Mig welding is proving to be a bit tricky for me never welding before.

[pmac]

You will need different rollers for .023 and then for larger wire but in reality the .030
Wire will work for a wide range and more so since you are just starting

Go weld some **** together

Right now yer discussing guitar string size but haven't learned to play the guitar

You gotta learn smoke on the water first ��

Ya I have always been that way. the first real song, not book stuff I learned on the guitar was stairway to heaven.

I guess I am a bit of a horder collector. I do have enough right now to just weld and actually learn. I do want to get some more wire and tips and a spare nozzle or two. Ohhh and the halogen light set up and two of them carts.

I guess I will just get a 10lb spool of the .030.

[Jeff2013]

Hi pmac,

My first experience with MIG was last spring. I had done some stick welding at a shop when I was in high school... but, that had been 40 years prior. (And I wasn't very good then.)

I took classes at a local welding supply company (Sutton-Garten in Indy). The instructor, Dave Diller, was great to work with. They have a number of individual cells set up for stick, MIG, and TIG. Dave was available for instruction and critiquing the welds; but, the biggest benefit to me was 4 hours of weld time and all the scrap metal you could weld together.

Last year I took 6 lessons. The first was good, the second was not so good, and by the third lesson I was ready to quit. A friend took the class at the same time, and his hand-eye coordination was better than me. He advanced to out of position welds before me... and I guess I took that personally.

Long story short, I'll repeat the things some other guys here have mentioned that made the biggest difference to me:

1. Auto darkening helmet - A good auto-darkening helmet complete took away the variable of dropping my hood and trying to figure out how far out of position my hand had moved.
2. Auto dark setting - I set my helmet too dark. I was told that 9 was too light; but, that is what I have been using with no spots after welding... so I'll continue.
3. Cheater lens - I use reading glasses and I had no idea how important that slight improvement would make. The cheater lens was probably more important than any other factor in helping me improve.
4. External lighting - Good lighting for set-up and getting your bearings before you strike the arc is important.
5. Optic distance - Don't get too close, or too far from the weld. You'll know where you're where you need to be when you can see the puddle and the work piece, and everything is in focus.
6. "Vision" of the puddle - Really watching the puddle was critical.... I was only able to get good at that when all the other things above were accomplished.
7. Practice - Even if it's only holding the torch while you watch a race on television... get to the point where it feels comfortable in your hand. Stay loose. I was so up tight after a few lessons that the instructor couldn't believe I could do as well as I had been doing. It's all about getting comfortable... at least for me.

There are some really great videos online. The more I watch, the more comfortable I get, and the more excited I am about getting better. I'm kind of a slow learner... once the ball gets rolling, though, the process improves.

I'm far from being an expert (in fact I'm barely a beginner). The other guys here really know there stuff. I hope some of these basics help you, though.

Good luck.

Jeff

[shovelon]

That is great advise Jeff.

[Sberry]

The 030 is the only wire needed for that unit unless you have a steady diet of auto sheet metal