My welding jobs

[1glaserturbo]

Figured I might as well make a dedicated thread to all of the jobs I'll be doing now that I have a welder.

Was very excited to do this job seeing as it is my first welding task that I've been paid for. Overall I'm impressed at how well everything went and the customer was also very happy with the finished product. I unfortunately only got one picture for you because we were very pressed for time putting everything back together.

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Isn't tooooo pretty but penetration was perfect and everything lined up 100% when we were finished.

Critique everything you can!

 

[ali]

I really need to learn how to weld

 

[ali]

welds look good by the way

 

[banshee04]

I havent welded in a long ass time. Looks good though.

 

[turboglenn]

NOt bad for a first job. Witha little more practice you'll really smile when the beads start looking uniform like a robot did them or something (that was one of my proudest moments) I recomend getting some welding books and learnging some bead techniques and some of the little tips and tricks that make things not only easier but stronger and better looking welds to boot. But again, very good job for your first project!

 

[Imback]

I wouldn't pay more then 20 bucks for something like that. But that's just me.

 

[fwdmaster]

Welding looks good,get it sandblasted and ceramic coated

 

[1glaserturbo]

I wouldn't pay more then 20 bucks for something like that. But that's just me.

Have you ever put a lot of effort, time, and desire into something just to be shot down? That's how that post made me feel, go screw someone elses thread up please....

 

[My1GLaser]

Was that a Mig with argon? I assume it was, since my flux core MIG from Harbor Freight looks like SHIT and leaves slag like a mother. (cheap POS) MIG is good for welding indoors, and stick is better for outdoors, since wind blows the cover gas too easily. If you have a good gas MIG welder, you might be able to hook up an Aluminum rig down the road. Most of those MIGs are about $600, but they are worth it in the long run. (a damn Al gun is about $1000, though)

I have exclusively stick welded at work for over 8 years. Most of my 7018 welds look better then any MIG, but I guess I am just boasting now.

I haven't read many welding books for technique, but I will tell you that practice is the best teacher by far. Once you can weld great, you can freaking make just about anything. Keep up the good work!

 

[rbwtrans]

The bottom line is "Did it hold? Does it work the way I wanted it to?" Just like anything, the more of it you do, the better you will get. I have much worse than that on my car (done by me, of coarse). I say, more power to you.

 

[Imback]

Have you ever put a lot of effort, time, and desire into something just to be shot down? That's how that post made me feel, go screw someone elses thread up please....

Didn't mean to shoot you down. But honesty is the best policy and i'm just sharing my view. If this was for your own car or something to that extent then my opinion would be different. But as for you charging people for that type of work my comment still stands. I'm more then willing to help out you out tho to make your final product look better.

 

[yangtech]

More info on what you're using to weld?

 

[93 GSX TURBO]

NOt bad for a first job. Witha little more practice you'll really smile when the beads start looking uniform like a robot did them or something (that was one of my proudest moments) I recomend getting some welding books and learnging some bead techniques and some of the little tips and tricks that make things not only easier but stronger and better looking welds to boot. But again, very good job for your first project!

I love that feeling when im welding on a customers exhaust or building one from scratch and get nice smooth beads. The dam wind will #### your weld up though, happened to me today while I was building an exhaust for a 09 eclipse.

Don't let people put you down. Everyone starts somewhere and just a tip put a brittle brush on a drill and brush your welds because thats the first place rust will show if you don't.

 

[93 GSX TURBO]

My first welder that I still own was Lincoln mig welder from home depot. My second was a Miller MIG and now a nice 2500 dollar HOBART welder at the shop that I work at which makes a ton of difference compared to the lincoln.

 

[bpestilence]

My first fabrication post was shot to s#^@ with people saying my welds sucked. I am glad to see you only got one.

If it holds, and the customer is happy, good work.

 

[turboglenn]

I love that feeling when im welding on a customers exhaust or building one from scratch and get nice smooth beads. The dam wind will #### your weld up though, happened to me today while I was building an exhaust for a 09 eclipse.

There's nothing quite like the look on a customers face when they drop something off with an idea then you bring it into reality and it's even better than they expected..... As for the wind, I TIG inside or in a shield box i have for on site work (really helps, plus keps people from looking and burning their cornias) I do most of my MIG inside as well, if i MUST do soem outside i ruin flux core wire (that's what it's meant for) but then i add shielding gas on top of it.. even indoors this will give you the smoothest least slag popping MIG weld you've ever gotten from a normal machine

Don't let people put you down. Everyone starts somewhere and just a tip put a brittle brush on a drill and brush your welds because thats the first place rust will show if you don't.

Yea, clean the area before and after welding..before is CRITICAL though, the less rust, scale, paint or oil on a piece the better the weld will look. I even wipe my filler rod and all parts off with acetone or lacquer thinner before welding, another thing on TIG is that i keep my hands as clean as possible or wear rubber gloves when handling the rods or tungsten..oils on your hands can contaminate into a tungsten when it's glowing red hot, so wiping them down with a clean clotch and alcohol helps if you're a TIG guy.

As for my stick welds.... well, i don't do much of it and i usually have to burn a couple rods before i start on a project that requires stick welding, i remember the rod sticking everytime for so long i almost gave up, then one day it just came to me...they looked like chicken pooop back then but they are much better now (but still not up to what i've seen some pipe-line guys do with some 7018)

My first fabrication post was shot to s#^@ with people saying my welds sucked. I am glad to see you only got one.

If it holds, and the customer is happy, good work.

Don't pay any mind to anyone bashing you.. If they can't offer constructive criticism then they probably can't do any better themselves, some one who is good will point out the flaws, but tell you how to correct them. the only thing i see is that you need to work on more consistant travel and motion (but 90* fillets aren't the easiest tomake look good either) Also hold the gune a little close, you really want a tad les than 1/4 inch between the material and the tip of the MIG gun..adjust your power and speed until it sounds like bacon fry'ing..that was something i heard a long time ago and as a general rule of thumb until you get good enough to just set your welder and go it's a great way to get your settings right (especially wire speed)

Keep the posts coming and those of us with more experience will do our best to get you improving your skills daily.. also check out Miller - Welding Equipment - MIG/TIG/Stick Welders & Plasma Cutting ...and visit their forum at this link (it's hard to findn on the main page)Miller Welding Discussion Forums - Powered by vBulletin

Then there's Welding Tips and Tricks - TIG, MIG, Stick and a pantload of other info
between those you shoudl read for hours and improve greatly.. I'im over at the miller forum under the same username, hope to see you there

 

[xioca]

Well that looks like flux core bird shit welds (nature of flux core). And to the comment about not paying more than $20 I'd have to agree.

But everybody has to start somewhere, and it looks like a decent start. Best advice is go to HMT and read up. There are a couple torrent files floating around on how to dvd's that are really good too.

 

[1glaserturbo]

Nope, solid wire with C-25.....sure it may look like an autistic child did it but this was my first time and the customer just wanted a good penetration without it looking like complete junk. I succeeded and he claimed to be coming back for more custom work. I practice just about every day that I can so prepare to see improvement after just this first job

 

[xioca]

Ahh well it looks like you may have some constamination going on.. wire wheel for the win!

Whats your box?

 

[tkelly27]

When I want a milid steel weld to look really pretty, I'll break out the flap wheel and go over both parts until all the crap is off of them. Seems to whip off the mill scale and whatever else screws it up pretty well.

 

[Zack Huffman]

Honestly I think the weld looks very good for a starting point. That's a tough weld to perform and the movement isn't easy to keep consistent with odd angles like that. I've not had much practice with anything except a stick, and I think I can weld fairly well with one, but I would have quite a difficult time duplicating that let alone improving on it. If you're just beginning, you'll be making professional quality welds in no time judging by this.

 

[rEclipserGST]

I wouldn't pay more then 20 bucks for something like that. But that's just me.

I used to work at Wasserstrom & Sons Inc., companies pay good money for welding and stainless steel. People will pay good money for someone to do something they cant. As far as it looking pretty... all you have to do is Wire Wheel it and have a can of silver spray paint or sanding pads. Those were daily tools in the fab shops and Quality Control Center.

$30,000 jobs coming out the shop with s**t welds just means you need practice. So just ignore the ignorance in that post he made. It was wasteful and unhelpful. Practice makes perfect, it took me about 4 weeks to get some sexy welds coming for MIG and TIG welding.

Good luck and keep doing your thang, gotta love the haters

 

[Imback]

So rEclipserGST how much would you pay for a job like that?

 

[turboglenn]

to everyone knocking his weld..... lets see pics of yours!

AS for "how much it's worth" no matter what exhaust shop you go to, they will charge you 20 bucks to make that weld from the pipe to the flange, and being that the flange is so much thicker than the pipe wall it takes a little more than you average idiot to do it without burning holes in the pipe. The guy is new, give him a damn break already! He didn't say he's a professional weldor, he didn't claim to make his living at it...he said it was the first job he got paid to do; and as long as the weld holds and don't leak i will say he did just fine and it is worth 20 bucks.

I do weld for a living (and there's thousands of people better than me) but, i've seen a LOT worse welds than those pass out the door at auto shops all over the place, give him some time and he'll be making fun of your welds (which I asked and am now waiting to see) That is given that you even own a welder or if there's some other excuse to why you cna't post your pics. And i'm on about every welding forum there is so dont' go stealing pics to make yourself look good because chances are i can find the thread or website it comes out of if you do.

I'm willing to help anyone learn to weld because it's a great fullfilling hobby, knocking some one's first attempts is not only childish but highschool like in behavour. I could see if there were gaps, tons of spatter , holes melted through or anything like that but i give him credit for not only trying but doing a decent job at it to boot. Just becaus eit' snot a pretty row of "dimes" doesn't mean it's a crap weld, it was done with a MIG and there's so many foactors that change the look of a weld that you can't get good at it in a day, it takes time to learn wire thickness and the speed to run it at depending on the material, thickness and even the conditions of the day to get something perfect every time, so untill we can see soem of your first jobs i say STFU! and let the man post his pics!

My only criticism is this and i mean it in a constructive way... Keep the tip closer,,, you needed a little more heat as i can see a few places where the toes of the weld didn't penetrate and try to be more consistant with your movement to get a consistant looking bead.(which i stated all of this already)


EDIT: My advice on this particular job... turn the heat up...wire spoeed down a tad, keep the tip close and use a circle motion. Try to keep around 70% of the time spent welding on the thick plate only lapping down ontpo the tube for the other 25-30% of weld time. More importantly for a nice low profile weld try pulli9ng the gun away from the bead instead of pushing and feeding forward into it... <---- see was it that hard to help instead of criticizing?

 

[Imback]

I have posted pics of my welding in another topic but i will post them again for you. And if you need to see more of my work google american racing headers and click on images. As i stated before i was not bashing i simply said i would not pay any more then 20 bucks for a weld like that. I also stated to the OP that i would have no problem giving him advice to help him get a better out come of the final product. As for me judging peoples work i judge my own work even more then i do on others. My work is all over the world and i put 120% into it. I'm a perfectionist and i critique everything. If people don't want to hear peoples opinion on there work then don't post it.

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I only have 2 pics of my HD but if you want more like i said google my shops name or i can take some on monday during lunch just for you