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Post by hammer267 on Nov 28, 2017 13:29:48 GMT -5
^^^^^ I do that to every car I run. It’s not pretty but at least I come out of the car with all my fingers attached and working properly.... so far
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Post by faithfulcmm1972 on Dec 3, 2017 16:18:13 GMT -5
Okay so I went and got myself a welder this weekend, I never had a welding class in my life and I am trying to learn off the internet. The settings on my 125 Harbor freight are shown in the picture, stock harbor freight 030 wire. Just looking for info on what I am doing right or wrong. Followed directions as stated in the enclosed instructions. When I am welding I am holding the gun at a 45 degree angle and moving left to right, I am pulling away from the arc not towards it. It really looks like crap to me please be kind with the comments. I am just trying to get this down. Thanks The metal is 1/4 inch thick and the black metal I am welding to is about 1/8 inch.
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gmcman
Heat Winner
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Post by gmcman on Dec 3, 2017 17:46:01 GMT -5
Okay so I went and got myself a welder this weekend, I never had a welding class in my life and I am trying to learn off the internet. The settings on my 125 Harbor freight are shown in the picture, stock harbor freight 030 wire. Just looking for info on what I am doing right or wrong. Followed directions as stated in the enclosed instructions. When I am welding I am holding the gun at a 45 degree angle and moving left to right, I am pulling away from the arc not towards it. It really looks like crap to me please be kind with the comments. I am just trying to get this down. Thanks The metal is 1/4 inch thick and the black metal I am welding to is about 1/8 inch. Slow down and steady your hand more.
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Post by klicky96 on Dec 3, 2017 20:59:04 GMT -5
Slow down, steady your hand, and clean your metal really good. Also, that harbor freight wire is garbage. I would pitch it and go grab a roll of Hobart wire from the local farm and fleet. Flux core is a good starter, and you can build good derby cars with it. I wouldn't try welding no thicker than 1/4" unless you bevel the edge, and even then, 3/8" max with a couple passes.
Also, work on your technique and flow. There's multiple techniques to use for different types/thickness of material, but your most used will be a crescent weave. Make sure your spending a little more time on the thicker material, it obviously takes a little longer to penetrate and burn in. If you are welding 1/4" mild steel, you'll see the metal blue down the plate or tube. If your not seeing a good blue, you're not getting enough heat through it.
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Post by klicky96 on Dec 3, 2017 21:00:42 GMT -5
Also, for 1/4" mild steel, that welder should be set around 3.5 to 4 on wire speed and max amperage. I used to use that same welder a lot. The only thing I hated was the damn thermal shutdown.
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Post by taterjuice on Dec 9, 2017 17:32:28 GMT -5
Okay so I went and got myself a welder this weekend, I never had a welding class in my life and I am trying to learn off the internet. The settings on my 125 Harbor freight are shown in the picture, stock harbor freight 030 wire. Just looking for info on what I am doing right or wrong. Followed directions as stated in the enclosed instructions. When I am welding I am holding the gun at a 45 degree angle and moving left to right, I am pulling away from the arc not towards it. It really looks like crap to me please be kind with the comments. I am just trying to get this down. Thanks The metal is 1/4 inch thick and the black metal I am welding to is about 1/8 inch. chucke2009 on YouTube had lots of videos on welding. A good watch if nothing else for entertainment. Also remember to drag since you're using flux. And as mentioned before, slow if the key, I usually make lil figure 8's when using flux.
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Post by JR/77x on Dec 11, 2017 13:53:22 GMT -5
Okay so I went and got myself a welder this weekend, I never had a welding class in my life and I am trying to learn off the internet. The settings on my 125 Harbor freight are shown in the picture, stock harbor freight 030 wire. Just looking for info on what I am doing right or wrong. Followed directions as stated in the enclosed instructions. When I am welding I am holding the gun at a 45 degree angle and moving left to right, I am pulling away from the arc not towards it. It really looks like crap to me please be kind with the comments. I am just trying to get this down. Thanks The metal is 1/4 inch thick and the black metal I am welding to is about 1/8 inch. With welding for over seven years and still doing it to the day my best advise for someone starting out is to set the wire speed low, amps low,and work you’re way up, until you find the machines “sweet spot”... all harbor freight welders from what I understand use the same wire speed dial through each of their units to cut costs and make a cheap product, which is still ok. whether it’s a 125 or a 180 the speed dial is going to be the same and you’ll never go that high on a 125 amp machine wire feed setting 5 and higher for instance you’ll never use. you will only have two heat settings of 12.5 amps and low setting should only be about 6.5 amps most likely won’t be able to weld 1/4 material with that but 1/8 should be fine on that machine... but enough blabbing. Start out by making good tack welds on a junk sheet of metal and watch the puddle you are creating, being that it’s flux wire it’s going to be more difficult to see while you’re welding...but then move up to making small 1 inch welds, go slow and stay in puddle you are creating and lots of practice and you’ll be golden, remember that you control the weld not the machine so their is going to be lots of trial and error when it comes to welding.
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Post by Underbuilt on Apr 11, 2018 12:38:15 GMT -5
Going to run my first derby this year and I can’t wait. I’ve been around derbies and cars since I was a kid. It’s always been a family thing. It’s been nice to have this time to get things ready. 2 winters ago I rebuilt a motor and went through the whole thing, last summer I put that in a car, and have that ready to run. This winter I built my second motor, and got a bunch of other stuff ready like doubling all my skids and snow tires, making shifters, and other odds and ends. A quote that my dad tells me every night after I’m out in the shop is “enjoy the process, because all this work is all for 15 minutes of fun”. I think of that everytime I go out t the shop now!
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Post by twistedframes26 on Apr 13, 2018 19:57:58 GMT -5
I got a 92 Mercury and was given a 80s Chevy caprice bumper that I’m gonna use ( free is always good) especially if clean. I’m debating on with drive my shocks in and welding bumper on or cutting frame back and welding bumper on with plates would one be better than the other ? Also considering wether I should load bumper or not it’s more of a semi stock show only allowed lower cradle no distributor protector trans brace etc thoughts ?
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Landshark007
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Post by Landshark007 on Apr 13, 2018 20:25:03 GMT -5
I got a 92 Mercury and was given a 80s Chevy caprice bumper that I’m gonna use ( free is always good) especially if clean. I’m debating on with drive my shocks in and welding bumper on or cutting frame back and welding bumper on with plates would one be better than the other ? Also considering wether I should load bumper or not it’s more of a semi stock show only allowed lower cradle no distributor protector trans brace etc thoughts ? I cut frame back cut a notch for bumper to sit on an weld
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Post by twistedframes26 on Apr 13, 2018 20:55:15 GMT -5
Cut notch for bumper to sit on ? Are u referring to squaring up frame horns?
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Post by DerbyKing88s on Apr 13, 2018 21:10:35 GMT -5
I think so, I would cut frame short, get the bumper as close to the core support as possible, especially if your allowed plates, if your allowed a lower cradle I would use one, just my preference, as far as loading the bumper I would even if it wasn’t to much, but that also just me, i like having a solid bumper. Any bumper is still going to give jsut a little bit unless it’s a square tube bumper with gussets but we still run those on the front of our cars too. Maybe just for cool guy points but that is just us. Also did you make sure the caprice bumper had a metal backing, not sure if some were aluminum or not but wouldn’t hurt to check.
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Landshark007
Feature Winner
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Post by Landshark007 on Apr 13, 2018 21:17:07 GMT -5
Cut notch for bumper to sit on ? Are u referring to squaring up frame horns? I leave about an inch of the bottom of the frame to set bumper on in the weld along the bottom and up the back and across the top then put your plates on and weld it again
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Post by DerbyKing88s on Apr 13, 2018 22:45:04 GMT -5
Good way of doing it
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Post by twistedframes26 on Apr 14, 2018 21:16:18 GMT -5
So I’m cutting frame like a backwards L ?
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