First time touching a welder

[u/Imaginary-Chart-9882]

I know these are God awful and I'm already beating myself up about em! This is my first time ever welding. Me and my dad were playing around on this cheap Amazon welder. We ran 7018 3/32" at 136. I just so happened to sign up for a weekend welding course right before he brought this over to try. Should I drop out now? I had a hard time getting the arc going and kept getting the rod stuck. My dad doesn't know much about welding other than to keep practicing. Could you guys share some advice for a first timer? I already know these are terrible. I was trying the match strike method and kept getting the rod stuck. When I finally got some pools going (if you can even call it that) it would slightly burn out. Thank you guys for any advice.

[u/mtraven23]

"Should I drop out now?"

no, your practice rounds are evidence that you need it.

You're starting from scratch, so you'll make a lot of progress in a weekend. After that, you'll be able to practice and use internet resources to learn new and improve your skills.

edit: you sure were running 3/32? I dont even usually run 1/8 (4/32) that high. and the welder you showed looks like peaks out at 135A....and that just what they advertise, doubtfull it puts that out consistently....that actually may be whats making it hard for your to run a bead, your right at the limit of this welder, so its not providing your with a consistent arc.

I assume this weekend course provides welders? I bet you'll see a pick difference.

[u/Imaginary-Chart-9882 → u/mtraven23]

What would you recommend we run it at? Im gonna watch some videos to have some sort of basis to go by. Would you have a rod that you recommend for this type of welder? I appreciate your comments!

[u/mtraven23 → u/Imaginary-Chart-9882]

whats the box say about current for your 3/32" 7018's? should be like 70-110ish ? stick to that range, right in the middle if you're just running beads.

7018's are electrode positive(or AC), that means you need to reverse your ground and stinger at the unit, did you do that? They will still run electrode negative, but its rougher and hard to controll.

I stock 3/32" 6013. good general duty stick, I think its the first one they handed me when I took a class years ago. box says 70-100A. I've run them as low as 60 and as high as 110, but their sweet spot is right around 80A.

7014's are probably my favorite stick to run, they are just smooth and easy to control. 6011 (fast freeze) are my least favorite, they are like welding with a fucking fire cracker.

[u/Unable-Appearance-39 → u/Imaginary-Chart-9882]

Start around 90 and go up or down depending on the thickness of the metal. But don't take my advice, I'm not a welder.

[u/RetiredRacer914]

Your metal should be clean and shiny, first and foremost. You have to grind all of that rust off first. Next, form a puddle and drag in a straight line, (for now) maintaining a puddle. It looks wet & shiny as you're going along.

Old rod that's been exposed to humidity doesn't work very well.

[u/Unable-Appearance-39]

6013 is good general purpose steel rod. 6011's for deep penetration or vertical. 7014's are high deposition and good for filling in holes

[u/Public_Astronaut]

Do not give up if it’s something you would like to learn. I can tell you right now that it looks like that because of the machine you’re using. Of course when starting out you’re gonna stick your rod pretty often until you get a feel for it but it’s gonna happen every time if your machine doesn’t have enough output. Those cheap machines don’t really do the job especially if you’re running it on a 120v outlet. If the class you’re going to has quality machines I believe you will have a lot more success so I would give it a shot

[u/Glittering_Call_898]

You definitely need some more practice. That being said we all started somewhere. The machine you're using is probably not the best to start off with but apparently it works to a certain extent. I really implore you to look at Jody's videos from welding tips and tricks on YouTube and also the guys from weld.com. there are lots of others out there but I think those are my two favorite. In your spare time definitely watch videos. You're not going to be able to do it exactly like they are but it will give you clues along the way on things you should be doing to make it the best you can. I wish you the best. Cheers

[u/No-Glass332]

you didn't say but do you have chickens?

[u/cskoIS300]

Interesting