BXProject

Got me a vice today off ebay, a record vice that is;



Nice man even delivered it practically to the farm! Its a swivel base jobbie with an anvil flat on the back. Needs some soft jaws but other than that its great, i feel like a proper man now and for only £25 (which i guess is a lot, but i've been after one for ages and this is near enough new.


next i moved the gas bottle to the farm today (big fat fucking thing);



Had to put it on the cabinet as the air hose is too short. It also wont fit on the trolley very well (which was made for a 3/4 bottle). Found that some tit (previous owner called Mike) had put the spindle bobbins on the wrong wayaround so there was no tention on the wire spindle and it was jammed against the case and wouldnot turn. Now fixed!

here is the first play with it;



started on the left and worked to the right. I'd say thats pretty quick setting up for me? started with too much line speed, WAY too much gas (halfed what i started with from left to right) and not quite enough juice.

The stuff on the right has pretty good penetration i reckon;



and the last settings i messed with gave me this;




I'm quite happy all in all but relise i SO need a decent pillar drill now, can't be bothered with plug welding if i have to drill all the holes by hand. God knows what i'm gonna do if i have to move down s***h though, where will i put all my shit


Right questions for Phil time;

• How do those welds look and what do i need to improve it, at the moment i'm trading off speed of torch movement for power as the electics at the farm are erm interesting!
• Just to check the wire spindle should rotate freely and NOT be stuck stiff against the side of the machine?
• Where can i get longer gas pipe from and is there anything specific i should be looking for in the pipe (clear, braided etc)
• How much different will welding stainless be other than needing stainless wire?
• What guage metal should i be looking to use for building the trailer? I'm half tempted to see if a scrappy will sell me a couple of BX/Xantia/Xsara roofs cut with the stihl!

that is all, go in pieces

I cannot reply, since my name isn't Phil

But I had some choice piss taking lined up....

don't be so fucking precious

Well I know fuck all about welding (except that most Citroens need too fuckin' much of it!)....but the second set of pics look a lot neater!!

Looks like your onto a winner there Vanny!

btw...nice vice!

well i've never had a weld fail, BUT i know jack shit about the subject, point and shoot is one thing but actually comprehending the subject is something i cant

Well if you never had a weld fail you must have a magic wand !!

Are you left handed? coz if you work from left to right and you are right handed you have a problem wich will give you a dislocated wrist or a load of shite weld (as per piccies). When using MIG you always push the gun never pull it.
Seriously,Try upping the juice and increasing the wire speed then slow the wire same juice, then increase speed and lower juice until you find the best combination for you, given the thickness of material you are working on. Keep the end of the gun about 10 to 12 mm away from the arc,at an angle of between 30 and 60 degrees back from direction of travel, you can bring it further away for awkward areas, but dont forget to increase your gas feed to 12 litres a min, from 10 if you do.
You need to keep the angle of the tip at 45 degrees to the work pieces as well for fillet welds
Here endeth the first lesson

Right, think i've sorted my pipe issue, 10m in the post so should arrive soon (£0.59p a metre!).

I was indeed pulling and not pushing the weld, so you reckon right to left then. My angles sound about right albeit the wrong direction, and my distance was about right as well.

All my MIG welding so far has been under heavy supervision, and typically i'm handed the gun with the welder all setup and told 'stick them together' and hence the welds are always good. Better still its usually 3mm+ box section i'm doing so hard to go wrong, and typically i get the sledge hammer and 'test' the welds. My uncle once decided to test my welds on a big 6x4 box section frame by parking the fork lift on the base of the frame and lifting the top up. Wasn't deliberate and we spent the rest of the day cutting out the bent section and straightening it out, but the welds stayed attached

My current gas feed is about 15lpm (was 30 odd when i started!) so i might knock that down a bit. Also i'm limited with regards testing pieces at the moment (though i do have the front half of a BX to cut up . . . ) so might have to go get a load of scrap off my uncle.

more piccies



tacked it up first (welds are all made at the angle shown, ie the two plates are at 45 degrees to each other), two matching bits of metal, butted (no V in between).



Close up, what causes the browness? I thought maybe the gas so upped it some more. Not convinced that helped too much. Is it something to do with the wire? The feed seems to be worse, stuttery, i wonder if the wires got rust (doesnt look it though mind)



Layed down some weld accross the join, left hand section first from the right to the left.



Then the bit in the middle



then a close up.



Then some close ups in better light. I hammered 7 shades of shit and it didnt break, but there seems ot be little through penetration, though its 2mm plate!




Had a go on the flip side as well, the messy bts are from the other day.


Have tried varying the air and found a nice ish balance but does leave some stains. Have slowed the wire a little and slowed movement a LOT which has helped no end. Have varied the power a little, in setting 2-1 it seems the best (Not going any higher or it will likely melt the farm electrics!)

That last one in the vice looks as though you have the ratios just about right. Two suggestions....have your material in the flat position until you have had more practice. Yes the stain is caused by the gas....too much of it keep it at 10 litres a min. What it is , is tiny particles of metal spray, being blown by the gas, out of the shield slightly and oxidising in the process Having looked again slightly decrease your speed of travel....hold the gun more towards 60 degrees, use two hands if your not doing so already

Vanny, if you want some practice, how'd you fancy welding a new battery tray in my CX? If I pay your fuel?

driving smooth and simple i'm getting about 37 miles to the gallon. so you'd be talking about £60 return in fuel give or take, you could buy a whole nother CX for that!

But this one is special! It came from Burscough, about 200 yds from where someone in our family met their demise back in the 1960's.

That's a bit macabre isn't it Smiffy? I wouldn't have thought you needed a constant reminder of that.

Smiffy's like me, he's morbid!

Well, if Vanny needs the practice, and is willing to motor down for a few quid, I'm happy not to do any welding and drink beer, we could make a weekend of it!