New welder for christmas.. will it work?

[Arctic Fire]

Hey experienced gang,

My lovely wifey got me a welder for christmas, shown here

Powerfist Flux-Cored Wire Feed Welder | Princess Auto


I have zero experience welding, and have tried it out on some 3/16 brake line. melt city. Am I going to be able to use this welder for tube cages at all? do I just need to get a feel for welding? ANy advice would be great!

Thanks

[doublej]

Are you using shielding gas?
If not you are really going to want too. Makes welding so much more enjoyable.

As for welding tubing - the thinner the metal the harder it is to weld. I would suggest starting with solid rod and get the feel for it then more up to actual tubing. Not brake line.

Will it work - without a doubt. But dont forget, "Takes 10mins to learn to weld and a lifetime to perfect the art."

[Twisted Nuts]

Ive got 1 peice of advice, dont start out trying to weld. You'll waste a Lot of wire and metal.
Find a thick scrap piece of metal and practice making tacks.
Best of luck to you learning.
Gotta crawl before you walk.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747

[old man 52]

If your using the 0.30 wire that came with it that could be some of your problem. get yourself some 0.23 it works better on thinner metals. And what TWISTED Nuts said, tacks first.

[PubCrawl]

Somebody was on the nice list this year! have fun welding. i wish i had on. YouTube will get you the basics but im a self thought fabricator and i strongly believe that you only get good by the number of beads you lay.

[project_mayhem]

Flux core works at higher heat (voltage) settings than solid wire. Not ideal for thin metal. Should be ok to use solid rod.

[PubCrawl]

Somebody was on the nice list this year! have fun welding. i wish i had on. YouTube will get you the basics but im a self thought fabricator and i strongly believe that you only get good by the number of beads you lay.

[Arctic Fire]

Thanks for all the advice. I'm going ot switch to thinner wire, and use solid rod for now, maybe 1/4". I'll start with tacking and go from there!

[bob1961]

if you go solid wire you will need argon gas, that link you posted is flux core wire that welds without gas....

[Twisted Nuts]

Wish I would have got one for christmas! Lol. I have to buy my own.
Damn how come I always get Socks. Lmao
Time to go to walmart and exchange my wife!

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747

[Szczerba]

I got a flux cored wire welder from Harbor Freight and taught myself how to tack/weld with it. I changed out the HF wire with Hobart 0.030" wire right off off the bat.
Wire Welder - Save on this 90 Amp Flux Wire Welder

I have found out to weld 3/16" tube I have have to turn the wire speed down below 1 and on lowest "Minimum" setting. Wire speed ranges from 0-10. I just have to practice on wire speed and amperage with when I switch metal thicknesses.

I welded 75% of my IFS SCX chassis with this flux cored welder. So, yes Flux cored wire welding can work fine. See below
I developed a technique to weld this 3/16" tube. Very quick and one motion quick tacks.

But yes, A welder that uses shielding gas is going to weld alot cleaner and have a cleaner result. But hey, this is what I have at the moment. Works for me. About to start my second 3/16" tube chassis with it tomorrow.

[1tonscout]

As previously stated you're going to need smaller .023" flux core wire. Do yourself a favor and take your machine to a welding supply and get the .023" tips and feed rollers. if you don't have the right size tip and roller your welds will look like birds nest mixed with bird $hit. I would also suggest getting some cheap felt wipers to clean the wire to keep the wire moving smooth in the liner. One last bit of advice is to not bundle or kink your welding leads, and keep them as straight as possible when welding. This will keep the wire flow nice and smooth.

[gtbrian]

All good advice. After practicing tacks start learning to run a bead on some plate, once you get that start "drawing" welding s and circle shapes. Its all an excercise in control, go slow.

[Lentsnh2012]

Also make sure you see the puddle, even on 3/16th steel rod. Your weld won't hold if you don't "let it eat". Go nice and slow and make sure to have your wire speed up enough to overcome what you're melting away.

Tacks are too easy.. Get a 1/4" plate. 5"x5" and run beads across until you have used up that side, then turn it 90 degrees and start again until you get a consistant bead and technique. Don't drag the gun either, Make sure you get very tight circles. Flux Core may look bad at first but remember that you have to knock off that slag before you see your bead.

You can easily get frustrated with welding. If so, Look at what your machine is set at or doing, take a breather, and then continue. To help you get started with your settings, Here is what I set my Miller 115V MIG at when I do 3/16th-1/4" rod/plate.




Good luck!

[Arctic Fire]

This is all awesome advice, thanks everyone for the help. i am back up at work now, but I will post pics in this thread when I get at it.

[Big Daddy]

I'd be embarassed to post pics of all of my test pieces when learning to weld (well still always learning). As far as the settings go, I found that Lincoln knows a lot better than me and I just set it to what their chart said and make small adjustments from there to get a decent weld. I always test out new stuff like if I am welding tube to rod or sheet to plate to see what settings I need. Practice is king, grinding is an art...

[doublej]

Practice is King - grinding is Art.

Ain't that the truth. Lol

[Lentsnh2012]

With enough practice you can make any weld bead look beautiful.

7018 stick rod:
MIG: Soon enough
TIG Aluminum: It gets hot QUICK and it was my first few minutes really messing with it.

[sgl]

What a nice gift you should j have a/great time with of it. Lots of good advice already the only specifics I'll add are use good wire, I have the best luck with Lincoln and the worst with Harbor freights ( I'm using a similar HF welder). Second make certain you have a good fresh ground point , this does make a difference. Third patience , spend time and do some no critical stuff first. You know make something fun with materials a hand, old bed frame rails are nice soft material to work with and easy to find laying around. ( Oh make something for the wife)o.s Last there's lots of material online both print and video , Use both makes things stick in better, then practice.
sgl