what Am I doing??

Thats already an improvement. Definitely try pushing the weld. You get better penetration, because it helps to preheat the metal ahead of your bead.

And just get some scrap metal, and chanfer the edges and weld them together. When you're done with the weld you can take a hardstone on your grinder and take the weld out and go over it if you run short on scrap.

The metal changes colors due to heat. The dusty orange brown will be there regardles if you're using gas or not. I weld with gas, and still get that. Depends on where I'm welding. Usually if I'm welding the inside of a 90 it shows up moresoa than on the opposing side.

Hey man I apprecite everything.. Im going to play around with it some more tomorrow... and ill post up some pics

dont forget to clean the surface your welding. a wire brush can do the trick and whiping it with a clean rag help get rid of any oils and dirt. oil and dirt will contaminate the weld making it not as strong as it can be

Like Seth said... practice on doin some joint welds... just laying a bead on a peice of metal isn't gonna do much for ya. Get a couple peices and weld them together...

play with your settings and figure out how it affects your welds.

Keep practicing man, you'll get it!

Pushing might preheat the metal in front of the electrode, but it really is a matter of preference and comfort. I can get just as good of penetration pulling, I never push unless I'm forced to.

I always try to push if possible. But sometimes its just much nicer to pull the weld depending on the position. It usually only makes a difference in thicker metal. With a 135, it will probably make a noticeable difference.

yes, keep practicing, you're not doing bad.

looks like you're using MIG wire, since I don't see any flux. if you don't have gas access at the moment, go get you some flux core wire and practice with that instead. the weld looks holey and contaminated because you aren't using gas.

Originally posted by blazedbowtie82



I always try to push if possible. But sometimes its just much nicer to pull the weld depending on the position. It usually only makes a difference in thicker metal. With a 135, it will probably make a noticeable difference.

True, true, especially if he's trying to weld thicker metal with that.

You really want to push your weld as much as possible, sometimes you cannot because of space or position. The gas helps to protect the welded area as you are pushing it, similar to the pre-flow when TIG welding. To be honest I do both, it just depends on the situation. If you are doing sheetmetal work then you do not want to be laying beads of weld down on your panels. Maybe you could give us a little insight on what you would like to be welding, thicker steel or sheetmetal?