I wouldn't have used a serif font.
I think the splatter counts.
Back to college to convince myself I can actually do this 🤣
Open corner weld, this one was fun. And took quite a few practice runs to get the right width/height to the 'horseshoes' as I worked down the weld. Unlike everything else so far there's the jeopardy that if you don't actually manipulate the weld pool with some sort of correct technique. Point the arc at the center and the liquid metal becomes too runny and just flows through the gap. But point at the sides and it burns away and the gap gets even bigger. Go too fast and the weld doesn't penetrate through the gap (and you get massive undercutting because the gap is wider at the top). Go too slow and the weld builds up too high (which would concentrate stress).
Next is vertical welding, instructor wants it done properly (going uphill), which so far seems........ impossible. Everything I've tried so far just results in the liquid metal running down and a horrible looking convex blob of a weld. For comparison I tried downhill and it's easy, although I can see how it would be easy to not achieve adequate penetration as you can move too quickly.
Course done and passed, ended up doing the vertical welding downhill as it was all that was required which meant I had a couple of sessions on the stick welder, which is another beast entirely 😂. I can see why mig very quickly became the default process indoors, the fumes from stick welding get everywhere (and mig doesn't work in the wind).
Back to the Lidl welder......
Getting there. The trick seems to be to treat it more like stick welding, you're looking at the molten pool but reminding yourself that most of it is slag so let it build up a lot higher than you think. Also I'm sure this would be easier with the 1.0mm wire, my practice coupons are way too thick, and I'm still only running the welder at about half power to give it time to accumulate material. You can see the fillet is slightly concave still, it should be a nice flat 45deg.
So in conclusion, yes the Lidl welder can weld. But it's a steeper learning curve than if you spent £800 on a proper MIG machine from R-tech or Jasic where you can pretty much just follow the recommendations printed on the lid (or the posh ones will do that for you, you just tell it the material thickness and position!).
The comment that sumed up my stick welding at college (which is about as good as what I've managed with the Lidl) "it's not perfect but I'd drive a restored car if you welded it to that standard and I'd not say that to everyone".
Now for the difficult bit, would I recommend buying one?
Yes if you're already a proficient welder and can at least figure out that something is wrong and can play around with wire/power/technique to solve it.
Yes if you can get on a college evening class.
No I would not try to teach myself with it, while only having one setting should make it simple. in reality it takes away your ability to troubleshoot or learn by seeing what too hot/cold, amps, wire speed, etc looks like.
The trouble is, I paid <£200 for my course, most colleges charge more than double that, sometimes just for an introductory course not even level 1. If it had been £400, I'd be more tempted to say buy a half decent welder for £400-£800 and crack on. 95% of the course was just that, try things out yourself and figure it out, there's not much actual teaching unless you get stuck. You'll learn more putting beads on a flat plate and dropping the power half a volt at a time untill it stops penetrating (or go the other way and watch it undercut) than you would from a picture.
Ohh, and everything goes out the window just as soon as you try and weld something in the real world where the tolerances aren't perfect and there's a gap to fill 😂
I'm now trying to justify to myself a proper welder, this is the baby version of the college machine ....
https://tbws.co.uk/shop/jasic-evo-mig-160-pfc-inverter-welder-evo-2-0-series/
whatever you get youll need lots of practice anyway
it’s great practising on scrap metal on a bench, but then you go to work underneath a car and it goes back to square 1
Ah but then you buy one of those car rotisserie stand things 🙂
I think the one good thing of learning to weld is you gain an appreciation of people who can really weld.
ended up doing the vertical welding downhill
I've been a welder for 30 years, vertical down when mig/mag welding would get you sacked on the spot in a proper job with the exception of pipe welding using a specific filler rod
ended up doing the vertical welding downhill
I've been a welder for 30 years, vertical down when mig/mag welding would get you sacked on the spot in a proper job with the exception of pipe welding using a specific filler rod
Why's that?
(I only hold a basic welding competency cert from a summer school when I was a teen, so I effectively know nothing apart from what a welder is and that it makes things really hot 🤣 )
Google AI sums it up better than I can so basically......
Why Not Vertical Down (Downhill) MIG:
Low Penetration: The heat is ahead of the filler metal, causing the weld to sit on top of the surface.
Cold Lap/Fusion Defects: The molten metal flows down faster than the arc can melt the base material.
Not Structural: Generally limited to thin metal or cosmetic sealing passes.
It can produce better results on thin sheet metal work but I've generally used TIG to do that sort of stuff over the years
Ah right, thanks for the reply
