Tips for MIG welding the UDS

[chriscw81]

know it's not totally necessary to use a welder but i managed to borrow a MIG welder from a friend. *i've never welded before but i've heard that mig welding isn't too difficult, especially for just welding some 3/4 inch pipe nipples in 1 inch holes. *obviously i dont need it to be a perfect weld and i wont exactly be trusting my life with strength of the weld. *i've looked online a little for tips but i figure there are plenty of brethren that are knowledgeable on this subject. It's a Lincoln Electric and I also got an auto darkening helmet and some welding gloves. Anyone have any tips for a clueless welding noob? Maybe an online resource? For now, the only thing I'm gonna weld is this:



Here is a few pics of the welder:








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[DownHomeQue]

Tack it on 4 sides first... like top right.. then bottom left.. then bottom right. then top left.. if you can ask your buddy for help that may be best since you have never welded before.. because you can easily mess up the threads on there if you touch it in the wrong place...

[chriscw81]

Originally Posted by DownHomeQue

Tack it on 4 sides first... like top right.. then bottom left.. then bottom right. then top left.. if you can ask your buddy for help that may be best since you have never welded before.. because you can easily mess up the threads on there if you touch it in the wrong place...

unfortunately he works 1st shift and i work 2nd so getting his help is gonna be real difficult and he's out of town on the weekends. i guess my concern is if i have it set up correctly for metal thickness how easy is it burn through. maybe i should just go buy some scrap metal and try welding it first. i've just heard that it is pretty simple and you'd have to do something silly to totally screw it up. am i off base here?

[Will work for bbq]

I cant tell from the pic, are you using flux core or solid wire (shielding gas)?
Either way I would recommend that you start with a voltage setting of B and 3.5 wire speed as recommended, then on some scrap (ideally same thickness as what you going to weld) start welding and fine tune the wire speed until it sounds like frying eggs (do not adjust voltage while welding). I would wel that down hill but practice on some scrap.

http://www.weldingtipsandtricks.com/...ng-videos.html

[chriscw81]

Originally Posted by Will work for bbq

I cant tell from the pic, are you using flux core or solid wire (shielding gas)?
Either way I would recommend that you start with a voltage setting of B and 3.5 wire speed as recommended, then on some scrap (ideally same thickness as what you going to weld) start welding and fine tune the wire speed until it sounds like frying eggs (do not adjust voltage while welding). I would wel that down hill but practice on some scrap.

http://www.weldingtipsandtricks.com/...ng-videos.html

sorry i should have said it before, it's flux core. i'll definitely check out that site

[ButtBurner]

Originally Posted by chriscw81

sorry i should have said it before, it's flux core. i'll definitely check out that site

its not going to be easy for a rookie.

You have to direct your heat to the thick metal (the pipe) otherwise you will burn through your drum, since its a lot thinner than the pipe

practice on some scrap

[TuscaloosaQ]

I would use solid wire ie hard wire and 75% argon 25% Co2 you can literally weld paper with it. Take a torch running rich on gas and smoke the threads up good and I can assure no BBs will stick to tha threads...... A little trade seceret!!!!!!

Wire smaller than .030 would be great

[Smoke & Beers]

Like everyone else said, get some scrap to practice on first. If you had a closed drum, use the lid that you cut out, remove the paint, buy a couple extra nipples and see what works best for you with the settings.
Tips
- Lay the barrel down, straddle it and weld from that position, rolling it and moving around it so you don't have to go uphill or down hill.
-Don't run long beads, maybe 1/4" to 3/8" at a time to not overheat the thin drum material.
-Put your nipple caps on prior to welding to prevent BB's from messing up your threads.
-Practice on your basket if you don't feel comfortable enough and don't have extra material available to you to practice on.

[Chief_USN]

What gauge metal are the drums made from? I'm curious cause I plan on doing this as well but with flux core. I've always wanted to learn how to weld and I figured this would be a good project to practice and learn on. I have watched a ton of videos on YT and it seems pretty simple but pro's can make anything look simple.

Chad

[jestridge]

Make a few practice run , do the trigger method, concentrate the heat on the hticker pipe , before you start welding make sure it tack at 12 ,3 ,6,9 and come down hill on it starting at 12 down to 6 on both sides

[Bludawg]

Set the amperage to the lowest setting and the wire feed to between 0&1 to start out. Get some sheet metal roughly the same gauge and run a few test beads to dial in the amperage and wire speed. when you get it right is will have a crackle like bacon frying. When you go to weld the nipples concentrate the heat on the nipple.

[Igotgas]

As stated above, short welds, lowest setting possible, practice and roll with it. I will tell you this, It is gonna suck! I say that not to discourage you, but from expierence. I have been welding since jr high and when I welded the pipe nipples into my Mini last year, I blew out the drum on the first one. Just be patient and deliberate and you will be fine. Running short welds is going to be you friend. I will give you the best welding advice I ever recieved..............ABC
Always
Be
Comfortable!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sit on the drum or a chair or lift it up on something before you start, you will be glad you did. Good Luck and keep us posted

[seifer316]

http://weldlessfittings.com/kettlefittings.html

It's tricky welding a 1mm thick sheet of steel onto 4mm plate. The problem is that you'll need to use a high amp setting to get the weld to penetrate into the 4mm sheet, but this setting would vaporize the 1mm sheet.

My approach is to use the high amp setting. Strike an arc against the thicker sheet and get a weld pool going, then dip across into the thinner sheet and immediately back to the thicker sheet. The center of the weld will be on the thick sheet side of the join with the thin sheet just at the edge of the weld. Good contact between the sheets makes the job much easier.



From my beer brewing days you will be far better off using weldless fittings like the ones in the attached link. Seriously I would not bother welding as these fittings are water tight.

[Cuebacca]

Just tack it in 4 spots like already mentioned. Then just spot weld it until you are completely welded all the way around.

[Will work for bbq]

Originally Posted by Igotgas

I will give you the best welding advice I ever recieved..............ABC
Always
Be
Comfortable!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sit on the drum or a chair or lift it up on something before you start, you will be glad you did. Good Luck and keep us posted

That is some dam good advice right there and if I may expand on that, don't just make sure you're comfortable at the welds starting position but make a trial pass w/o pulling the trigger to make sure you will stay comfortable throughout the pass.