1st attempt at gasless mig welding !

Post by **Orkney** » Sat Mar 15, 2008 10:12 am

I guess Paul why it can be so expensive to have out of sight work done in a garage.
Been watching Richard in Sweden's work and others too and its just amazing the can of worms that can be opened when you set out to do what you think is one minor repair.

I would not want to be in the patching up to get cars through the MOT business for love nor money, messy, dirty and dangerous I should imagine.

Anyway the list of jobs that can be done around here now i can weld competently enough to be beyond what was my farm welding standard is quite big, so will be great for practicing on the heavier stuff with the mig. By which time should be competent enough to tackle the finer bits on scabby

Post by **chickenjohn** » Sat Mar 15, 2008 10:21 am

The lines of weld look pretty good, To check penetration try welding some thin (1mm) pieces together as next practice , butt weld them together and let us see both sides. I'm sure you'll be fine as you've welded before (farm welding as you put it).

Post by **Orkney** » Sat Mar 15, 2008 10:51 am

CJ i think those old bits of bonnet are 1mm, i just chucked them in a foundation hole this morning and cleaned the garage.
The penetration is fine, obviously not so tidy on the back when butt welding 2 pieces, i did a couple more and my famous beat the bejeebus out of it with a hammer to test the strenght and i was very happy with that.
Also bending 2 patches it bent about 1.5-2cm from the seam - presumably the weld heat tempered the metal either side.
but for now its more than good enough for what i need to do

the photos in teh first post - that is a butt weld, set the bench on fire doing that

Post by **chickenjohn** » Sat Mar 15, 2008 11:05 am

Thats good then! You can do any rust repair your trav might need in the future. BTW, for grinding welds smooth, get a nylon backing pad and 36 grit abrasive discs (Zirconium ones from screwfix or toolstation), these last ages and munch through weld much quicker than a grinding disc.

Post by **Orkney** » Sat Mar 15, 2008 11:08 am

Ta, ive heard of them, always assumed they wore out faster, will try a couple from the factors next time i'm in there

will have to hunt out teh pad thing that came with the grinder, it may take some time ....

Post by **Bluesman** » Sat Mar 15, 2008 12:48 pm

AND you will need that protective thing on the grinder - I very nearly lost a fingertip 2 weeks ago, even if it was "just a flap disc" - be careful!

Cheers /R