Cheap welding

[Easy-X]

I went to post this in the "what have you bought" thread but I keep getting errors loading the page

I got this cheap thing:

https://i.imgur.com/vqvoEGp.jpg

"Dirty Pro Tools" It's has a very simple single dial that combines current and feed rate roughly marked for material thickness. Turn on, set dial, zap. Great for the once or twice a year I'm gonna use it.

First attempt:

https://i.imgur.com/rgdraS7.jpg

The spatter is from too much stick-out.

Second attempt:

https://i.imgur.com/v5J1pTy.jpg

Given I've never used a MIG welder before I'm quite happy with the results.

That'll do for now as "rain stopped play" again:

https://i.imgur.com/AV5h4hp.jpg
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[Nobby the Bastard]

You should have shooed the pigeons aways before you started.
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Sprint ST 1050

[Islander]

Treat yourself to an tin of anti-spatter spray.

[Robby]

It certainly is cheap.

I recommend getting some mild steel to practice on. It doesn't take long to get a lot better.

[Easy-X]

[Robby]

Personally I'm quite tempted by the cheap (100 quid) ebay stick welders.

I've struggled along with a hobby MIG for years. They just aren't very good. I prefer to braze thin stuff, and I'm tempted by a stick welder for thicker stuff.

The big benefit of MIG for home use is that it's versatile and clean (if you have gas). The reality is that it isn't all that versatile on a hobby set, and you need to clean up the welds afterwards anyway.

That and the wife has decided she wants lots of weathered steel (corten) edging in the garden. I'm tempted to some of it in 4mm mild steel plate and see if she notices. Stick welder is the ideal tool for joining that together.

[Pete.]

I got a 110v unit you can have double cheap Robby. It'll run 2mm 6013 rods but it struggles with 2.5mm
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a.k.a 'Geri'

132.9mph off and walked away. Gear is good, gear is good, gear is very very good

[MCN]

The deal with welding is the same as proper secks.

It's all about penetration.

If you don't know what you are doing, you may be fooled by the surface and not recognise deeper problems.
Too much juice overheats the weld.
Rapid cooling chills the weld.
Dirty surfaces lead to inclusions.
It not an afternoon's training session (like electrical work).

But you cannot get worsererer by practice.

Watch some murican on YouTube.
You might have to listen to the Rock Moozak they aye play as an intro though.

Plus some more encouraging criticism from Nobby will gee you on too.
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Disclaimer: The comments above may be predicted text and not necessarily the opinion of MCN.

[Easy-X]

Clean surfaces and get as close to the weld as possible (minimum stick-out) were my main takeaways. Oh, and an auto-darkening visor is essential. Repairing/moving exhaust bracketry and hangers is all I'm aiming for at the moment - nothing I'd want to stake my life on

One thing to note though is fluxed welding produces a very bright white light whereas I'm told gas welding is blue, not quite as bright.
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Husqvarna Vitpilen 401, Yamaha XSR700, Honda Rebel, Yamaha DT175, Suzuki SV650 (loan) Fazer 600, Keeway Superlight 125, 50cc turd scooter

[MarJay]

I maintain that gasless MIG is a con, and the minimum you need is argon shielding for motorcycle applications. Wrought iron gates and ships hulls, use stick by all means but for me it’s proper MIG or even TIG or not at all.
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British beauty: Triumph Street Triple R; Loony stroker: KR1S; Track fun: GSXR750 L1; Commuter Missile: GSX-S1000F
Remember kids, bikes aren't like lego. You can't easily take a part from one bike and then fit it to another.

[Pete.]

Gasless MIG is a recognised industrial process, just that hobby-grade machines and wire are the noddy-power equivalent.

My Migatronic mig says I can use aluminium wire in it, but it will barely feed without bunching with the torch lead kept dead straight and just pushing wire through the torch let alone trying to actually do work with it. If I want to do any ally welds I'm gonna have to invest in a spool gun at the very least.
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a.k.a 'Geri'

132.9mph off and walked away. Gear is good, gear is good, gear is very very good

[bugeye_bob]

Nowt wrong with gas less if you use the correct flux wire,
OP needs to spend a few mins on YT for some tips(Sorry dude)
They all have their pro`s and con`s stick/mig/tig one is better for some jobs, I certainly couldnt call myself a welder but I can burn metal together,

the cheap welders tend to work spot on for a short time, then typically start to be more and more hit and miss,

just having a clean welding area can stop a lot of the splatter, I dont actually use the anti splatter spray that much if its all clean,
And buy a auto face mask , it will change your world when welding, gives you two hands back.

[A100man]

[WD Forte]

A cheap wee welder can be handy for tacking nuts over broken studs
and stuff.
Mine cost £25 spares or repair (and didn't need repairing as it happens) and comes out a few times year for odd jobs like above.
Not sure I'd trust it for steering/frame/suspension mods but it's paid for itself already in other ways
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bikers smell of wee

[MCN]

Induction is the way to go but then you're into serious cash.
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Disclaimer: The comments above may be predicted text and not necessarily the opinion of MCN.

[Bhud]

Terrible

[to v or not to v]

i noticed in Lidl today that they are selling cans of welders spray and cans of anti splatter spray for £2.99 each.
not sure what the difference between the two is?
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current bike Yamaha Thunderace.
its old and fat, but its a damned good ride. the bikes not bad either.

[Easy-X]

[WD Forte]

Welders spray is a deodorant for gender fluid manual workers
anti spatter spray is for post secks cleanup
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bikers smell of wee

[stinkwheel]

From some mates who have them, the first thing to do is take the reel of wire it came with and throw it away as far as you can. The second thing is to fit a decent PTFE liner. Then fit some proper wire.

I had one and it actually caught fire when the wire feed tangled and burned out the wire feed motor.

I occasionally fart stuff together with a little inverter stick welder which does a surprisingly good job and contrary to received wisdom, is fairly decent at welding thin stuff together without just blowing holes through it. The trick with that is to buy good quality rods.

I'm giving serious consideration to getting a little scratch TIG add-on for it which are remarkably cheap (about £80). Then I can spend some time this winter wasting loads of gas and tungsten trying to learn how to use it. The rationale being I don't do a lot of welding and it's usually something relatively small and light like a bracket or a frame lug. It can usually be done on a table. I like the idea of TIG bronzing stuff like that and I also like the idea of potentially being able to do a bit of alloy or stainless. For something more structural... Well TIG bronze is still probably fine, they brazed motorbike frames for years but there's always the stick if I need heavier penetration.
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“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.

[A100man]

[A100man]