Teaching myself to weld
Right now my wife and I are in the process of searching for suitable
land to set up our bison operation. This is a long tedious process that
involves a lot of boring meetings with mortgage people, appraisals, and
coordination with numerous other parties. My mind isn't as wired for
these types of things as my wife's mind is, so I mostly sit quietly and
nod. It's not that I'm unable to reason about financial or contractual
matters, it's more that I find it excruciatingly boring and trust her
completely. I've found that, as our marriage has progressed, we've
developed an ever more pronounced division of labor.
Anyway, in an effort to reduce long term business costs and increase my self-reliance, I decided to teach myself welding. A lot of farm equipment will eventually need repair and some of the basic items can be fabricated, so, in the long run, I think this is an important skill to have.
After considerable reading and You Tube research, I decided to go with two systems: a MIG welder and an oxyacetylene cutter/welder. I decided that the MIG welder would be most useful for the bulk of my welding, but the Oxyacetylene would be critical for cutting larger pieces of metal, heating/bending metal, and occasional welding in places with no electricity.
For the MIG I purchased a Lincoln Electric Power Mig 180 Dual. Initially, I decided to go with a MIG welder over a stick-welder because I read that MIGs are faster, but each has its pros and cons. What appealed to me most about this model was 1) it could accommodate electricity from either a normal 120 volt outlet or a 220 volt outlet, and 2) it offered a $100 rebate. Unfortunately, it wasn't until after I had purchased and started using the welder that I learned from Lincoln Electric that the rebate wasn't valid because I had not purchased the item from a distributor that participated in the "Money Matters™" program. I hadn't realized that something could be classified as a Money Matters™ product, but still be ineligible for the Money Matters™ rebate if the distributor wasn't a Money Matters™ distributor.
For the oxyacetylene system, I purchased a Victor brand Performer set, which includes cutting, heating, and a welding attachments. I bought this at my local welding supply store and rented oxygen and acetylene tanks.
Since these purchases, I've managed to design and build my own welding cart and, in the process, have progressed in my welding ability from horrible to acceptable. Based upon what I've learned through, YouTube, books, and experience, I've found the following things to be helpful for basic MIG welding:
Now that my cart is completed, I can now more easily wheel my equipment from the garage to the backyard where I can do some serious (i.e. higher temperature) welding with flux core wire. My next two projects a large heavy duty metal gate for the bison pasture and a pair of extra long steel t-post drivers for the fencing. I'm also planning on assembling a small portable welding table from the scraps of the first three projects.
Anyway, in an effort to reduce long term business costs and increase my self-reliance, I decided to teach myself welding. A lot of farm equipment will eventually need repair and some of the basic items can be fabricated, so, in the long run, I think this is an important skill to have.
After considerable reading and You Tube research, I decided to go with two systems: a MIG welder and an oxyacetylene cutter/welder. I decided that the MIG welder would be most useful for the bulk of my welding, but the Oxyacetylene would be critical for cutting larger pieces of metal, heating/bending metal, and occasional welding in places with no electricity.
For the MIG I purchased a Lincoln Electric Power Mig 180 Dual. Initially, I decided to go with a MIG welder over a stick-welder because I read that MIGs are faster, but each has its pros and cons. What appealed to me most about this model was 1) it could accommodate electricity from either a normal 120 volt outlet or a 220 volt outlet, and 2) it offered a $100 rebate. Unfortunately, it wasn't until after I had purchased and started using the welder that I learned from Lincoln Electric that the rebate wasn't valid because I had not purchased the item from a distributor that participated in the "Money Matters™" program. I hadn't realized that something could be classified as a Money Matters™ product, but still be ineligible for the Money Matters™ rebate if the distributor wasn't a Money Matters™ distributor.
For the oxyacetylene system, I purchased a Victor brand Performer set, which includes cutting, heating, and a welding attachments. I bought this at my local welding supply store and rented oxygen and acetylene tanks.
Since these purchases, I've managed to design and build my own welding cart and, in the process, have progressed in my welding ability from horrible to acceptable. Based upon what I've learned through, YouTube, books, and experience, I've found the following things to be helpful for basic MIG welding:
- Clean the metal - the cleaner you make it the better the weld will turn out.
- Make sure the metal you are welding is well grounded - although grounding your welding table will work, the weld will go much more smoothly if the ground is attached directly to the piece you are welding and make sure the ground attachment area is clean.
- Don't have too much "stick out" - don't go out more than one-half inch.
- Trace the edge of the puddle - A good method of moving forward while welding is to zig-zag back and forth along the edge of the molten metal puddle
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| The mostly finished cart parked near the patio door. I may paint it in the future, but I'm not in a hurry. |
Now that my cart is completed, I can now more easily wheel my equipment from the garage to the backyard where I can do some serious (i.e. higher temperature) welding with flux core wire. My next two projects a large heavy duty metal gate for the bison pasture and a pair of extra long steel t-post drivers for the fencing. I'm also planning on assembling a small portable welding table from the scraps of the first three projects.
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| The welding cart trying to persuade me to go outside and start welding tonight. |
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