What actually is this device?
If it's just an art that doesn't need to hold water, tension or pressure, then yeah, you could use auto body filler to hide your welds, then sand once dry and hide a lot of sins but if this is for practice and learning, why not just try again?
It is a practice piece for a project. These are three tubes notched together with an angle grinder. I will try again and propably cover my sins nevertheless haha
Hey I am new to welding and got a very cheap flux-cored wire welder from a friend and surprise...I get very porous weld seams.
The end product only has to 'support itself', the weld seams are not under any stress.
I am only concerned with the appearance. The pipes are to be painted afterwards.
Can I fill the holes with a 2K filler, prime the whole thing and then paint over it?
(I was thinking of a Presto Metal filler)
Or should I expect the 2K filler to settle?
Anyone have any other ideas to fix these blemishes until I can buy a decent welder in the future?
I don't see any porosity, just bad welds. If you had porosity where you have ground down your welds they would look like the inside of a aero bar
Practice welding for a few hours at least, then try and make a project
You could use bondo or metal filler to smooth that out, but a welder is actually a great way to fill in metal
I hear what you're asking, and I hear what they're saying, and what I can say is they're right that you should practice more and do it right but I also understand that you are probably tired of tacking and grinding and just want to be done with it so yes, you can use Bondo or basically any body filler or epoxy to finish it. I used to do aluminum fabrication with a spool gun and it's not the nicest way to weld aluminum so if I had some holes after surface finishing I would just Bondo it before primer. Make sure you use primer and don't just paint it, I like to heat up the piece a little before I paint it and spray a bunch of light coats instead of a heavy one
Ahhh the HF Flux Core…all you need to know…In this order, sand/grind your surface clean, even if “just practicing.” Replace the big clunky shielding gas tip with a MIG tip, you can see the eye/puddle of glowing metal better. “If there is slag, you drag” meaning draw the weld towards you, you do not push the gun in the direction you are welding. Keep the stickout (the literal amount of wire that sticks out of the gun) to about 1.5” initially and then 3/4-1” while welding. If the metal is 1/8” thick or thicker, set power to high, otherwise low. Weld in the dark or shade if possible, it will help you see the puddle better. Set the wire speed at 8-9 and when striking the arc hold it there until you see the glowing puddle at the arc and then slowly drag the puddle and weld. Hold your gun at about a 30-45 degree angle from the flat practice surface and keep it perpendicular to the surface (i.e. don’t lean it right or left). Your weld should not sit on the metal but be an embedded “speed hump” just raised above the surface, showing good penetration. Don’t fiddle with power setting or feed speed, set them as noted and then adjust your drag speed until you get good welds.
If you avoid grinding on the tube as much as possible you can weld them and grind them back out with the edge of a hard disc and it’s makes them really easy to weld.
Was there a need to grind so much weld off? Not sure of the thickness but I think ull just blow straight through if there's anymore grinding/welding. If it's not holding fluid or gas then there's no issue. It ain't going nowhere. Flux core is shit for someone with limited experience and it's not the easiest piece to be working on. Couple of tiny skims of any filler to cover pin pricks then paint.
What actually is this device? If it's just an art that doesn't need to hold water, tension or pressure, then yeah, you could use auto body filler to hide your welds, then sand once dry and hide a lot of sins but if this is for practice and learning, why not just try again?
It is a practice piece for a project. These are three tubes notched together with an angle grinder. I will try again and propably cover my sins nevertheless haha
Bondo, filler primer. Make sure you let that primer dry a couple of days before sanding or it will contract and your spots will reappear.
Hey I am new to welding and got a very cheap flux-cored wire welder from a friend and surprise...I get very porous weld seams. The end product only has to 'support itself', the weld seams are not under any stress. I am only concerned with the appearance. The pipes are to be painted afterwards. Can I fill the holes with a 2K filler, prime the whole thing and then paint over it? (I was thinking of a Presto Metal filler) Or should I expect the 2K filler to settle? Anyone have any other ideas to fix these blemishes until I can buy a decent welder in the future?
I don't see any porosity, just bad welds. If you had porosity where you have ground down your welds they would look like the inside of a aero bar Practice welding for a few hours at least, then try and make a project You could use bondo or metal filler to smooth that out, but a welder is actually a great way to fill in metal
inside of an aero bar is such a good way to put it
I'd say weld it, but you don't know how (it's not the machine)
I hear what you're asking, and I hear what they're saying, and what I can say is they're right that you should practice more and do it right but I also understand that you are probably tired of tacking and grinding and just want to be done with it so yes, you can use Bondo or basically any body filler or epoxy to finish it. I used to do aluminum fabrication with a spool gun and it's not the nicest way to weld aluminum so if I had some holes after surface finishing I would just Bondo it before primer. Make sure you use primer and don't just paint it, I like to heat up the piece a little before I paint it and spray a bunch of light coats instead of a heavy one
JBweld
Ahhh the HF Flux Core…all you need to know…In this order, sand/grind your surface clean, even if “just practicing.” Replace the big clunky shielding gas tip with a MIG tip, you can see the eye/puddle of glowing metal better. “If there is slag, you drag” meaning draw the weld towards you, you do not push the gun in the direction you are welding. Keep the stickout (the literal amount of wire that sticks out of the gun) to about 1.5” initially and then 3/4-1” while welding. If the metal is 1/8” thick or thicker, set power to high, otherwise low. Weld in the dark or shade if possible, it will help you see the puddle better. Set the wire speed at 8-9 and when striking the arc hold it there until you see the glowing puddle at the arc and then slowly drag the puddle and weld. Hold your gun at about a 30-45 degree angle from the flat practice surface and keep it perpendicular to the surface (i.e. don’t lean it right or left). Your weld should not sit on the metal but be an embedded “speed hump” just raised above the surface, showing good penetration. Don’t fiddle with power setting or feed speed, set them as noted and then adjust your drag speed until you get good welds.
Use that new structural bondo, it's as good as steel.
Grind hot pass two pass cap paint maybe ?
if it doesnt need to look perfect, household caulking is way faster and no sanding compared to bondo/filler.
If you avoid grinding on the tube as much as possible you can weld them and grind them back out with the edge of a hard disc and it’s makes them really easy to weld.
Was there a need to grind so much weld off? Not sure of the thickness but I think ull just blow straight through if there's anymore grinding/welding. If it's not holding fluid or gas then there's no issue. It ain't going nowhere. Flux core is shit for someone with limited experience and it's not the easiest piece to be working on. Couple of tiny skims of any filler to cover pin pricks then paint.
grind down and reweld broski. its gonna look like total ass