Practised grinding tonight

I feel somewhat better about my lousy welds after reading that 16 ga is decidedly difficult to weld, even for seasoned welders.
 
francist said:
As goofy as it looks, this actually helps a lot. Hardware store checkout counter special, the trouble is the switch goes wonky after a while and it stops working. Cheap to replace though.

View attachment 337119
Click to expand...

Brilliant idea Frank! :D


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Do yourself a favor buy a magnification lense for your helmet it makes a world of difference. I have 20/20 and like others had a hard time seeing the puddle sometimes. With the lense it’s a whole different ball game. I think it’s a 2x.
 
Cadillac said:
Do yourself a favor buy a magnification lense for your helmet it makes a world of difference. I have 20/20 and like others had a hard time seeing the puddle sometimes. With the lense it’s a whole different ball game. I think it’s a 2x.
Click to expand...

I have 2x safety glasses but they are absolutely worthless under the hood.
I’ve got a 2x lens coming with the Esab helmet.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I am dying to try this:
store.cyberweld.com

Optrel Crystal 2.0 Welding Helmet 1006.900

Optrel® Crystal 2.0 Welding Helmet 1006.900The Optrel® Crystal 2.0 auto-darkening welding hood features shade 2.0 light state that is unmatched in the world for color and clarity. The Crystal 2.0 lens has fully automatic shade 4 to 12 arc brightness detection with Twilight feature to gradually...
store.cyberweld.com store.cyberweld.com
Robert
 
I think that your weld beads show tremendous promise. I am in a similar situation as you, and I take every opportunity to weld on coupons.

Hopefully you have hundreds of hours to spend welding coupons.

The coupons I use are about 1” X 3” mild steel with an approximate thickness of .090”-.120”.

When you get the coupons, you will see that you can do stringers, butt joints, lap joints, fillet joints, T-joints, and edge joints before they end up scrap.

I usually won’t even take the time to grind off the mill scale. If it is too boring for you, you can put on some music. I really enjoy welding with headphones on.

Coupons are the best way to rack up the hundreds of hours of hood time needed for beautiful beads.

I stick welded on coupons for about 14 hours last weekend. I did not take the time to take even a single photo because I wanted to just burn rods.
 
Last edited:
Gosh, I appreciate your vote of confidence Erik! :)
I freely admit that I don’t spend enough time practicing.
That’s going to change now that my shop is mostly sorted out.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
DavidR8 said:
Gosh, I appreciate your vote of confidence Erik! :)
I freely admit that I don’t spend enough time practicing.
That’s going to change now that my shop is mostly sorted out.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

I try to spend as much time as possible doing the processes (e.g. multipass fillet TIG weld or knurling mild steel). I will never go on Facebook or Instagram because, to me, this takes time away from the work. This forum is special, however.

When I fabricate something, I don’t spend enough time actually welding. The hot work is the most fun part; I enjoy the action!
 
Last edited:
rwm said:
I am dying to try this:
store.cyberweld.com

Optrel Crystal 2.0 Welding Helmet 1006.900

Optrel® Crystal 2.0 Welding Helmet 1006.900The Optrel® Crystal 2.0 auto-darkening welding hood features shade 2.0 light state that is unmatched in the world for color and clarity. The Crystal 2.0 lens has fully automatic shade 4 to 12 arc brightness detection with Twilight feature to gradually...
store.cyberweld.com store.cyberweld.com
Robert
Click to expand...

I hear that it’s like looking through clear glass.
Shame it’s near $600 in Canada.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top