A coupleof newbie questions

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Hello everyone,Well, I cleaned some metal I had in the garage today (20) guage, and learned that when you clean rust from it with a grinder, it warps.  After I did that, I fired up my new Miller 211 and started trying to lay some welds down.  I noticed that some welds seem to look decent, and others looked like, umm, like chewing gum stuck on the metal?  I also had some burn throughs.  I am finding it difficult to keep the gun at a constant distance from the metal. I hope this will get better with practice.  But, any suggestions to help with this issue would be appreciated.  Also, I noticed that at times I would hear some popping. I also saw some spatter on the metal. which I assume occured when I heard the popping.  Is this because the distance between the material was inconsistant at times? Or, was the heat setting to low?  Moving the gun too slow?  I tried adjusting the heat/wire speed down a bit to see if I could prevent the burn through. The popping may have occured when the heat/wire speed was lowered. I do not remember becaused I was so focused on trying to keep the stick-out and speed constant. I also noticed that the metal turned dark and that at times it looked to me like there was almost a liquid forming around the weld that was dark in color.  I am going to get my wife to help me post some pics so you can see what I mean later this evening.  All of the welds achieved penetration, as I could see the impact of the weld on the oposite side of the metal.Thanks for any help you can offer.  I did not expect miracle welds at first, so I was happy to even see a couple that looked like sort of like a welding bead.  I am willing to practice, just do not want to develop any bad habbits at the outset if I can help it.  But hey, even though the welds were ugly, I had fun making them.  Tomorrow I am going to try welding on some 14 guage metal and also some 3/8 inch mild steel to see how that goes.  Thanks.Darryl
Reply:Use your non-torch hand as a guide.  Side of palm or fingers down on the metal and rest of hand supporting the torch hand will help you keep a more constant tip to work distance.   Use a glove, obviously, as it's going to get hot.The dark liquid you see on top of the weld is slag islands.  This is normal for mig welding with solid wire and gas.  Nothing to worry about.The popping and spattering can be from a number of things but from your description I would say too long of tip to work distance, or moving the torch too fast, or voltage too low for the wire speed are all possible causes.The bubble gum on top of the metal is non penetration.  Can be from moving the torch too fast or not enough voltage for the material thickness or wire speed, or too much paint, rust, etc on the metal surface.   Can also be from a bad ground.MM350P/Python/Q300MM175/Q300DialarcHFHTP MIG200PowCon300SMHypertherm380ThermalArc185Purox oaF350CrewCab4x4LoadNGo utilitybedBobcat250XMT304/Optima/SpoolmaticSuitcase12RC/Q300Suitcase8RC/Q400Passport/Q300Smith op
Reply:20g way too thin to try and start onGet a Piece of 1/8" x 2" by whatever length ya can find at the scrap bin  or similar and cut up some Coupons(Practice/Test Pieces).3/16" is good also.Grind down to Shiny steel and weld em' up.Hard to comment on anything w/o Pics but I think yer on the right road- just some more time at it.Ed Conleyhttp://www.screamingbroccoli.com/MM252MM211 (Sold)Passport Plus & Spool gunLincoln SP135 Plus- (Gone to a good home)Klutch 120v Plasma cutterSO 2020 benderBeer in the fridge
Reply:Here are some pictures of the welds I talked about in my last post.  Have a good laugh!  Attached Images
Reply:Looks like your welding on stainlessBackroads
Reply:Not stainless.  It was very rusty and dirty before and I took my disk grinder and cleaned it up.  That is why it has so much shine to it. Darryl
Reply:You may be better off checking out some car restoration forums for welding and working techniques for sheetmetal.As you can seen your welds are many times the thickness of the sheetmetal and as they cool they draw the sheetmetal in tight causing warpage. To counteract this you have to find ways to stretch the weld out (hammer dolly on) or shrink the sheetmetal outside the weld zone(shrinking disc) and also minize the heat, start.. stop.. start...stop, especially if the area has been repaired before and is thinner. An easy way to learn technique would be to take some sheetmetal about 1.5x1.5 square and weld it to a frame so you can get behind it with a dolly and hammer to work. Also pratice alot on lap welds, butt welds etc.for starters.
Reply:Pistolnoon,Thanks for the advice. I am sure there will be a day when I need to weld on thin stock.  However,  I will generally be welding on metal that is at least 1/8 inch in thickness, and most likely it will be around 3/32 to 1/4.  I like making small yard/garden art, stick figures out of large heavy guage nails and rods, etc.  I only strarted practicing on this (what I now learn to be way to thin for a beginer) metal because I did not know any better.  I have a fair amount of thicker steel stock that is within the range of my Millermatic 211 in my scrap pile.  I will begin practicing on that today and see how it goes and report back for more helpful commentary.  Thanks again.Darryl
Reply:Sport-Pilot,Based on this thread and other very basic questions you've asked, I'd strongly recommend that you check out Miller's website.  If you go to millerwelds.com and look under resources, you'll see that they offer a "Student Pack" for new welders.This student pack ($25 including shipping) contains an excellent GMAW handbook (142 pages) along with a great GTAW handbook.  Also will contain a bunch of other very useful literature as well as a set of welding calculators.  Quite frankly, it's possibly the best $25 you'll ever spend in welding.Lincoln also has an excellent referenc called Principles of Arc Welding that I highly recommend.  It's also available from their website.As was stated in another of your posts, there's a lot of information available on the board.  The problem is, there is a lot of bad information that's also posted.  Then again, there are posters who's sole intent seems to be to "confuse" the newbie with a bunch of gobblygook.  It's up to you to try to sort it all out.Syncro 250 DX Dynasty 200 DXMM 251 w/30A SG XMT 304 w/714 Feeder & Optima PulserHH187Dialarc 250 AC/DCHypertherm PM 1250Smith, Harris, Victor O/ASmith and Thermco Gas MixersAccess to a full fab shop with CNC Plasma, Water Jet, etc.
Reply:SundownIII,Thanks for the suggestion on the Miller Student Pack.  I will order it tomorrow.  Darryl
Reply:Something you did not mention was what your goal was? Did you want to be a better welder with steel or do you want to learn sheet metal?Because their are alot of proficient welders, and alot that cannot manage sheet metal work.
Reply:Sport Pilot:Here's the links to the two best references in welding, $25 each.As recommended by SundownIII:http://www.millerwelds.com/resources...d=211630&qty=1Procedure Handbook of Arc Welding:https://ssl.lincolnelectric.com/foun...p?PID=16&cat=89-11-2001......We Will Never ForgetRetired desk jockey. Hobby weldor with a little training. Craftsman O/A---Flat, Vert, Ovhd, Horz. Miller Syncrowave 250