Welding Tips and Tricks

That won't be attacked. Have one of the el-cheapo HF flux core MIG welders with parts to upgrade it to DCEN. Retired and working on old motorcycles. Do NOT plan to weld bikes! Just stands and such. Have not struck an arc (intentionally) since high school (stick) shop class unti I bought this a whule back. This works so much easier than the old stick method! And auto-darkening helmets! Wow! Just trying to learn and get good enough to do patch-work on our garden equipment.

We don't attack people here, we help them. A good group of folks here.
We are glad you're here. Welcome!

Welcome to the forum...nothing wrong with farm type welding, patches and simple thing made out of nothing...bit and pieces laying around, no steel or copper leaves my farm until its so small it can not be used again. My auto darkening helmet stopped working rather than throw it in the bin I carefully cracked open the module and soldered two wires to each of the battery place that leeds to an external battery box which I glued to inside, now when they run flat i just replace the battery without and hassle, not to mention I can turn the helmet off so they last much longer. practicing is your friend.

I haven't struck an arc (intentionally) since ~1970. But, the center stand on the Rocket is broken on one side, so I'll give it a try. The removal was tricky because I already had the rear wheel off and bearings out of it so I had to support the swing arms on jack stands. Was able to get clearance for the pivot to come out by removing the two muffler mount nuts on both sides and pushing the muffler down enough for the studs to come out and rest against the mount. Did the penny trick on the spring because my brake spring tool just didn't have the mechanical advantage for this job.
The stand is really bad on the right side someone must have really banged it good.

So, imagine the weld quality by someone that hasn't welded in well over 40 years - it was stick then - and them doing it on a rainy driveway with a Harbor Freight flux core welder with five year old HF wire. Scary enough? Worse than a Honda weld! Anyway, it's worse but "it is what it is". Went back together surprisingly easy. Then I knocked it on its side taking it off the jack stands. This thing feels light after picking up GoldWings.

at least you stick welded. that puts you in good shape.
the problems with cheapo welders are usually because its beginners using them, bad combo.

2 really important things for you to remember when welding with MIG: MIG does not tolerate rust. You need to clean that part inside AND out (sidestand tubes are about 0.063 thin) to get a decent weld. Make sure you use enough gas flow too. 25CFH is about where I run my MIG for these types of repairs.

I do a lot of tinkering with motorcycles too. If you have more repairs like that to make, try the technique of “spot tacking” the entire circumference but placing your tacks every “quarter”. First tacks at 12, 6, 9, then 3. Then divide these tacks in half, placing your next tack always 180* opposite of your last. This helps reduce the heat build up in the tubing, and prevents distortion of the tube alignment. The tube is so small in diameter, that you need to be a hero to weld a continuous bead. It’s not needed. Just tack, divide, tack, and so on. You’ll end up completing the weld, then a gentle grind to blend it in.

I use 0.024 diameter wire with MIG on these bikes. It’s plenty of filler for these types of repairs.

And Tungstendipper is right; Welcome!

Thanks, guys. This is flux core. I wire wheeled and ground before, welded some, ground some, welded some and saw I was way too hot, ground and cut to low power plus changed to more stick-out, welded, ground, welded. Kind of like the tack method you descibe because it was too awkwardly shaped to run more than ~1/2" bead.

I'd love to really get some practice, but it won't be this winter as I have no sheltered area to set up in. At least I now have two legs on the center stand, and the bike is much more stable when on it.

When you run Flux Core, you should be running DCEN. MIG runs DCEP. Check your machine as there may be a means of hooking up your gun to the - port for Flux Core. Or your box might have a simple switch and do the work for you internally.

This is still an unmodified Harbor Freight (AC) box. I have the parts to make it DCEN, but never did the change because I had no pressing need for it (and life happened).

cj737 wrote:When you run Flux Core, you should be running DCEN. MIG runs DCEP. Check your machine as there may be a means of hooking up your gun to the - port for Flux Core. Or your box might have a simple switch and do the work for you internally.

Well, it is converted to DCEN, tested, and put back away because I don't need it right now. Nice to have that bullet in the belt in case, though!