Sold steam engine, bought welder

[elt]

I loved running my little steam engine on air but as I figured I'd never have a real boiler, I decided to sell it and I bought a welder with proceeds. Now, of course, I can make a boiler... well, maybe after I learn to weld! I always wanted to so I bought this welder when it was on sale last week.

I read some about welding on the web and set out to make the tail for my mill... This picture shows my first weld, the scrap that reinforces the cutout on the left. I think that my last weld (so far,) the gusset for holding up the tail boom on the right looks much better...

Ya, still pretty ugly but I've pounded, banged, pulled and yanked and I think all the pieces are holding. It doesn't look too bad at a distance ...





... hope it holds together!

- Ed.

[mtbandy]

Nice! I too recently bought a welder on sale, mine's a 90 amp mig and I used it to weld up my solar panel frame. My first few welds looked a bit 'splattery', so I cheated by resting the nozzle on the metal, and welding in 1 second 'pulses' moving it 5mm or so each time. It got the frame completed but I still need practice. I can see it becoming an addiction once I get the hang of it.

[BT Humble]

Oh dear, you'll be ruined if you learn to weld with a MIG! ;-)

It looks pretty good to me given that it's your first effort, and remember:  angle grinders and thick coats of paint are excellent ways to disguise bad welding! ;-)

BTH

[RP]

I notice that welder can be used for flux core and gas shield.  For flux core you want the electrode (wire) to be negative and the ground clamp to be positive.  this is called reverse polarity.

If you have normal polarity (tip +), you'll get more much more splatter than with reverse.  See if you can reverse it if necessary.  Some welders have a switch or a plug to swap.  Others (like mine) have to be rewired internally.

[stephent]

There's a thing called "splatter preventer" you spray around the weld area..it keeps the splatter from sticking but not the hotter weld part.

Makes your welds  look more "pro" like until ya get the hang of it.

Using flux core wire will have some splatter at the best you will do--using gas makes it lots more neater. Buy the gas regulator and make friends with a pepsi/coke route man and see if their CO2 bottles (this is usually cheaper then welding gas supply places) can be fixed (hardware stores carry all sorts of adapters) to work with your welder.

[elt]

Is is safe to put a voltmeter on the leads? The manual shows the same picture for normal and reverse polarity on the tip. It also says that the welder ships ready for flux wire but the ground lead was connected to the "-" terminal so I did reverse the connections. It makes me wonder if the decals on terminals were reversed... but I think that the very bad spatter on the first welds was because the stick-out was too long, the nozzle angle was too great and the wire feed was too slow... I eventually changed just about everything except the current setting. Well, I did turn that up but I burned a hole in pipe so I turned it back down.

 - Ed.

[elt]

Congrats on your welder!

Before I even made the spark with this welder I got a warm feeling thinking about all the things I couldn't make before that I could now; I'm already hooked!

[elt]

Thanks for that tip! I'll ask for "splatter preventer" at the local welding supply.

Right now there's just a rubber tube hanging out the back of the welder. I have an interest in doing some aluminum welding so I'll eventually invest in gas but, you're right, right now the cost of the bottles looks pretty high to me.

[pyrocasto]

I bought the same one, you'll get the hang of it quickly I think.

Here was my first project with mine:

[pyrocasto]

BTW, darn you. :p I've been looking around for a steam engine lately.

[RP]

Yes, you can put a DC voltmeter to it.  It'll be about 20-30 volts or so (unloaded).

Try a test weld with each polarity and see which one you like best.  I know it made a dramatic difference for me.

You want the stick-out to be about 1/4 to 3/8inch.

Also, on lap welds, start the weld puddle on the bottom piece and just keep "kissing" the edge of the top piece with the puddle.

[DanB]

what sort of steam engine did you have?

[elt]

No where as big as yours!

http://www.otherpower.com/images/scimages/6527/SteamEngine.jpg

I'm only guessing that its about 1/2 hp; I don't really have the means to figure it out.

Eventually I'd like to get a 4 to 6hp or so to make a steam launch but that doesn't look like it'll be any time soon.

Here (in NY) any boiler over 1.5 cubic feet needs an inspection (regularly) unless its

marine, then they defer to the Coast Guard's spec of up to 10 cf without need of inspection ... seems like you can have more fun in the water.

[elt]

Nice cart. I want to make one too but I'd like to find a pile of metal on the side of road first otherwise I don't think I could do it for less than buying one. Or maybe I can re-purpose" something else like some old metal shelves. But for now I just want to get my mill in the air.

[elt]

> Also, on lap welds, start the weld puddle on the bottom piece

> and just keep "kissing" the edge of the top piece with the puddle.

Thanks, that helped a lot!

[luv2weld]

Hey elt,

You're a brave man!! I wouldn't post a picture of my first weld!!! To say

it looked like bird doo-doo would be too kind. Just keep practicing. Every

weld you get a little better. Also try practicing at night in front of the

TV during commercials with a tablet, a flat washer and a pencil. If you

can drag the washer around on the tablet without making any marks, you're

doing real good. It helps train your hand and eye to maintain the same distance

above the work.

Here is a link to Lincoln Electrics site---

http://www.lincolnelectric.com/knowledge/articles/list.asp

Scroll down to the How-to or the Welding Projects and Misc, even the FAQ

Lots of info here. Other major companies also have sites with projects, tips,

etc.

One thing about the law there---so, if you put your boiler in a washtub

and floated it in your pool, does it classify as a "marine boiler"???lol

Ralph