Arc welder help.

[slowcamaro]

So my neighbor was cleaning out his garage and gave me a welder. Nothing fancy but hell it was free. Its a inexpensive Century machine, a "100 amp" machine. Also threw in some 6011 and 6013 rods, welding gloves a few clamps and magnets.

I've done a bit of minor tack welding with a mig machine in the past. I'm just wondering the capabilities of this stick welder as at the moment I have some disposable rod and a free welder.

So I've never used a arc welder, anyone have a link to maybe a good tutorial? Tips on getting started with this thing? Suggestions of material to practice on? Thickness recommendations? I guess I should probably try to determine the thickness my current rods.

Thanks

[Mathius]

So my neighbor was cleaning out his garage and gave me a welder. Nothing fancy but hell it was free. Its a inexpensive Century machine, a "100 amp" machine. Also threw in some 6011 and 6013 rods, welding gloves a few clamps and magnets.

I've done a bit of minor tack welding with a mig machine in the past. I'm just wondering the capabilities of this stick welder as at the moment I have some disposable rod and a free welder.

So I've never used a arc welder, anyone have a link to maybe a good tutorial? Tips on getting started with this thing? Suggestions of material to practice on? Thickness recommendations? I guess I should probably try to determine the thickness my current rods.

Thanks

If it's a 100amp machine, you're probably not gonna be able to do much more than 1/8" in a single pass. Maybe 3/16".. it's been a while since I've used a stick welder regularly. I do know I set the machine for 90 amps when I welded some 1/8" tubing last week.

I'd recommend you try some 1/8" steel and do some destructive tests in a vice. I was going to ask you about your rod thickness as well.

Make sure your material is clean to start with. It doesn't have to be pristine to get a bead going, but lately I've gotten lazy and haven't even bothered to grind the paint off of some of the projects I've welded. Makes for sh*tty welds until you get the heat up. It's a bad habit I picked up at my last shop.

Mathius

[purewhitemp5]

http://www.chopzone.com/welding.html

[Camaroholic]

Get an angle grinder and some flap discs, get some 1/8" hunks-o-metal, and get after it. ;) Make a workbench using 2" angle iron or something. A low amp arc welder won't give the prettiest welds, but you can clean a lot of it up with an angle grinder & flap disc, and make it turn out decent.

Edit - bah, I was tricked. Old post!