I'm building a welding table/workbench and need to weld some 3/16" plate. I'm able to stick it together but I'm not sure if it will be sufficient. I have a 120v, 135A Lincoln. It's suppose to be able to do up to 3/8" with multiple passes and flux core wire. I am using flux core and it is set up correctly for that, at the recommended setting. I can't figure out the multiple pass thing. Obviously, I know what it means, to make more than one pass but that just doesn't seem to work out. I end up with a big fat bead that doesn't seem any better than a single pass, or I move too quickly and it doesn't penetrate well. I can't seem to find the middle ground.

The way I have the table designed, I think the weld on the 3/16 should mostly hold things in place rather than be a structural component.



Some pictures to illustrate, not to scale:



Left, from bottom, up. Right From top, down. Hopefully you can see well enough how it will go together. Casters will be mounted on the bottom. I might add support to that other corner of the caster plate but I want to see how it behaves with some weight as is. I think it will be fine for my use. So ignore that potential flaw for now.







In my practice session, this was my best holding weld, a single pass and beveled edges, 90 degree as if making a piece of angle iron. I guess a filet?

1st half:





Second half:





It looks like I spent more time on one piece than the other. That should be easy enough to correct. I clamped it in a vice and used pliers to break it. It broke at the weld, which I guess is better than pulling clean off of the plate, but is it a good thing at all? It actually seemed much stronger if I tried to bend the piece in, as if I was trying to close the angle. The other piece was actually bending in the vice. But it wasn't too difficult to bend it out, as if opening the angle. It will be welded on all sides except perhaps within a half inch of the bolt holes to leave room for flat washers. Do you suppose that quality of weld will suffice? Do I need just a little more practice? Or should tack it together and have someone with more experience and a more capable machine weld the thicker stuff?



Lawrenceville, GA

Charley: First of all, it seems that many 120 Volt Welder manufacturers tend to exagerate their capabilities. Several passes on 3/8 material is really pushing it. What you are doing is ending up with multiple passes, some of which are likely poorly fused. Those machines are mainly intended for sheet metal ( or auto body) work. However, things that might help; Are you "pulling" the weld or "pushing" it? On regular gas wire feed, pushing seems to help with heavier welds. You could also try pre heating the weld area some, to say 400 degrees. Re the weld ending up mostly on one plate.. hows the eyesite? Do you need glasses? Also, try moving the ground to another location, & weld toward a heavier tack. You could be gettng arc blow. If this is a heavy duty bench, might be an idea to just tack it all up & have somebody with a 200 amp "stick" or heavier welder finish the welding.

Paul

I was pushing. I think welding more on one plate has to do with my noviceness. My nearsite is very good.

The table will support no more than a couple hundred pounds about 99% of the time. For the other 1% I'd like it to be able to support about 1000.

I'll try preheating.

I'm sure this is my inexperience, rather than the machine. Even if 3/8 were pushing it, I'm dealing with half that which it had better be able to handle. Otherwise I would not have bought such an expensive model. Though most of my work is with about 12 gauge and thinner which it does very well.


Lawrenceville, GA

Charlie.

   V the edges at about 45 deg. Start at the bottom and continue to push the weld. you should be able to fill it in three passes. One at the bottom, one left and one right.  Preheat is not a bad idea if you can (with that welder.) Go find a used Lincoln or Miller Arc welder (220 volt single phase. 

Frank/Rebop

Bristol, In ( by Elkhart) 

Charlie, I have tried one of the 120v welders and while it worked well on sheet metal, I just could not get it too work on anything thicker. I agree with Frank if you can swing a 220v Miller or Lincoln, you want regret it. Also a gas shielded welder works better than the flux core. I am sure not an expert, but I just never could get good results with the 120v flux core.

Glen Henderson



Freedom is not Free

Letohatchee, AL

(1) A lot of welding pros size up machines by the amp - 135 amps = .135 thickness material.

(2) There are a lot of guys who do great work with innershield (flux-cored wire). It's a matter of practice - and sometimes a skilled (and helmeted) helper who can adjust the machine while you are making a pass.

(3) My experience is mostly with big structural repairs - but a two good basic rules are "don't weld on anything that isn't the temperature of boiling water" (avoids hydrogen embrittlement) and "grind the faces you intend to weld to a smooth shiny surface" (avoids contaminents).

 
 Steve Metzger       Tucson, Arizona

When making multiple passes, do I need to slow the wire speed so that it does not lay down as large a bead? When I was trying multiple passes, it didn't seem to hold any better and it looked uglier.

The flux core is definitely working better. I tried gas at max settings and it just wouldn't do it. Poor adhesion and the weld sounded terrible. I'm also cleaning the metal even though it's not as critical with flux core. As a result, it seems to be going down much cleaner than my previous flux core jobs.

And you know, this is the first time I've ever examined a weld I've made. So I can't even say with certainty that my work on thinner material is worth anything, other than to say that none of my previous work has fallen apart yet - even my absolutely terrible welds from the early days. That cross member I made for my transmission is still stuck to the frame of the truck and if I remember right, the frame is a 3/16" channel. I made that weld with gas, on the setting for 12 gauge because that is what the crossmember bracket was made with. Based on my experimentation in the past days, I would not have expected that to last, but 3 years and several thousand miles later it's still holding. It still may break, but on a table which is fully welded (or brazed) that I don't think will experience the same sort of stresses, it may work.





A 220 volt unit might be optional in a year or so, but right now 120 is all it will be. Space and cash are coming into play.


Lawrenceville, GA

charlie

see if you can send ME

a private message w/your e mail address OR

empty your inbox OR turn on 'get messages from other members'



what kind of welder is it?

and what kind of rod are you using?

Ford 292 & Fordomatic

removed from '64 F100

I have a friend who I forgot is a pretty good welder. I went to his house last Sunday and brought my welder. The only thing we changed is to pull rather than push. He said you pull with stick and since flux core is similar, he figured it should be the same. So I made a few welds in scrap 3/16. We beat on them, tried bending them with a vice and a crescent wrench and they were holding. Today I made sure I can duplicate the results at home, and I can. So it still may not be the perfect weld, but I think it's going to do great for my intended use - and it'll get better with practice. The base metal bent before the weld began to bend which is far better than my attempts a couple weeks ago.







Now I need to install a properly rated circuit breaker so I can finish the job.


Lawrenceville, GA

If you have trouble duplicating the good welds you got at your friends house look into how the outlet you are using is wired. I found a dedicated 20 amp circuit 10 feet from my 100 amp garage subpanel works better with my welder than the outlet on the side of my house.

I think the problem with the house outlet is that it is almost 100 feet from the house main panel and even thogh it is a 20 amp circuit with nothing else turned on the voltage drop in 100 feet at full load is more than the welder can handle.

My 130 amp welder peaks at 25 amps when at the highest setting, it does not blow a 20 amp breaker because the breakers are designed to handle minor overloads for a short time (thermal trip) but designed to instant trip (magnetic trip) on a dead short. That 100 foot of #12 wire does cause a large voltage drop on my house outlet and almost none on the garage outlet.