Reply With QuoteGood on you Lionel, being kind to yourself is also remembering that we all started in the same place. I like the tips you were given about using the mens shed. Welding is a skill that comes with good guidance and time.
TopicToaster
Hello All,
Well, today I faced one of my biggest fears. I hooked up my waiting on the shelf for a number of years - MIG welder and I carried out my first welding repair. The fear being part of Autism where the image of what is in my mind's eye and the reality produced before me is so far apart to be incomparable with each other. Where the mind's eye is built upon my literally watching years of YouTube tips about welding. Then when I make my first attempt the instant feedback of the product before me is so horrible to behold. In my youth such a variation between the image in my mind and the stark reality of my far from perfect end product would have triggered a vociferous, volcanic rage. Where myself as my harshest inner critic would have taken a blow torch to myself. However, with maturity brought about by my sixth decade I have learnt to be kinder with myself. I learnt that it would be very hard to be much worse at welding. However, despite the cosmetics of my end result the main thing is the welding repair worked! It was field tested and still holding together after mowing a paddock.
The repair was brought about by the outside frame of the cutter deck which protects the side of the mower blade as it spins around cracking and breaking. The break happened while skimming past a tree base and then pushed the arc of metal into the edge of the blade. After I stopped the mower I bent the arc back out and waited for the day to cool down. I used a die grinder and a sander to bring the cutter deck arc back to bare shiny metal. I used a 3 mm thick length of steel plate that was cut to fit inside the 'C' shaped profile of the mower guard. Two small 'G' clamps held a long length of angle iron under the mower guard to hold things in place in preparation for the weld. The gas was on, the wire was feeding out and arc was established. Then instead of a nice constant weld forming a nice bead this splatter of ball bearings was formed like a spot welder or dash-dot function which the welder does not have was turned on. Different rates of wire feed, gas flow and changing the voltage and other settings did not make much difference. Yes, the earth was attached. I will revisit the settings later. My main concern was the fear of the difference between the Autism sharpness and crystal clear clarity of what the weld SHOULD have looked like and the end result that I produced. This is something that can take me ages - years to overcome. It still does. Sometimes Autism can be a cruel little sod! It can sure play with your head. Not so much the fear of triggering rage that was such a big feature of my youth. The fear was that the difference between my mind's eye image and the real end product would be so discouraging that all the time and equipment I have invested in the motor restoration would be too vast and I would just walk away and bitterly berate myself.
I have learnt today from this experience that because the local TAFE has not taught a Learn to Weld course in decades, I really need to see if there are local private people who could be engaged one to one to teach the likes of me. My first weld though far from being anyone's idea of a cosmetic triumph did actually work. No 'G'-clamps, rivets or bolts required. My hot glue MIG welding of ball bearings worked. My inner critic is smarting a bit. I think this is mostly because the 'Rick' with a silent 'P' does not hold as much sway over my life as he once did. Just about total domination would have been a good estimate of the the former level that Rick held over my youth.
The biggest irony is that my elder brother is a retired Metal Fabrication Teacher with NSW TAFE. I live in Bundaberg - some things are still effected by the good old tyranny of distance. My former boss in my current job as a Disability Advocate was a Boilermaker too. However, he lives in Tasmania. I spared my brother and sent a text to my former boss. He made a very good suggestion that I should approach one of the local Men's Sheds to see if they have someone who could point me in the right direction and I can step up to the challenges of welding that I need to conquer to be able to get my projects finished. Before I do this though, there are two consumables that need to be replaced on my MIG torch. No, the kit did not come with spares.
Kind regards
Lionel
Swaggie
Good on you Lionel, being kind to yourself is also remembering that we all started in the same place. I like the tips you were given about using the mens shed. Welding is a skill that comes with good guidance and time.
Cheers
Slunnie
~ Discovery II Td5 ~ Discovery 3dr V8 ~ Series IIa 6cyl ute ~ Series II V8 ute ~
Super Moderator
Practice, practice, practice! Get any two pieces of scrap and make them into one.
Theory is but a small part of the skill set. Get the settings close enough, then master the actual art of welding. Once you've gained your "hand", you can focus on the theory and settings foe various results.
One can learn all the theory, pass every exam with 100%, but still be totally unable to weld. Consider it like learning to ride a bike, theory is not much help, until you can keep it upright.
If you don't like trucks, stop buying stuff.
TopicToaster
G'day Ian,Originally Posted by V8Ian
Riding a bike, I took to it like a fish to water. Oh, well after a rosebush taught me about the benefit of steering properly. After that slight hiccough it was all chocks away. However, I see where you are coming from.
Just goes to show that somethings common sense and the advice I would give another person still can be sidetracked by the brain and some Autistic traits that provided me with a diagnosis.
Kind regards
Lionel
TopicToaster
Hello All,
Well, I just did an estimate of what it will cost for me to return my welder back to pristine condition. All the parts are listed under 'consumables'. The grand total for a straight swap is $35.85. However, for the outlay of $44.95 I can get a 'Consumable Starter Kit' that has multiple sets of spares of some of the parts I 'consumed' today, plus a set of wire pliers, all stored in a nice little plastic carry box. That should get me back to a nice place to recommence practicing from.
My welder is a Unimig 182 Viper MIG - well multi-function, welder that is rated at 10 amps. Later on a 182 'MK II' came out. Mine is only a 182. The welder is designed for use on the standard domestic amperage. I will go back and have another look at the table of what the attributes of the welder settings that I had dialed in. I could have read stuff on the chart incorrectly.
At least with my first attempt at welding the melted metal stuck and held everything together. The weld held in operational field conditions. The weld is also covered up by the discharge chute. Its poor cosmetics are hidden from view and has already been covered by an accumulation of grass. I call that a win! Plus the inner critic did not get let out of his box. Win/Win to me.
No, I really, really tried not to write the following in case it opened a can of worms. Resistance is futile. Back in the day when one bought a welder - when we were younger and our hair colour did not feature a grey tint - the welding kit would have come with a set of spare consumables as part of the cost of the 'kit'. Such a 'consumable kit' would not have to be bought separately. There - I wrote it. It is similar to how some places are selling welding gloves individually. Not a pair of gloves. You buy single gloves - so many dollars for the left glove and then so many dollars for the right glove. Apparently, in some retailer's view a 'pair' of gloves no longer exists. Yes, I am a grumpy old fart.
Kind regards
Lionel
Last edited by Lionelgee; 3rd March 2024 at 10:07 PM.
Swaggie
None of the welders I've bought over the last 10 years have come with consumables, but we do run common guns on them so all of the parts are common. I also run guns rated to much higher amperage as they have a much lower running cost and don't go down anywhere near as much. It's mainly just contact tips, shrouds and sometimes contact tip adaptors. At this stage stock up on the contact tips, you will go through a few, especially if they are the M6 screw in type. The shrouds normally clean out.
I've only ever bought gloves as pairs (I buy from BOC), but I really like the idea of buying individual left or right gloves, because it is mainly one hand that gets heat affected.
Cheers
Slunnie
~ Discovery II Td5 ~ Discovery 3dr V8 ~ Series IIa 6cyl ute ~ Series II V8 ute ~
RoverLord
They still sell pairs, but most guys will chew through their left or right (depends on welding style) faster than the other, why buy 2 gloves when you only need the one?
Dave
"In a Landrover the other vehicle is your crumple zone."
For spelling call Rogets, for mechanicing call me.
Fozzy, 2.25D SIII Ex DCA Ute
TdiautoManual d1 (gave it to the Mupion)
Archaeoptersix 1990 6x6 dual cab(This things staying)
If you've benefited from one or more of my posts please remember, your taxes paid for my skill sets, I'm just trying to make sure you get your monies worth.
If you think you're in front on the deal, pay it forwards.
TopicToaster
Hello Dave,
Listen to the little girl in the advertisement... what next? Having to buy left and right socks individually! A pair is a pair. Selling gloves individually is the start of a slippery slope. A socket missing out of a socket set means it is no longer a socket - 'Set". Yes, I do have a diagnosis - for very good reasons!
Old El Paso Hard and Soft Tacos - Little Girl - YouTube
Kind regards
Lionel
TopicToaster
Hello Slunnie,
Yes, sound advice - thank you. The biggest issue I had was the little spring that holds the shroud. It got bent out of shape during my removal of the shroud, or as Unimig list it as - a 'gas nozzle'. The Binzel Style Nozzle Spring is the only thing that I really need to replace $2.95. It resisted my attempts to get it back into the correct shape.
Apparently, if I had bought a Starter Kit with things like the welder, helmet, gloves, pliers, trolley, MIG wire and the like - it would have come with the consumable kit too.
Kind regards
Lionel
Swaggie
Oh yep, you've done well to find just the spring!
Cheers
Slunnie
~ Discovery II Td5 ~ Discovery 3dr V8 ~ Series IIa 6cyl ute ~ Series II V8 ute ~
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