Welding Tips and Tricks

Hi all, I've been MIG welding for a few years but only really in the last year or so started to reach a stage where I'd consider myself proficient, for a hobbyist at least. That said, I learn something new with every weld!

My main interest is from an automotive perspective as I'm doing a lot of fabrication for a '71 Datsun 240z I'm building. I generally just enjoy making things, particularly when machining and welding is involved. I've got a huge amount of respect for a lot of the fabricators who demo their work on Instagram and YouTube etc and they've really inspired me to get better at welding.

I've recently bought a new, entry level-ish TIG and have been getting some practice. I found that DC welding came relatively easily. I haven't found steel or stainless steel to be as hard as I had expected. On the other hand, AC welding aluminium (which is one of the main jobs I bought the machine for) seems to be much more challenging that I had anticipated.

I've been watching a fair amount of the WeldingTipsAndTricks.com YouTube videos but have reached a point where I would benefit from some guidance from some of the more experienced welders out there so have signed up to the forum in order to learn a little more.

Thanks!

Welcome to the forum ! Yeah Alum takes a lot of practice just to start making decent beads. Steels are much easier.
Jody has a few introductory Alum vids , I still go back to his "Basics" videos . Good luck with the new machine !

Welcome NylonAdmiral, a 240Z in the UK, cool. Post up some photos of your progress

Thanks, yeah the videos are great. Really appreciate that people take the time to share their skills. I'm going to post in the relevant area in the forum in a minute to see if anyone can help diagnose my problem. I'm sure it's either machine settings or simply that I'm bad at welding aluminium

With regard to the 240, I've finished a lot of the suspension, right hand drive conversion, power steering conversion etc etc. I've just got the RB26 in and need to fabricate the inlet and exhaust system hence why I bought the TIG:

Welcome to the forum.

Thanks Mike