be down closer to 1/16" or less in gap.On outside fit up, a I see a lot of guys have issues with outside corners when they miter joints like you do. Remember when you cut like that you end up with a super thin knife edge on the outside corner that is even thinner than the base metal. You often have to cut the length "long", so when you grind back the knife edge you get the correct length overall and leave yourself plenty of meat there for welding. If the material is a bit thicker, you can just knock off the corner and fill the gap.With thin material it's ok to do a series of overlapping tacks. Trick is often to do it hot and fast. One quick hit with the trigger and off. It takes a fair amount of skill to have the settings hot enough to get a nice flat bead and not make huge holes. Move around so you don't get the area too hot and end up fighting the extra heat. As mentioned pushing the bead helps keep things flat. Also remember how far the gun is away from the work helps control your "heat". This allows you to fine tune the settings even on tapped machines. get in tight and the machine welds hotter than if you are farther back on the same settings. Being able to be consistent and read the puddle here really helps.Also I see a ton of hobby guys who want to always jump right in and start welding on the project. I don't get to spend the time welding all the time I'd like to. As such, often my skills are a bit rusty, especially for fine tuning machines when I haven't done a particular thing for a few years. I always garb some scrap and run a few dozen practice beads. this lets me get my hand back in and allows me to tune the unit the way I like. I even do it when doing demo's in class. Each machine welds a bit different. Guys have the settings often adjusted by the other instructor based on how he sees them weld. I often will want to run one or two quick beads just so I get a feel how that machine is set up if the settings aren't the way I usually set them. This lets me find what travel speed and motion works best. 9 times out of 10 I can make decent passes 1st time out, but on occasion like last class where I found a guy who had his long mig gun all tied up in knots  with the other cables, and the wire was binding, that's not the case. Don't be afraid to practice a bit 1st, or work on areas where weld quality doesn't need to be perfect before moving on to high visibility areas..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:DocWelder:  That's an option.  I asked my son if he wanted me to do that and he told me "naw Dad, they look fine"  He's a good son DSW:  Lots of good advice and I thank you for typing all that up.  I am the guy that's impatient and wants to jump right in.  I need do always do some practice welds to better dial my machine in.  As far as fitment I usually get it pretty tight, maybe I need to leave a little more gap in some areas to be honest.  I'm pretty accurate with my cuts and mock up (coming from my woodworker side), it's just the proper welding technique I need to work on.Oh and I was using .030 wire.  I'll get a spool of .023 and try that on the thinner stuff.Thanks!!Jeff
Reply:If you have the skills to be a semi good wood worker, steel isn't all that hard to fit. Wood needs to be a lot tighter than steel most times, but the steel tooling isn't as precise for cuts.Take some scrap and set things up and practice and post up the joints before and after along with settings and such and we'll help you improve. Gapped but joints are some of the toughest to learn well. I hammer on the guys that you NEED to spend the time on fit up. I had a guy start bevel buts last class. I probably got on his nerves as much as I kept pounding on fit up and getting it right. My prepped pieces I didn't have issues with, on the other hand his... well lets say they needed work and leave it at that... Thing is at the end of the night he was talking to the other instructor and he said almost word for word the same things I'd been saying over and over again about getting the fit correct. A nice even gap the same consistent size. equal land all the way thru and so on. It began to dawn on the student just how important this is when trying to learn. Once you learn, THEN you can deal with poor fit up. before you will beat your head on the wall. Thin stuff makes it just that much harder.Don't get frustrated. You will get there, but don't expect wonderful results in 1 or 2 hours on average..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:Awesome, I like the overall look and design of the desk. We build quite a bit of modern furniture typically using 16 gauge material, and like these guys have said, fit-up is key!  What did you use for clear coat?Craig MontgomeryM&L Fabrication, LLChttps://www.facebook.com/pages/ML-Fa...8228829?ref=hl
Reply:Originally Posted by montgoc3Awesome, I like the overall look and design of the desk. We build quite a bit of modern furniture typically using 16 gauge material, and like these guys have said, fit-up is key!  What did you use for clear coat?
Reply:Nice looking desk.
Reply:Good looking desk. I'd also recommend the 0.23 wire. I have a little MM175 and it loves the stuff.
Reply:Looks nice ! Now you gotta make a chair .
Reply:Originally Posted by tapwelderNice looking desk.
Reply:awesome jeff. Some people make a good living building stuff like that. Attached Images