Please don't take this the wrong way but I used to think I was a completely sh!t welder, however mine is no worse than this! So being as it is on here and not attracting criticism I have just realised I was probably trying too hard to get it absolutely right first time. i.e. enough penetration and metal welded in, without needing to grind back much.
I'd be careful with that jacket, I had a knock off leather jacket that went up like a fire cracker when I was welding lol
I feel much the same. i first bought a stick welder secondhand, £10 lol, but it works fine so for thick stuff I still prefer it, which no one understands. but thin stuff is much harder for me and, as you say, when the metal is not brand new it is much harder. I once welded new repair plates into the foot wells of an old style mini, afterwards it looked like a forest or a hedghog, the number of times i burnt through and a bit of wire shot through the hole then got welded into place! but it ground back OK and passed the MOT!
My welder was a present from a whole load of members of my family so I really couldn't get rid of it to just replace it
, but it only has 4 power settings. So often I seem to need a setting between two of them. Yet my other son in law, who is a whizz at welding, still manages to weld well with it and cannot understand why I suffer! But he lives miles away in Worcestershire.
4 or so settings is going to be a poor transformer, obviously at times its just right but not often, i bought a parweld and the difference between that and the sealy is remakableMy welder was a present from a whole load of members of my family so I really couldn't get rid of it to just replace it
I agree about the help you get on here. I have had tons of help with my TD5, which is sadly a pain compared to the 300tdi, which is so old skool. As you say, you soon get to know who knows what, and there are so many experts on here who give brilliant advice.
On Anything Goes you will find there are some people you wouldn't want to meet in real life, but then you don't have to go there! But again there are some real good laughs to be had and with CV19 it means you still have mates you can have a laugh with, like down the pub without the beer!
I have been looking around recently and decent welders seem to have come down a bit in price. When I eventually get around to welding up the anniversary Disco I'll see how I get on with the old one and if I get too frustrated, Ill bite the bullet and buy a new one. Can't remember the make of mine, but I don't think it is even a Sealey. Will check out Parweld, since you mention them.
My s-i-l also says adjusting the wire speed can make a difference too, but then he says stuff like, "you might just have to weld a bit faster"
On the thicker stuff do you never get the urge to do it with an arc welder? I have to admit that I prefer it, and once you get a bit good, getting the slag off isn't a problem.
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