First Welds
I picked up a cheap welder at Harbor Freight last year but never took it out of the box to try it. It's a flux core wire welder and it plugs into a standard wall outlet. Well, I finally opened it up so I could try it out on some scrap steel I had lying around. Up to this point, I have had absolutely zero welding experience and no training.
After messing around a little, I tired welding two pieces of 1/8" thick steel together. I clamped the pieces first.
Welds on the one side. Don't worry, I did wear proper protective gear. I knew that much.
Flipped it over.
Welds on that side, along with more messing around. I successfully joined two pieces of steel! It's really ugly, but what do you expect?
I have an instructional DVD from Lowbrow Customs that I plan to watch to actually figure out what I'm supposed to be doing. It'll be cool if I can figure it out. Obviously I won't be welding any critical parts like a motorcycle frame with this tiny welder but it should be fine for some small jobs.
After messing around a little, I tired welding two pieces of 1/8" thick steel together. I clamped the pieces first.
Welds on the one side. Don't worry, I did wear proper protective gear. I knew that much.
Flipped it over.
Welds on that side, along with more messing around. I successfully joined two pieces of steel! It's really ugly, but what do you expect?
I have an instructional DVD from Lowbrow Customs that I plan to watch to actually figure out what I'm supposed to be doing. It'll be cool if I can figure it out. Obviously I won't be welding any critical parts like a motorcycle frame with this tiny welder but it should be fine for some small jobs.