If I went to slow it was likemelting through the metal and stuff, and then I was going back trying to fill in the holes and what not.

Clearly I am a rookie , I may get better though, thanks for the tips!

 

good job man...nice job

 

Mighta had the juice cranked up too high. Doesn't look like the metal is TOO terribly thick, but either way, great idea and great job! Best upgrades you can do are the ones no one else has and if you made it, no one else does

 

You have the heat TOO high.

You see how the welds are all choppy and blotchy.....that means the wire is pushing all the way through and loosing conductivity. What happens is you lose the arc and it has to restrike, causing it to skip and look uneven.

Now, if you have the heat too low, it will puddle up on top and look rounded over near the edges. This means the weld didn't penetrate far enough and is weak.

If you have the wire feed speed too fast, it will push against the surface and you'll feel the wand pushing against your hand.

If you have the speed too slow, the wire will burn up and lose conductivity. It will pop as it restrikes.

From here, it looks like you need to turn the heat down a bit and decrease the speed.

What you should be looking for, if you can see it, is a discoloration of the metal (a bit of bluish, rainbow look) on the back side of the weld. This will tell you that you had enough heat and the weld penetrated at least half the thickness of the metal.

 

The welder only has two settings (hi and lo), I have it on low allready. If I put it on high it just blows right through the metal?

I'll keep practicing .

 

I'm NASA certified to solder so I thought welding would be easy, WRONG! That’s one skill I really wish I was better at. With all the basher bashing I thought it would be good to say the rounding of the corners on the part that bolts to the truck was a nice touch. If you get too self conscious about the welds you could always smooth it over with some seam sealer and repaint!

 

Thanks 73jim. I thought about doing just what you mentioned .