Alright, I’m looking for some constructive criticism here. I am very inexperienced at welding and struggle with consistency and general lack of knowledge. I bought a welder 2 years ago; Miller Multimatic 220. It has autoset, which helps but may hurt by not making me figure the settings out myself. I also took a class at a local community college (not a real class, just a community outreach thing that was 5 or 6 evenings for a couple of hours where they would have a process theme for the night (MIG, stick, TIG, gas welding, using a torch etc.). Then you were basically given some scrap metal and turned loose with the equipment. No real teaching. It actually just seemed dangerous, given the experience level of the participants. I’ve used YouTube, of course and stayed with MIG. I’m aware that one big problem I have is, I’ll go for months without welding then pick it up for some project and wonder why I suck at it. Anyhow, here are my latest welds (a Genright cross member for my TJs transmission as part of a Atlas and higher tuck project). Here is the crossmember:
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I was happy enough with the welding of the stamped piece to center tube. The side tube to curved tube went OK and the smaller diameter to larger diameter welds look awful.
Then there was welding the tabs to the frame.
Passenger before wire brush:
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Driver after wire brushing:
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In my estimation, they look marginal, at best, even for a beginner .That was very awkward. My technique consisted of turning the voltage down a bit and pushing the weld from the bottom up after tacking them. I tried both welding half of each side and switching as well as doing an entire side.
What do the experts and pros see? Just give up? I know I need more frequent practice but what else would anyone suggest for these particular welds? Thx for looking.
Not for nothing but welding that exhaust hanger to the crossmember is a mistake. We make that part bolt on because it traps the crossmember. You have to slide that off of the exhaust hanger rod to the rear and you can't do that with the tabs locking the crossmember in place.