I have never actually welded anything, I've stuck some steel together a couple times but never really made anything. I had someone install a wrought iron gate and they did a terrible job. 5 in gap between gate and post where dogs could just squeeze out. Couldn't get them to come back so i decided to make do with what I had. I got my dads lincoln weldpak 100 that didn't work, ordered a new gun from Ebay, cleaned out the insides of mud dobbers and got to work. Filled in the gap with some flatbar and an extra wrought iron piece. The steel holds but welds certainly aren't pretty.

Then I decided I was done calling people, I've already built almost 600ft of 8ft fence so i would figure out my gate between the driveway and backyard. By the last couple welds, they looked like a weld, although not pretty at all.

Let me know what you think. I still need to put posts in and then hang the gate. will then clad it with wood pickets. I just bought a Miller Thunderbolt XL from a buddy so i can weld the thicker hinges on to the thicker posts.

I know there are some welders in here, you wont hurt my feelings.

Pictures of the repaired gate and the new gate frame attached

Gate is 11ft wide and 5ft tall

Not a pretty weld, but looks like you got base depth and material so you are good. I would add a wheel or rest for it. 11 ft gate is a very large span.

I appreciate the feedback. I will be adding a wheel for sure. I might be adding a second gate but not sure yet.

I'm not a pro welder...not even really a good amateur either, but I have been fiddling with it for a while. With the amount of splatter you have, I would suspect that you have the wire feed speed wrong. Maybe turn the speed up just a notch? I'm sure a better welder will come along to correct me if I am wrong. Also, I find that I am better with a stick welder than a wire feed. Stick welders are not very expensive. You might look into one if you want to keep welding. Very useful skill to have.

I just bought a used Miller 220 stick welder and going to give that a try. I kept experimenting with wire speed and kept getting the splatter. Haven't figure that out yet.

are you using flux core wire?

You're making the most common mistake new welders make, when they have no guidance. Not high enough amperage. When you are in the hood, you should see both parent metals, and the filler metal, all liquid in the puddle. Many newcomers are afraid they are going to burn through. So they don't weld hot enough. Then you get filler sitting on top of the parent metal, and not penetrating within.

I agree with Jason on not enough amps, not getting a consistent burn. I would also verify the polarity if using flux core, that could be part of the issue as well.

Good luck!

-Z

I started welding about 35 yrs ago and it does take some time and you have experiment a lot if you have no instructor. I agree with them, probably needs some more heat. But my first instructor told me, it don’t always have to be pretty, that’s what they made grinders for.

Keep going, it gets easier the more you learn.

Then that makes you a grinder, not a welder.

.187" wall horizontal welding to a .380" wall vertical. This is engine driven welder, 5/32" E-6011, vertical uphill weld. I started at the bottom and worked to the top. You can see on the upper part of the weld, what is called undercut. I dug into the .380" wall good and deep, but failed to fill. Most definitely a hot enough weld, but at the upper part of the weld it was actually too hot.




Everything the same parameters, but I turned the amperage down a little. I've still got undercut on the top of the weld. So, what I'm doing here is the opposite of your welds. I'm penetrating a little too much.



I realize this is much thicker steel than 14 gauge or 11 gauge. I've welded a million joints of that stuff, too. Arc welded and MIG welded. The same principles still apply. Penetrate enough, and fill enough.

I guess it don’t matter as long as it stays together.

14 gauge to 14 gauge.

.035" wire, 75% Argon 25% CO2

I very much appreciate the feedback. Not a lot of settings on this and on the highest it was burning through and the third setting it was splattering.

If you are burning through, do I just need to make the pass quicker?

I have some scraps so I will have to play with it some to see.

It will be a little tough even for a guy who knows welding better than you to dial in that little 100 amp machine. They were made with simplicity in mind and 95% of the welds that have come out of them look a lot like yours. Definitely check the polarity like someone else said, but I’m pretty sure that weld pak will only do flux core so it should be set. It’s 14 gauge, it’ll stick just fine how it is. If you want to get a little better, watch a couple fluxcore videos on YouTube from weldingtipsandtricks and mess around with it…they’re really well done videos, I literally started my business off of them. After that if you’re still wanting to improve, you’ll want to upgrade machines to something you can fine tune to get what you want.

I tend to run pretty hot and fast mig welding. I’d guess my settings to be probably more for 3/16” that I use on 11/14 gauge.

Looks like flux core wire and no gas. If so, and you plan on using the machine more in the future, get a gas system and the proper 0.035" wire. If it is a gas rig, it needs more amps as stated. I did all my MIG side work 15+ years ago on a 300 amp Miller so I have no idea where technology is on the machines now.

Yeah there isnt much in the way of adjustability. ABC and D for AMPS and then 1-10 on wire speed. I bought a miller AC 220 stick machine. We will see what I can turn out with that.

I appreciate the feedback and will definitely be watching weldingtipsandtricks videos.

The machine has the DC welding option, correct?

Are you mig welding or stick welding?
From your pictures it looks like mig welding without welding gas, unless your using fluxcore wire.

Anyway I'm learning myself also on how to weld. Starting out it's " The bigger the blob the better the job."
Keep up the good work.

The Weldpak 100 that i used to weld this is just a mig flux wire 110 welder. I bought a miller thunderbolt XL AC machine.

Stick welder will do a LOT better in terms of allowing you better penetration (for that gauge metal). Its good know both methods Stick and Mig. And Flux Core mig is MUCH different than when using shielding gas....just so you know.

You still did not answer my question.

No DC Welding option on this one.

If that is the case, you've got to really up the amperage to get a good weld. Instead of DC welding.

I thought the weld-pak 100 was only DC output...

Not a professional welder, but I've got probably a couple hundred hours plus under my belt in your same situation basically teaching myself. It's a skill every man should know at least the very basics of. As others have mentioned youtube has lots of great info on many channels. Weld.com is a good one.

I agree it looks like you probably need to go a little hotter. I have two little Champion flux core rigs and don't they spatter that much normally.

Also as far as technique goes, when Mig welding the cursive E or Christmas Tree drag works pretty well for me with a little practice.

It takes time in the saddle and working with lots of different materials and gauges to get a good feel for it. You should get some scrap to run beads on so you can experiment and have side by side comparisons of what happens when you change something up.