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Learning mig welding, figured I'd throw this out here to see if anybody's got pointers or advice that helped them improve. First day in class, safety, second day instructor sets examples and walks us through setup, third day practice starting a puddle and walking it, and today was my first day applying all of that on my own. So, how am I doing?

Instructor says great, my reply was I've gotta be good at something, I'm too old not to be. I guess I'm looking for experienced welders to break me into what to expect as well here? I'm open to whatever. I enjoy this, it's fun, I'll end up sticking with it. Just want the advice to improve.

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Keep your tip and nozzle very clean use a nozzle dip after each pass. This will make a large difference in how much headache you will have keeping wire feeding smoothly. Also keep a close eye on your electrode angle somewhere about 5 to 10 degrees angled into the direction you are welding. What wire are you running? Looks like S5 or S6
 
Learning mig welding, figured I'd throw this out here to see if anybody's got pointers or advice that helped them improve. First day in class, safety, second day instructor sets examples and walks us through setup, third day practice starting a puddle and walking it, and today was my first day applying all of that on my own. So, how am I doing?

Instructor says great, my reply was I've gotta be good at something, I'm too old not to be. I guess I'm looking for experienced welders to break me into what to expect as well here? I'm open to whatever. I enjoy this, it's fun, I'll end up sticking with it. Just want the advice to improve.

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I'm not.a.professional licensed welder but.I have done a little and.have been around it a lot and imo you did very well👍 your beads are tight👍😉
 
Keep your tip and nozzle very clean use a nozzle dip after each pass. This will make a large difference in how much headache you will have keeping wire feeding smoothly. Also keep a close eye on your electrode angle somewhere about 5 to 10 degrees angled into the direction you are welding. What wire are you running? Looks like S5 or S6
Haven't used a nozzle dip, probably got told to. Is it some greasy looking shit? I cleaned my nozzle off a few times, couldn't tell you the exact wire. I'll find out again on Tuesday, I can't recall based off of that but I believe it to be .35, if that helps gauge anything.
 
Haven't used a nozzle dip, probably got told to. Is it some greasy looking shit? I cleaned my nozzle off a few times, couldn't tell you the exact wire. I'll find out again on Tuesday, I can't recall based off of that but I believe it to be .35, if that helps gauge anything.
Nozzel dip is a blue waxy substance that helps keep all the spatter from sticking to everything. For a first couple days guy your work is looking decent. I worked in fabricating for a solid 20 years. It will fight you it will frustrate you but just keep at it you will get it down.

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One of my favorite things to do is remove corneal foreign bodies and rust rings from welders eyes
the most painful injury I've ever gotten was a spark in the eye. The Dr put eye drops in that made my whole head go numb then used a very expensive looking magnet thing to pull the steel shard out. I will always be grateful for that Dr.
 
Learning mig welding, figured I'd throw this out here to see if anybody's got pointers or advice that helped them improve. First day in class, safety, second day instructor sets examples and walks us through setup, third day practice starting a puddle and walking it, and today was my first day applying all of that on my own. So, how am I doing?

Instructor says great, my reply was I've gotta be good at something, I'm too old not to be. I guess I'm looking for experienced welders to break me into what to expect as well here? I'm open to whatever. I enjoy this, it's fun, I'll end up sticking with it. Just want the advice to improve.

View attachment 879285
 
the most painful injury I've ever gotten was a spark in the eye. The Dr put eye drops in that made my whole head go numb then used a very expensive looking magnet thing to pull the steel shard out. I will always be grateful for that Dr.
He probably used Tetracaine drops. Magnets are very old school, I’ve never used them for eyes
 
Welding was part of my first trade. I do stick A/O T/MIG etc etc. It's hard to tell from that kind of layering how good you are because you can't tell whether there is proper penetration, any undercut, etc. It is better to show us some butt welds single run and flat plate joins single run.

The technique you are using is fairly common, called "diming" which is a stop/start type process, easier for beginners to get the hang of, because smooth and steady runs do not come naturally when you are playing with molten steel. That said, the smoother - ie flatter finish you can make your welds, the stronger they will be. All stick welders can achieve this naturally, MIG tends to lend itself to diming.

Good luck with the welding. It is a shallow learning curve, but rewarding!
 
Learning mig welding, figured I'd throw this out here to see if anybody's got pointers or advice that helped them improve. First day in class, safety, second day instructor sets examples and walks us through setup, third day practice starting a puddle and walking it, and today was my first day applying all of that on my own. So, how am I doing?

Instructor says great, my reply was I've gotta be good at something, I'm too old not to be. I guess I'm looking for experienced welders to break me into what to expect as well here? I'm open to whatever. I enjoy this, it's fun, I'll end up sticking with it. Just want the advice to improve.

View attachment 879285
You need an industrial laser welding machine and a laser welding pencil that welds and cuts and also removes rust from metal
$111 for both on TEMU or you can search on Ebay too
 
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