just mig welded for the first time, comments/suggestions please

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Hey guys, just used my welder for the first time, my father was over and he also tried it.this was 3/16" steel welded with flux core wire, i have a lincoln weld pak 140, 115vmy settings were 2 for wire speed, and D for the ampsthis one is his weld, he used the same exact wire speed and amps as me, but it had a lot of spatter everywhere this one is mine, i did what you see in the middle, all that other junk was my dad, the first time he used it he pressed the tip against the metal, and yeah..this is also minei would love some suggestions on how i can improve, for my first weld, i tried just moving the gun back and fourth, but my last one i tried going in cursive 'e' shapes, as i watched a video of a guy doing that and his weld turned out excellent.thanks guys!
Reply:Hello slvr98camaro, you mentioned using flux-cored gasless wire. From the look of your welds, you are using the correct polarity: straight polarity. If you are unfamiliar with this term or how it applies to your machine I will say this: gasless self-shielded wires generally require straight polarity to operate properly, this means that the gun is connected to the - terminal and the "ground" clamp is connected to the + terminal. If you switch your machine over to use the solid wire and use a shielding gas you will need to change this polarity connection and connect the gun to the + terminal and the "ground" clamp to the - terminal, this is called reverse polarity. Back to your welds: generally you will want to drag the bead along, this is often described as a backhand method and entails pointing the gun in a direction that is opposite of your direction of travel at approximately 10 to fifteen degrees back from the 90 degree vertical position. Your wire stick-out should be approximately 1/4" to 3/8"(this would increase as wire diameters increase if your machine was capable). You can either drag without any other motion or include some manipulation as long as you aren't whipping it. When you consider your heat you will have to consider both the voltage selector as well as the wire speed selection. With your machine, I believe the D letter for voltage is pretty close, when you go to set the wire speed there are some things that you can look for that will help to get it dialed in correctly. If the wire speed is too low you will likely see blobs forming on the end of the wire before they transfer to the puddle on your weld piece, you may also see a lack of covering of the slag on the finished bead and it could be very irregular. You might additionally end up having the wire burn back up into the tip and fuse to the end of it. If the wire speed is too high it will be very likely that when you try to start the weld bead that it could stub-out on the surface(stick), then push the gun away, bend the wire, and possibly re-ignite the arc only long enough to have this process repeated again. With the wire-speed closer to where it should be, the end of the wire should be burning off just slightly above the weld puddle on your part(around 1/32" or so). When the wire speed is adjusted correctly and the weld has been completed you should have a fairly uniform coating of slag that completely covers the bead and is relatively easy to remove and clean. Even with proper adjustments, the final description here doesn't always hold true due to a number of other variables(mill scale, rust, dirt, oils, paints, solvents, etc.), yet it will in many cases. To wrap-up, When the above conditions have been dealt with you will need to look at the finished bead and determine if it has the correct heighth to width ratio, if not, you may need to either increase or decrease the voltage and then dial the wire-speed back in. If the bead is stacked somewhat high and is narrow you might wish to increase the voltage, if it is wide and flat, you might want to decrease the voltage. Experimentation and practice are sometimes the best teachers for any one individual, as you experiment and practice try to reserve your changes to one item at a time so that you can understand the changes that you see based on one item, this will allow you to determine what is working and what is not. A little something for you to consider. Best regards, Allanaevald
Reply:thank you, yes i know about changing the polarity and everything, i would just like someone to look at the weld and tell me what exactly i did wrong, did i go too fast? too slow? wire speed too fast/slow?im not too sure what could be said about just looking at a weld.my welder has all of the settings i should use for different sizes of steel, so i was just using the chart and that was the recommended settings for that steel
Reply:I assume that like most people you are right handed. The stack of beads appears to be from the gun moving right to left [push] not the preferred motion for flux core wire. The gun should be tilted with the wire pointing to the left and moved left to right with the wire in the weld puddle [dragged]. The wire should be down in the gap and move the gun a little faster not to overweld the puddle. Try holding the gun with both hands for a steadier motion to keep the wire lined up moving in the gap.
Reply:Originally Posted by transitI assume that like most people you are right handed. The stack of beads appears to be from the gun moving right to left [push] not the preferred motion for flux core wire. The gun should be tilted with the wire pointing to the left and moved left to right with the wire in the weld puddle [dragged]. The wire should be down in the gap and move the gun a little faster not to overweld the puddle. Try holding the gun with both hands for a steadier motion to keep the wire lined up moving in the gap.
Reply:A good basic fixeed shade hood is cheap. I still use my original fixed shade hood on occasion, and if your dad is going to learn as well if you upgrade he can watch thru that one while you weld with another. Dump the hand shield, they are almost worthless.Ad hoods are nice, but not required..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:Originally Posted by DSWA good basic fixeed shade hood is cheap. I still use my original fixed shade hood on occasion, and if your dad is going to learn as well if you upgrade he can watch thru that one while you weld with another. Dump the hand shield, they are almost worthless.Ad hoods are nice, but not required.
Reply:Hi. i tried just moving the gun back and fourth, but my last one i tried going in cursive 'e' shapes
Reply:Originally Posted by slvr98camaroim probably going to buy an auto darkening helmet at harbor freight next time i go there
Reply:If you get a bottle of sheilding gas, you wont' get as much smoke and splatter which I think makes it easier to see the arc and puddle.  You just have to get used to looking at it from a different angle because a gas tip on your gun is a lot bigger than the flux core wire tip and can block your view at times.  The only drawback with the solid wire and gas is you won't be able to weld as thick material.
Reply:Practice, practice, practice.  When your beads look good, cut them apart to see the penetration (or lack of).  Practice in the flat position first.  Use both hands and if possible rest your left forearm on something to increase torch steadyness. I've had two Northerntool auto darkening helmets.  Both had lens clarity inconsistency.  My eyes always felt funky after using them.  Not painful, but just not right.  Visibility with my Jackson autodarkening (Journeyman?) was better.  Visibility with my Huntsman 951P (passive) with a shade 10 gold glass lens is the absolute best of the three.  However, passive helmets (in low light) will make learning a little harder because your starts may be sligtly off at first.  When I weld outside (fluxcore) on a sunny day, I can see through the shade 10 gold lens on my Huntsman 951p which makes my starts spot on. The Huntsman with the gold lens was the cheapest and has the best weld pool visibility.
Reply:Also if you take a grinder and shine up the plate,it will weld alot better. Once you get rid of the hand held mask, you will be able to use two hands to steady the gun, and have better control.
Reply:Originally Posted by cajun welderAlso if you take a grinder and shine up the plate,it will weld alot better. Once you get rid of the hand held mask, you will be able to use two hands to steady the gun, and have better control.
Reply:Originally Posted by slvr98camarohe may learn, im not too sure yet, im sure he will want to help me restore the carim probably going to buy an auto darkening helmet at harbor freight next time i go there
Reply:hey guys, i havent used my welder much, but i had to weld some things today and practiced a littlei used the same piece as above, but i ground all of the welds down to start fresh.. i sent the picture to a friend of mine and he said the weld looked awesome, so i just wanted your guys opinions
Reply:A huge improvement.  Show us more..... Burn up some wire   Real world weldin.  When I grow up I want to be a tig weldor.
Reply:You are definitely improving. The bead looks a little high, and the toes could have whetted in a bit better, but you're getting the idea. As said now start burning wire. After you have run 50 lbs or so it will start to become second nature. Play with the settings and try to find that sweet spot on various thicknesses and then in different positions. Practice, practice, practice..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:thanks.. after talking to a lot of people, they all tell me its high because my welder cant really handle welding 5/16" steel since its only a 120v, and i should heat it up with a torch to get it to sink in more, so is that the problem, or should i be going a bit more slow?and what exactly do you mean by the toes being whetted in?
Reply:Looks significantly better than the first. Very good sign of improvement. You mentioned in your first post you were using 3/16 plate, but in your previous post you said 5/16. I'm also assuming your using  .035" wire since that's the size flux-core wire that comes with that machine. That machine will run flux core on 5/16" steel, but it stretching it's limits and you'd need to make several passes to ensure a good weld. You've made a good start and give me some more specifics and I'll try to help out some more. Keep at it and good luck!Miller XMT-3502 Lincoln Power Mig 140C (One w/ dedicated spoolgun)Jackson NexGen / Miller Digital EliteMiller S32P SuperWeldcraft 17fv & 9fv Tig TorchVictor & Purox O/ALincoln Ranger 9Fairly Cold Beer!!
Reply:I was thinking it was 3/16"  because of what looked like old welds. You can play games with heat, but in reality you are pretty much maxed out with 1/4"- 5/16" and that machine. You don't curently have the skill set to try and push it. 110v machines are for thin steel. If you want to weld thick steel, you want a 220v machine, either stick or mig. For right now, just stick with learning on thin steel with that machine..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:sorry that was a typo, it is 3/16"