welding started (dont laugh im a begginer)
Discussion
hi guys, started my welding yesterday, as you may know i had all the rust removed and panels made to fix the floor. Jeff came round and and we started our first welding adventure. Its a lot harder than it looks on t.v haha.... Anyway here is a few pics of what weve done. Being the floor its been a great place for us to learn how to weld as im resealing the whole floor anyway and you wont see the welds. we can only get better.....
Edited by dogfather on Friday 2nd May 21:58
Don't take this the wrong way, but it's difficult to tell much from the photos as they're rather out of focus.
My welding's not the best but a few thoughts might help you:
From the first 2 pics it looks like you've got oversills..and that you're sticking new metal over the old, both of these are very bad ideas.
You need to cut away the metal you're replacing until there's only a very small overlap with the new panel. (Ideally the old and new should be butt welded with no overlap, but I admit that's a bit difficult to do)
There's almost nowhere on a Mini where there should be 2 sheets of metal in contact with each other - it just promotes rust.
Regarding your actual welding, you've got a bad case of what welders call pidgeon s
t.
The most important thing is penetration (stop sniggering at the back there), the weld MUST go through the panel, not sit on top "gluing" the 2 parts together. The way I think about it is that you should be almost blowing holes through the metal.(well melting holes actually.) A good weld looks smooth and appears almost flush with the panel surface.
Sorry but you really need to practice more! Get some scrap, weld it together, then try to rip it apart. I bet you'll succeed - with a good weld you'd destroy the surrounding metal first.
My welding's not the best but a few thoughts might help you:
From the first 2 pics it looks like you've got oversills..and that you're sticking new metal over the old, both of these are very bad ideas.
You need to cut away the metal you're replacing until there's only a very small overlap with the new panel. (Ideally the old and new should be butt welded with no overlap, but I admit that's a bit difficult to do)
There's almost nowhere on a Mini where there should be 2 sheets of metal in contact with each other - it just promotes rust.
Regarding your actual welding, you've got a bad case of what welders call pidgeon s
t.The most important thing is penetration (stop sniggering at the back there), the weld MUST go through the panel, not sit on top "gluing" the 2 parts together. The way I think about it is that you should be almost blowing holes through the metal.(well melting holes actually.) A good weld looks smooth and appears almost flush with the panel surface.
Sorry but you really need to practice more! Get some scrap, weld it together, then try to rip it apart. I bet you'll succeed - with a good weld you'd destroy the surrounding metal first.
dog
id have to agree with dino,
that welding is not to a motable standard, its terrible.
you want to get a few bits of thicker practice steel.
start on voltage 'one' and move the wire speed until you are able to get a decent weld, then repeat on voltage 'two', etc. you will then notice that if its a small welder the wire speed will need to be adjusted as the transformer warms up etc - each machine tends to have its own sulky things, mine welds better if the sheeth is as straight as possible, any bad bend and it will start to play up.
the other tip is to get a self changing helmet and a halogen light to light up the area your welding, this way when you are not welding the area (looking through the mask) is a light green, so you can clearly see where you are ment to be.
welding is like riding a bike, a bit of practice and you will soon be good at it - dont give up.
id have to agree with dino,
that welding is not to a motable standard, its terrible.
you want to get a few bits of thicker practice steel.
start on voltage 'one' and move the wire speed until you are able to get a decent weld, then repeat on voltage 'two', etc. you will then notice that if its a small welder the wire speed will need to be adjusted as the transformer warms up etc - each machine tends to have its own sulky things, mine welds better if the sheeth is as straight as possible, any bad bend and it will start to play up.
the other tip is to get a self changing helmet and a halogen light to light up the area your welding, this way when you are not welding the area (looking through the mask) is a light green, so you can clearly see where you are ment to be.
welding is like riding a bike, a bit of practice and you will soon be good at it - dont give up.
Scrooloose said:
At least you haven't set fire to the car - which is what i did when I welded my first mini 
oh lord, ive done that as well.another top tip.
if you roll your mini onto its side and use a old materess as a cushion, dont go inside for a cup of tea without making sure theres nothing smouldering!
i was like clive dunn in dads army, dont panic, dont panic!!!!!!
i can laugh about it now...........
thanks for all that possitive feedbak haha.. although the welds look real st, i am well aware of the theory behind welding i.e good penatration, i had the bottom of the car glowing red, you can see the new metal underneath where the weld is. I also did the peal test on a few random sections and found that the panel ripped around the weld which shows the welds were good.
ive finished the floor on drivers side and sealed it, only 2 small holes to do on the passenger side then i have to practice a little more for body work . thanks again guys ...neale...
t, i am well aware of the theory behind welding i.e good penatration, i had the bottom of the car glowing red, you can see the new metal underneath where the weld is. I also did the peal test on a few random sections and found that the panel ripped around the weld which shows the welds were good.ive finished the floor on drivers side and sealed it, only 2 small holes to do on the passenger side then i have to practice a little more for body work . thanks again guys ...neale...
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