The Good,The Bad and The Ugly... all critiques welcome

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Hey all, I registered and started lurking here a few months back as I did research for my 1st welder.  After searching different models and thinking about my usage, I picked up a MM211.  I am running it in 120v mode, as my  rental unit does not have 220v.  Realistically, I will not be using material thicker than 1/8", so for now, as I build up my skills, 120v should serve me well.For the record.  I have no plans to make a trailer, or weld on my vehicles frames : )  That much I have learned is strictly for the pros.My ultimate goal for now is to make a go kart for my twins.  As the are only 2.5yrs old, I have plenty of time to work on my skills.I spent a few days running beads on scrap bits and pieces.  No need to view those publicly.  They were crap and I was able to read some books and web articles and make progress on my own.I jumped in and made two projects to make my time spent in the garage more productive.  A cart and a 24"x24"x1/4" table.  I'd say most of the welds were fair.  a few needed grinding as they were awful.My cart with and offset shelf to allow full door swing:24"x24"x1/4" top with removable legs.OK.... now The Bad and the Ugly .... welding practice coming up next .....Last edited by G.Kennedy; 10-28-2011 at 12:30 AM.MM211
Reply:OK ... Now that I have a table and can roll my rig around a bit.  I sat down to just try and run consistent beads.I did a few hours of practice,then set up some practice pieces to do my best, photo and post here for critique.All material is 1/8" steel.  I set the welder right off the chart for .030 wire using argon/CO2 mix.  Voltage @ 6, wire speed @ 60. ( I need to research what that is in IPM)  I cleaned all mill scale off with a grinder.  As this was only practice, I dipped in water to cool between  welds.First up .. beads on flat stock, no joint.  My starts and stops are cold ... How do I fix that.  The middle looks OK ... but not sure of my travel speed.next a couple fillet welds on a T joint.  I feel these look the best of the bunch.  again the starts are cold and lacking penetration.lastly a little lap joint.  this seemed to have pretty good penetration.  The lower one, I focused the heat a little more toward the base material and I think its better.OK ... thats all for now.  I am going to cut these in half and take some photos and post those up too.  My brother has my chop saw, so i was unable to do that tonight.Whadda ya think.MM211
Reply:What movement/technique are you using??  Looks to me like you need to adjust you wire speed and turn your volts up, (you need a nice sizzling sound) , and maybe slow down a little also..... Cut yourself a coupon about 4x6" or so and just run bead after bead across the plate and try to overlap to toe of each prior weld, try to get nice straight consistent welds, then cut the coupon into 1'' strips,grind edges down nice and smooth and bend these strips away from the weld( so that the welds are on the outside) and see if there are any cracks any where (and don't dunk it in water let it air cool) do this until you have straight beads with no cracks on the bend test.Lincoln pro mig 180Lincoln Square Wave Tig 300/wp 20/home built water cooler Victor, Purox, Harris, O/A welding/cutting setupsVintage Craftsman drill pressVintage Craftsman/Atlas 12"x 36'' lathe7''x 12'' w/c band saw Everlast 140 st
Reply:I just realized you are running it in 110volt mode, this is probably the reason why the welds are cold, try welding on some thinner material until you have 220 available.Lincoln pro mig 180Lincoln Square Wave Tig 300/wp 20/home built water cooler Victor, Purox, Harris, O/A welding/cutting setupsVintage Craftsman drill pressVintage Craftsman/Atlas 12"x 36'' lathe7''x 12'' w/c band saw Everlast 140 st
Reply:Originally Posted by DemonSpeederWhat movement/technique are you using??  Looks to me like you need to adjust you wire speed and turn your volts up, (you need a nice sizzling sound) , and maybe slow down a little also..... Cut yourself a coupon about 4x6" or so and just run bead after bead across the plate and try to overlap to toe of each prior weld, try to get nice straight consistent welds, then cut the coupon into 1'' strips,grind edges down nice and smooth and bend these strips away from the weld( so that the welds are on the outside) and see if there are any cracks any where (and don't dunk it in water let it air cool) do this until you have straight beads with no cracks on the bend test.
Reply:Originally Posted by DemonSpeederI just realized you are running it in 110volt mode, this is probably the reason why the welds are cold, try welding on some thinner material until you have 220 available.
Reply:Nice projects done so far, simple and functional .Consider adding a cross bar to the bolts for the table to make "tools free" adjustments and tightening. Consider changing the plugs on a heavy extension cord to make it 240 and plug into the stove or dryer to make running the machine on 240 for larger projects.Miller thunderbolt 250Decastar 135ERecovering tool-o-holic ESAB OAI have been interested or involved in Electrical, Fire Alarm, Auto, Marine, Welding, Electronics ETC to name a just a few. So YES you can own too many tools.
Reply:Originally Posted by dumb as a stumpNice projects done so far, simple and functional .Consider adding a cross bar to the bolts for the table to make "tools free" adjustments and tightening. Consider changing the plugs on a heavy extension cord to make it 240 and plug into the stove or dryer to make running the machine on 240 for larger projects.