# Wow I’m a lousy welder



## DavidR8 (Oct 26, 2019)

Been ages since I ran a bead. 
Building a base for my Unisaw and so far my grinding skills are exemplary. Welding skills not so much. 


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## MrWhoopee (Oct 26, 2019)

I can relate, my TIG is not nearly as good as I remember. But then, neither is my vision so it doesn't matter as much.


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## DavidR8 (Oct 26, 2019)

Thanks @MrWhoopee, I think my metal wasn't as clean as it should have been. My bad. Break out the flap disks!


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## BtoVin83 (Oct 26, 2019)

A welding machine is referred to as a moron tool, if it doesn't look good grind it down and put moron.


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## ErichKeane (Oct 26, 2019)

Hey, a grinder and paint will make you the welder you ain't!


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## Old junk (Oct 26, 2019)

Not sure what your talking about,looks good from here


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## Joeman77 (Oct 26, 2019)

OK, here's the low-down on welding.
 First find somebody better than you to learn from, next spend lots of time practicing, then (finally the part nobody told you) find out that everybody that knows you will expect you to do "Little Jobs" for nothing. And to add insult to injury find out the places that want to hire "Real Welders" don't want to pay much more for your skills than the guy flipping burgers at Mickey D's!
 So IMHO, you're better off grinding a little more and having lots more fun making the stuff YOU want to.


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## Latinrascalrg1 (Oct 26, 2019)

If you are using a cheap hf flux core type machine then I wouldn't be so hard on yourself, those "machines" can make most people feel like their welding skills really $uck!


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## DavidR8 (Oct 27, 2019)

Thanks for the responses! I had a good laugh. 

I’m using a Millermatic 130 so I think the operator is the weak point in the equation. 


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## Latinrascalrg1 (Oct 27, 2019)

sorry about that.....


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## Bob Korves (Oct 27, 2019)

A coat of Bondo hides anything...


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## DavidR8 (Oct 27, 2019)

More welding today. Switched to a roll of .024 solid wire and 75/25 gas. 
Much better except the gun cable has to be darn near straight to avoid a bees nest at the wire roller. 
It might be time for a new liner. 


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## FOMOGO (Oct 27, 2019)

Are you sure you have the feed roller in the right position for the .024 wire? Many machines require swapping the feed roller out, or flipping it over to run smaller wire. Cheers, Mike


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## 682bear (Oct 27, 2019)

Bob Korves said:


> A coat of Bondo hides anything...



I resemble that remark...!

-Bear


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## lordbeezer (Oct 28, 2019)

You might want to put alittle tension on your roll of wire


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## DavidR8 (Oct 28, 2019)

FOMOGO said:


> Are you sure you have the feed roller in the right position for the .024 wire? Many machines require swapping the feed roller out, or flipping it over to run smaller wire. Cheers, Mike



Good question. 
It’s bunching up as it comes off the roller and into the tube. 
I’ll have a look at my manual and see what it says. 


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## 682bear (Oct 28, 2019)

Check and see if your wire is feeding smoothly through the tip... if you have dings or slag buildup on the tip the wire may not be feeding through it correctly.

-Bear


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## NOBLNG (Oct 28, 2019)

Check also that there is no burr left where the liner may have been cut to length. Also, on my old Miller 135 you could flip the drive roller for the proper size wire... but the groove was not aligned with the wire. I had to pull the wire over slightly so it sat in the groove. Once it was in the groove, it stayed there.


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## Flyinfool (Oct 28, 2019)

There is also an adjustment for how hard the drive roller grips the wire. I have mine set so that if there is a momentary obstruction the drive wheels will slip instead of birds nesting. There is a fine line between allowing a bit of slip when needed to being to loose and not getting even feed. I almost always use .023 solid wire.

I can relate to the diminishing skills, 35 years ago I was a certified welder, Now I can make chicken chit welds with the best of them. I have not picked up a TIG torch since 35 years ago. I would hate to see what that would look like now.


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## Eddyde (Oct 28, 2019)

An often overlooked problem is improper grounding. Make sure your ground clamp is making in good contact on bright bare metal. Also be sure both work pieces are equally grounded.


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## John TV (Oct 28, 2019)

I too share the " I'm a grinder not a welder moniker. Been trying to learn from scratch over the last two years, a little here a little there on all types of welding but the welds just don't get any better looking. I've been a natural with most other tools but welding remains a challenge. 
One good side benefit from all that grinding is all those sparks are a great stress reliever and they make me feel like a manly man. 


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## DavidR8 (Oct 28, 2019)

Flyinfool said:


> There is also an adjustment for how hard the drive roller grips the wire. I have mine set so that if there is a momentary obstruction the drive wheels will slip instead of birds nesting. There is a fine line between allowing a bit of slip when needed to being to loose and not getting even feed. I almost always use .023 solid wire.



This is brilliant.
I will slack off the tension so it slips instead of continuing to try and push wire.
I think the obstruction occurs at the tip from poor practices. A momentary blockage and it’s all over.

On the plus side switching to solid core and gas resulted in much better beads.


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## Latinrascalrg1 (Oct 28, 2019)

Are you sure you have the gun and ground leads connected to the proper terminal (positive/negative).  That changes depending on the type of wire you are using either flux core or solid.


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## DavidR8 (Oct 28, 2019)

Yes, I double checked that to be sure.
Thanks @Latinrascalrg1 for raising it though as it seems it's always the little things that trip me up.


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## pontiac428 (Oct 28, 2019)

I have a different MIG gun for each size of wire that I run: 030, 035, 045.  When you get into special FCAW wires or thin wire (why .024 specialty wire?  Gen purpose is .035 in solid wire) the sizing of the sleeve and/or liner will make a significant difference on feed reliability.  Auto-set welders like your Miller will not cope with wire feed issues.  The computer relies on feed being rock stable.  There are some tricks that go beyond tightening the feed rollers, but I'll wait until you've isolated your issue before going there.


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## DavidR8 (Oct 28, 2019)

Ok, I just looked at the pdf for my welder and the drive wheel is different side to side. One side is for flux core and the other for solid.
Thanks @NOBLNG for bring up flipping the wheel. I know for a fact that it's set for flux core because it's leaving small knurling marks in the flux core wire.

I have the .024 wire because I was using it for autobody sheet metal. It's only rated for .030 solid wire not .035 so that's my limit there. I don't have much call for .024 now so I might get a roll of .030 for general purpose work.


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## NOBLNG (Oct 28, 2019)

DavidR8 said:


> Thanks @NOBLNG for bring up flipping the wheel.


Actually FOMOGO mentioned flipping the wheel before I did! And Flyinfool is right about setting the drive rolls looser...better to have them spin than constantly bird nesting. That said, if it is bird nesting there is definitely a problem somewhere.


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## DavidR8 (Oct 28, 2019)

Indeed @FOMOGO mentioned it first. My apologies good sir!


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## FOMOGO (Oct 29, 2019)

No apology required. Just glad you got it figured out. That's one of the great things about this site, there's almost always someone to point you in  the right direction. Can't count the number of times I've been helped out, or learned something new following someone else's search for an answer to a their question. Mike


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