I'm A Welder Now! Not Really, But Trying.

[Dan in Pasadena]

I finally stopped procrastinating and tried my hand at MIG welding - practice that is.

I've got a Hobart Handler 140 with .023" wire and ArC02 gas set at 20psi. I set the wire speed by varying the speed dial while running continuously on the spare door I show below until I got the continuous "bacon frying" sounds everyone talks about.

I got this door to repair FOUR giant speaker holes the PO cut in my truck's doors and for metal for various rust repairs.


- As you can see, there were three 1/8" holes near the factory mirror holes, and a larger hole for mounting the door handle. I decided to practice by closing them off.

Close-ups here after I flap disked the rust off:




Feel free to criticize, I can take it....I think

[Dan in Pasadena]

And after I ground the welds flush. I THINK I may have gotten too much heat into the larger hole/weld and slightly warped the metal. Live and learn!

[mknittle]

Looking good Dan. Sheet metal takes a bit of getting used to.

[rambler]

I need to do this,, one thing I am lacking, among other things.. LOL is welding skills

[Dan in Pasadena]

Of course I couldn't leave it at this and immediately started thinking about those speaker holes in my doors. I cut a blank big enough for two repairs:



Made a pattern from lightweight cardboard using a screw to hold it against the door's interior and traced with a Sharpie, then cut it out and started grinding for a "perfect" fit - yeah, well that didn't happen....but I already "know" how to fill small holes, right?!




Yes, I know to spot weld and jump around to keep from warping.

[jmsaunders]

Originally Posted by mknittle

Looking good Dan. Sheet metal takes a bit of getting used to.

X2

Originally Posted by rambler

I need to do this,, one thing I am lacking, among other things.. LOL is welding skills

Hey rambler I've started a club for us non welders. We have meetings and everything. lol.

[broey]

good job dan!!

[Dan in Pasadena]

Ok, that's it for today. I'm gonna cut and fit all four patches first so when I begin spot welding I can jump from door to door and keep the heat down. I'll probably still need a small amount (I hope) of filler.

I DID have a couple holes "blow out" while practicing on the old door. I THINK it may have happened because the metal was thin on the backside due to existing rust(?). I still need to practice more, obviously but at some point I know I'm going to get impatient and just jump in. All advice appreciated. - Dan

[Daze57]

good job!!!!!

[Dan in Pasadena]

Thanks. I'm sure it's not too interesting to a lot of guys here - they've demonstrated killer fab abilities - which of course is what got me thinking, "I can do that". Hundreds of dollars later (ha ha) I have the basics to do my rust repair and I'm even going to try my hand at closing off my bed tube ends, and possibly the stake holes.

[rambler]

Originally Posted by jmsaunders

X2



Hey rambler I've started a club for us non welders. We have meetings and everything. lol.

LOL let me know when the next meeting is !

[rgunlock]

Hey Dan - I've only got a bit of a head-start on you, but I've learned you have to take it pretty easy grinding/flap disking the welds before you go back and start filling gaps between previous welds. Take too much and you thin the metal and burn holes bigger than you are welding up!

[Dan in Pasadena]

Thanks.

Yeah I immediately wanted to flap disk the weld down flush with the surrounding metal. But obviously if I do that more than once I am thinning the metal out - not a good thing.

On the larger hole I built up too much weld and then ground it down all at once. Too much heat.

[Kim57]

Looking good.
We all have to start some where.
You'll get the hang of it in no time.
Kim

[rollinrooster]

Looks good...

[Denee007]

Way to go Dan! Looking good!

[mknittle]

Originally Posted by Dan in Pasadena

Of course I couldn't leave it at this and immediately started thinking about those speaker holes in my doors. I cut a blank big enough for two repairs:



Made a pattern from lightweight cardboard using a screw to hold it against the door's interior and traced with a Sharpie, then cut it out and started grinding for a "perfect" fit - yeah, well that didn't happen....but I already "know" how to fill small holes, right?!




Yes, I know to spot weld and jump around to keep from warping.

I would have smoothed the inside edges of the holes! the closer the patch is to the part being repaired the better. gaps make things harder.

[Dan in Pasadena]

Good point, although I don't know how I could do that? My 4" grinding disc wouldn't fit in there very well...hmm...I'll have to think about how to do that.
Posted via Mobile Device

[mr48chev]

It looks like you have a pretty good fit on the filler piece. The welds don't look bad for mig welds on sheet metal either.

I watched Gene Winfield do this with a torch Sunday at a class he put on.




Then he leaded the panel


And spread the lead around


And then let us try our hand at spreading it around.
Here's Chris from the HAMB giving it a go.

[Dan in Pasadena]

NIICE.
Posted via Mobile Device

[mknittle]

[QUOTE=Dan in Pasadena;6045297]Good point, although I don't know how I could do that? My 4" grinding disc wouldn't fit in there very well...hmm...I'll have to think about how to do that.
Posted via Mobile Device[/QUOTE

Our local tool store sells drum sander arbors like this. I have 2" and 3/4" diameters.

http://www.highlandwoodworking.com/r...2diameter.aspx

I use them quite a bit. sometimes I chuck them in the drill press and hold the part by hand. I use them in a 3/8 drill motor most of the time though.

[Dan in Pasadena]

I thought about something like that but on my Dremel. Bigger ones would obviously be much better, much faster. BUT, can you easily get replacement sanding drums made for sanding metal?

By the way, IF I can smooth those holes out, I'll recut my patches. I need these repairs to go as smoothly as possible since I'm a true rookie.

[mr48chev]

I was thinking rotary file or just a half round file. It looks like you already have the fit pretty good though.

[Dan in Pasadena]

Originally Posted by mr48chev

...It looks like you already have the fit pretty good though.

Eh... if I use them they'd require more work to fit closer. But I'm leaning toward trying to sand the holes smoother. The PO drilled small holes around the perimeter then used SOMETHING; no idea what, to connect them do they're kinda "notchy" in person

[mr48chev]

Originally Posted by Dan in Pasadena

Eh... The PO drilled small holes around the perimeter then used SOMETHING; no idea what, to connect them do they're kinda "notchy" in person

Real "old Skool" tech there. That was common back in the day when guys didn't have power tools that they could cut a decent hole with and used a drill to make a ring of small holes that they cut the webs between them with a hack saw blade or tin snips.