Smeddy2

I have decided to use this project truck as an opportunity to learn a few fabricating skills. I have a friend who was a professional welder in the Navy who is going to teach me how to weld properly and I've got myself a cheapy flux core wire feed welder. My question is, if I am going to use .120" wall steel, what is the best/cheapest route to go for cutting the steel to size. I have a dewalt miter saw but I have read that getting a metal cutting blade for that may have some ill side effects...thoughts? I also have an angle grinder but I wasn't sure if that can be used to the precision needed to make good weldable joints...maybe just get a line drawn on the steel and go slow? I've got a small table saw as well as a radial arm saw and a circular saw. I just don't know much about cutting steel so I'm looking for some input. If you guys think any one of those types of saws can work for me, what blades do you recommend?

For the tube steel, I'm going to buy a bender and tube notcher from harbor freight so I should be good there.

waskillywabbit

iTrader: (-1)

Pipe and tube are NOT the same.
Invest in a good angle grinder and welder.
Search and read.
Good luck.

:wabbit2:

dropzone

iTrader: (6)

If you bought the cheapy HF .030 flux core welder be prepared for a splatter fest. I have one...practice a lot on the high/low settings and play with the wire speed a lot.
Flapper disks will be your friend
Oh and quaility flux core wire, not the HF stuff works better

Smeddy2

Thanks Waskillly, I'm glad you said something about the tube vs pipe because that harbor freight thing was definitely only for thin walled pipe...not structural tubing. I don't know what I'm going to do there. I can't really afford to buy a pre-fabbed one so maybe I'll have to make a friend who has a tubing bender. Or maybe I can have a shop make me the parts that need to be bent before hand and then I just weld it all up.

So will an angle grinder with a cut off wheel be enough to fab up a rectangular tube bumper?

I have the cheap harbor freight welder that you speak of ocdropzone. Hopefully my buddy can help me figure the thing out. I didn't want to drop a whole lot of coin because I'm not planning on doing crazy amounts of heavy welding...just some dinky stuff here and there. That and I don't have any 220 outlets in my garage.

waskillywabbit

iTrader: (-1)

Angle grinder with quality cut off wheelS, grinding rockS and flapper discS will be your friend.
Find a local welding supply for these.
Cheapo welders suck and are cheap for a reason. Use your buddies.

:wabbit2:

dropzone

iTrader: (6)

An angle grinder can cut stuff, or get a dedicated cut off saw.
I use a 20-25 year Old 4" mAkita, a cordless ryobi and a HF throw away 4.5". I really need a bigger grinder.

Get yourself some scrap steel, make sure it is clean-rust and oil free and practice.

Don't try the HF welder on sheet metal, I tried practicing on a scrap door, evEn on the low setting it just burned through...

Smeddy2

Alright, thanks guys for the tips! I imagine we will end up using my buddies stick welder for a lot of it because he is amazing with it. I just wanted to have something cheap I could play with. I'm not expecting 5 star results.

pcurtice

Spend a little more $ and pick up a 6" grinder and a handful of quality cutting wheels. Always use safety glasses and a face shield when using these tools. Porta Band or Chop saw works great on tubing of all guages also, and in the longer run is more cost effective if cutting alot of pipe/tubing. Flux core serves a purpose but does spatter so use anti spatter if looks count. A wire feed that can use gas for shielding is the way to go. 110v is pretty good up to 3/16 thickness. Start getting into thinner metals (sheet metals) with stick and you need a good touch. Depending on strength and integrity of welds needed and thickness of metal will dictate pretty much the method of welding, mig (wire) or stick. I am what most professional welders would call a "junkyard" welder, but I work in an industry where welding "counts" and have noticed a few of these things. Just my opinion.

shaeff

Another thing regarding the welder- if it has one of those cheap stamped/plated steel ground clamps, that thing will be your very worst enemy. You can get good welds out of even the crappiest of welders, but you MUST have a good ground. Ever hear someone welding and it sounds like a drive-by shooting? Yeah, 99% of the time that's due to a bad ground.

There are a LOT of good welding tips at this site, take some time and read it over: www.weldingtipsandtricks.com

I've learned a lot from him. Otherwise, here are a few extra pointers:

1) If you're welding anything up near the max of the welder (probably about 3/16 as stated above) use straight CO2 shielding gas. You'll get better penetration at the expense of a slightly narrower bead and not as "pretty" but plenty strong.

2) As I said above, it cannot be said enough- MAKE SURE YOU HAVE CLEAN STEEL AND A PERFECT GROUND. You'll be amazed what even crappy welders can do.

3) Use a cursive lower case "e" when welding, makes for a nice bead and better coverage.

4) If welding something vertically that's also structural, weld UPHILL. You'll get better penetration. Use an overlapping triangle technique.

5) Set everything in place first and tack weld it. Triple check it all to make sure there won't be any overlooked clearance issues down the road. Do it once, do it right.

6) Keep your stickout short. (KISS, You'll see that on the site I listed above, like most of these) Let the contact tip protrude from the nozzle, especially if using flux core wire. You don't even need the nozzle for flux core, and it's much nicer without it in the way. On my Hobart Handler 210 MIG, I keep the contact tip protruding past the nozzle about 1/16-1/8" or so, and keep the C25 gas at about 20-21cfm depending on weather conditions (wind).

7) I can't stress this enough, make sure you're as comfortable as possible, regardless of whether you're welding on the ground, a table, your rig, whatever. If you're in an uncomfortable position, your welds will suffer unless you're very experienced.

8) Practice on scrap steel of the same thickness/gauge as what your project is. Get the welder dialed in BEFORE making your first weld.

9) If welding thin stuff, jump around a bit- don't continue to weld in the same spot. Let that area cool down to minimize warpage.

10) Don't weld too cold. Make sure you're not just stacking the weld bead onto your base metal. This falls into the "adjust the welder first" bit. If you weld on a flat piece of steel, you should see penetration/heat discoloration on the opposite side of the piece. This way you know your weld is penetrating the base metal and creating a good, fused bond.

There's plenty more, but seriously, read the site above. You'll learn so much, and your welds will show it.

Edit: and I forgot to mention, if you're using fluxcore, grab some Hobart Fabshield 21b- I think that's what it is. Good stuff for sure.