Any info on Mon-Arc welders, and any tips on arc welding

[acarmody]

I just bought myself a second-hand (very old) arc welder off an Uncle, its brand it Mon-Arc, and its a 130amp model, still goes from what hes told me, and I was wondering if anyone has any experience in the brand. This is the same uncle who sold me an Ingersol-Rand 14cfm compressor for $500, and hes an ex-mechanic (retired a long time ago), so I suspect the welder can't be too bad. Also came with a fixed tinted helmet/mask. I figured $85 on this unit has to be better than $100 on a Bunnings special.

Also has anyone go some tips on arc welding? I will be practicing on some metal plates until I get some decent looking beads, than I will practice joining stuff. Dad wants to build a trailer one day, so I need some decent practice.

Also any good brands for the electrodes? I just got a pack of Weldmate (?) or something electrodes but I want to know if there are any better brands out there.

And one last thing, I have some welding gloves, the helmet, and will get some arm sleeves so I don't sunburn my arm, and hopefully I can get something to protect my shoes (I hear slagin the shoes can burn a little bit ), but is there anything else I need.

[IBLOWN]

Depending on what you want to weld theres a real art to it but for general purpose MMA welding its not real hard.

As a matter of fact i saw some really good tutorials on Youtube. Its a bit hard to learn on a forum lol.

[DANNY8]

I'm not a heaps good welder or anything, but with an ARC one thing I've noticed is ya don't drag the stick down, ya let it burn down, and just move ya hand lower as the stick shortened, and move from side to side pretty slowly....hard to explain and I prolly shouldn't even try explaining it incase I steer ya in the wrong direction lol.

Older stuff generally is better when it comes to those sorts of things. Was made in the day when stuff was built to last.

Here's the last thing I made, front bar for my Triton. Started off with the mig but ran out of wire, so moved onto the arc, then coz I'm a lazy bugger and still didn't finish it, a month l8r we got more wire and also put the welder on gas so finished it off.

[ari666]

i fail EVERYTIME with arc

[Pub247]

thats a good old arc welder "as they say they dont make them like they use to" that thing should last for years to come they have one massive coil in them.

As for electrodes theyre specific ones for specific purposes. If your not doing anything fancy stick to general purpose.

Tips electrode angle is very important around 70 degrees is what your aiming for. As Danny said you want to keep electrode about 3-10mm of job depending on electrodes and what your doing. Weaving isnt always needed 90% you dont need if your amps is right and electrode size. With that machine 2.4 is probably the max size to use. On the packet it should tell you an amp range for each welding position of the electrodes.. You know your doing well if slag comes off easy and evenly.

As for other things get an auto-darkening helmet makes things easier. Get a slag hammer to chip off slag and you can buy gloves that come up past elbow if you wish

[Smitty]

arc is easy if....
you get an auto dark tint helmet.. they are not expensive
and
you swing the electrode in an arc to start (backhand or forehand up to you)
and
you practice !

try with 2.5mm electrodes with scrap steel and see how they go
you could move up to 3.0mm on thicker stuff with 130AMP but try the
smaller one first ( I assume the welder is not adjustable)

beware with thin walled stuff..tube etc you can blow a hole in it when you start
but you know you are getting the hang of it...when you can fill in the hole you just blew!

[somefool]

practise practise practise. when i first started it was as though i blew my nose all over the workpiece. At the end of the year i finished year 12 with dux in metalwork. Just also make sure your welding rods never get wet or exposed to moisture.

[acarmody]

Yeah I checked out some youtube videos, and read a few beginners articles.

Cheers for the confidence booster Ari.

Cheers for the advice Pub247. Yeah my uncle being a retired mechanic wasn't in the business of buying cheap shit. When you say 70 degree angle, you mean from horizontal right, so the electrode is 20 degrees from straight up?

I bought some 2.5mm Weldcorp electrodes from Bunnings, and the packet doesn't say shit, but the Murex electrodes that my Uncle gave me (which I won't use because they are as old as the hills) say 2.5mm is 55-80amps.

Also I got a Nuweld auto helmet from RSEA for $50 on special, so if you don't hear from me again than I am officially blind and can't see my keyboard. Also I have some welders gloves, and a slag hammer.

[acarmody]

Cheers Smitty, my dad got some scrap steel to practice on, I will go crazy on it on the weekend.

And I'm not sure what you mean by adjustable. The welder has the rod on the top to change the amperage, and it has two terminals for the welding lead for a lower amperage setting and a higher amperage. Left goes up to 100amps and right goes up to 130amps.

[Pub247]

Smitty saying you can use a 3.2mm electrode on 130 amps.

With arc you want your shade on your mask to be 10-13 or as dark as possible.

Your angle is 70 degrees up so 20 short of 90 degrees.

electrodes quality do get better personally midrange electrodes i go cigweld common most welding joints stock them and theyre good quality for what you pay.

Yeah forgot about the moisture thing best to bake them in an oven before use to dry them out. If they get wet or moisture putting them in oven will bring them back

[acarmody]

The shade on the helmet is 11 according to the box.

I will get some Cigweld electrodes next chance I get, until then I have 50 of these Weldcorp electrodes to go crazy on.

[walkahz]

Whatever you do avoid Galvinised stuff when your learning! the most painfull shitty stuff you will ever have to stick weld. Also try to stay with thicker stuff >2mm thick. Thin steel will have you blowing holes everywhere.
50 sticks wont last long dont be supprised.
With welding its just practice practice practice. If you are really keen maybe try to go and do a Tafe short course they are really helpfull and most can tell you what you are doing wrong with a glance at your work.

[acarmody]

OK I've had a bit of a dick around, mainly just getting the feel of the gear with a lot of not real seriousness.

So a few conclusions so far:
1. I don't have the steadiest hand in the world
2. I suck
3. A nice flat piece of steel would be better to practice on
4. Melting bolts to slag is fun
5. And I don't think my plenum chamber will ever bolt back up again.

[Notorious_Matt]

Arc is easy, I learnt to arc at an early age. I have also recently acquired my 2nd class welders certificate.

Easiest way to learn is practice, no one can really teach you how to. They can give you tips and all that but everyone has their own style.

Clamp your work (where you can), for joins tack welds are easiest to keep it in place, when getting a bead started just take it slow don't rush.
You just basically need to remember your rod angle and your speed. It is really hard to explain on a forum. The way I was tought was being shown how to plus a s**t load of theory (5 150 page books).

[IBLOWN]

OK I've had a bit of a dick around, mainly just getting the feel of the gear with a lot of not real seriousness.

So a few conclusions so far:
1. I don't have the steadiest hand in the world
2. I suck
3. A nice flat piece of steel would be better to practice on
4. Melting bolts to slag is fun
5. And I don't think my plenum chamber will ever bolt back up again.

Um just a word of advice. Theres not much practice to be had stick welding aluminium lol. Sort of doesnt work real good.

[ari666]

Cheers for the confidence booster Ari.

i said "I"

had a mate that watched me struggling making a frame once, he grabbed it off me and said "how hard can it be" and proceeded to make about 12 BEAUTIFUL welds...the prick.

[Hemiway]

Using an 11 shade might still be too light most will be adjustible and around a 13 would be best if you want to see again later.(Start as dark as possible and get lighter).
pretty much everything else has been covered take your time and practice, soon enough you'll knock together the trailer and go looking for the next project.

[QUOTE=Notorious_Matt;1806109]Arc is easy, I learnt to arc at an early age. I have also recently acquired my 2nd class welders certificate.
QUOTE]

I'll see your 2nd class and raise you a Hydrogen Atomic welding cirtificate.

Cheers Hemiway

[TrikkBen]

Personally I wouldn't go past shade 10, You won't do damage at that and honestly anything above that makes it very hard to see.

Personally I would spend the coin to buy or even rent a MIG if you have a decent job ahead. ARC's are only good for on site stuff... but if you're learning for the hell of it then good luck

[Rhin0o8]

Arc Welding is an Art.

starting is the hardest part.
I was taught that its much like starting to drive in a Manual. You have to find that sweet spot with the clutch and accelerator ( "sweet spot" = angle of rod "Accelerator" = Distance between rod and workpiece). get these 2 things correct together at once and off you go.

Working from the furtherest away and working towards you works well for me. aswell as top to bottom. This helps with perception and to keep the rod at the same distance throughout the weld.

Practice with your opposite hand, your dominant hand will feel that much steadier when you eventually start welding with confidence

[acarmody]

IBLOWN: Huh, is that aluminum? Didn't know that, I just thought it was cast steel. I'm going to a scrap yard tomorrow (today) and can see if I can get some steel.

Ari: Did you practice welding him to a wall, LOL.

Hemiway: I'll try welding with my sunnies on and see how that is, but the helmet is doing pretty well so far.

Also I'm still learning right tonight even though I only did a bit this morning. I wore a shirt this morning and now I have sunburn between where the long gloves ended and where my sleeves ended, goddammit. I knew about it but I forgot to put my jacket on.

[TrikkBen]

Acarmody, don't bother welding cast steel either. You will have a prick of a time.. Get some sheet metal and practice butt joins, t fillets and flat welding. Remeber gravity plays a part aswell, it is much harder to weld vertical up than vertical down. The tighter you hold the torch the shakier your hand will be. Relax...

Ben

[Rhin0o8]

Hemiway: I'll try welding with my sunnies on and see how that is, but the helmet is doing pretty well so far.

Safety !!
use the helmet .

and wear long sleeved shirts and trousers. cover as much visible skin as possible

[acarmody]

TrikkBen: I wasn't going to try welding pieces of cast steel together, just get some flat pieces to practice beading on.

Rhin0o8: Maybe I should of worded that better, I meant wearing my sunnies behind my helmet. And yes I will definitely wear my long sleeve shirts now, maybe even just go to lowes and buy a long sleeve cotton flannelet shirt.

[ari666]

Remeber gravity plays a part aswell,

god, how much does it suck welding upwards?!?!

and arca: wearing sunscreen on every bit of exposed skin helps heaps. its just when you start grinding the welds down that little bits of metal and grinding wheel stick to the sunscreen and itch the crap out of ya.

welding just sucks.

[acarmody]

and arca: wearing sunscreen on every bit of exposed skin helps heaps. its just when you start grinding the welds down that little bits of metal and grinding wheel stick to the sunscreen and itch the crap out of ya

I can imagine.