Did my first welds today

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They're not good or anything but I'm still excited.  I've never had anyone show me what to do or how to do anything just following with what they said in the video that came with my welder.I ended up with a Millermatic 210 with a spool gun.  It's been pretty fun so far, I can't wait to make something.Here are a couple of welds, just junk steel I had laying around.   I have a buddy that's going to come over and teach me some things later this week so hopefully things improve a little.Any tips would be good because I have no idea what I'm doing lol.
Reply:Great photos. They look alot like my welds (and certainly better than my overhead welds). I'm looking forward to what some of the experienced guys say.Scott
Reply:Looks great.A hell of a lot better than my first welds.. well my first welds were stick but still.. those look nice, consistant, and nice
Reply:If you'll notice in your pics, from top to bottom, that the beads get progressively worse as the metal gets dirtier/rustier. So you can see solid with gas does not like rusty/oily/dirty metal. Buff up a couple of pieces real shiny and try it again and it'll surprise you some.Other than that looks like you were running good and hot in the upper two pics. Pretty consistant rate of travel.
Reply:Here are some more from today, not as good as yesterday but I'm using a cheap crate from China and the steel really sucks.  It was flexing in the chop saw and the ends weren't square.  Not to make excuses though, all practice helps.    Cleaned the steel up the best I could but my grinder wheel is about shot and I'm out of them.
Reply:Get you a good wire wheel to go on your grinder.  After you grind, hit the surface with that wire wheel to clean off the remaining cruddies.  You might also want to get a degreaser if you intend to use scrap steel a lot.  I see you arent afraid of the heat .  Looks like you like it hot and fast...your welding, that is....Last edited by smithboy; 10-24-2005 at 02:33 PM.Smithboy...if it ain't broke, you ain't tryin'.
Reply:Originally Posted by smithboyGet you a good wire wheel to go on your grinder.  After you grind, hit the surface with that wire wheel to clean off the remaining cruddies.  You might also want to get a degreaser if you intend to use scrap steel a lot.  I see you arent afraid of the heat .  Looks like you like it hot and fast...your welding, that is....
Reply:I didnt mean to imply you were going too fast or running too hot.  Usually folks first starting out are more apt to run slow and cold, cause they are not used to things and figure less heat is better at first.  Same is true for other welding processes.  I'd say the chart has you about right in most cases above.  Collect up as much scrap as you are allowed to have, and just experiment with settings.  Keep notes on what works...and what doesnt for that matter.  Cheat sheets are allowed in real life.Smithboy...if it ain't broke, you ain't tryin'.
Reply:Originally Posted by smithboyI didnt mean to imply you were going too fast or running too hot.  Usually folks first starting out are more apt to run slow and cold, cause they are not used to things and figure less heat is better at first.  Same is true for other welding processes.  I'd say the chart has you about right in most cases above.  Collect up as much scrap as you are allowed to have, and just experiment with settings.  Keep notes on what works...and what doesnt for that matter.  Cheat sheets are allowed in real life.
Reply:It looks like you are running a little hot.  I'm not sure if you've received a lot of instruction on how to adjust the settings, so here goes.  The total amount of heat in the weld is a function of the voltage and the amperage.  Specifically, it is the amount of current (amperage), but the current is affected by the voltage, so one has to consider both.  Increasing the voltage will also increase the amount of current.  With GMAW (MIG) the voltage varies with adjustment of the tap and the amount of wire stickout from the tip of the mig gun.  Current varies with the amount of wire speed.  Generally, one should set the tap to get a good arc and then adjust the wire speed to dial-in the amount of heat.  Further adjustment can be made while actually welding by increasing or decreasing the amount of wire stickout.  I think most people tend not to do this, but I've had really good luck with this technique on thin material.  If one uses very much stickout, greater than a half-inch for example, then it's advisable to increase the flow of the shielding gas a bit.-Heath
Reply:My welder didn't come with the label for settings on the insided of the door. Is there any way you could post a picture of your door label here on the site? It will much apreciated, by me, and others, I'm sure.ThanksDerbytown
Reply:Yeah, I'll take a pic of it this week.  I have an 8mp DSLR so hopefully I can get it large enough so you can read it.
Reply:what kind of welder do you have ?
Reply:Miller 210.I forgot about this thread, I'll get those pics I promised tomorrow.
Reply:Here is the link to the picture of the chart.  Warning it's 3.5mb's.http://www.thebestgen.com/images/mm210chart.JPG
Reply:is your miller 210 a mig or stick ?
Reply:mig