New to welding

[LogoFreak]

Hello,

I just got a millermatic 211, this is the first welder I've ever owned and have no previous welding experience. So far I love it! Super easy to work with, I'm finding everything to be fairly intuitive. Did a few practice welds and wouldn't mind to get some feedback from you experienced welders :-)

Cheers!

[H80N]

Hello,

I just got a millermatic 211, this is the first welder I've ever owned and have no previous welding experience. So far I love it! Super easy to work with, I'm finding everything to be fairly intuitive. Did a few practice welds and wouldn't mind to get some feedback from you experienced welders :-)

Cheers!

There are a lot of useful FREE educational resources here

https://www.millerwelds.com/resources/welding-resources/mig-welding-resources

Welcome aboard...

[Tinker Joe 2]

great, its not fun but will save you money over the years if you are a tinker, hope you have many years your well look a lot better than mine when I started, heck even now, have fun, don't forget to share you projects, Joe

[451Mopar]

I'm a believer in prep. You don't want to be welding over mill scale, slag, pant, rust, and such. A 4-1/2" angle grinder and a box of 60-grit flap wheels will clean up most stuff and leave an almost polished look.
Also, get some scrap to weld test coupons, then test the welds in a press if you have one, or put it in a vise and bend / beat the metal and then inspect the welds for cracking or other failures.
Practice welding the the various weld positions: Flat (1F/1G), Horizontal (2F/2G), Vertical (3F/3G), Over Head (4F/4G). If your doing pipe, there is a 45-degree position (6G) that sort of combines all the positions.
Experiment with your settings and torch angles. With shielded mig you can weld with either a push or drag travel. The push travel is the norm, but the drag will have slightly better penetration.

[LogoFreak]

Thanks for all the tips! I got a bunch of scrap metal and have been doing some practicing. I do have a 12 ton press at home and already thought of testing my welds with it :-) Am I correct to assume that learning to weld with thin metals will teach me more about heat control and such? Mistakes will be more apparent than with welding let's say 1/4in plate?

My current project is putting back together a boat trailer, there's not much welding as it's mostly bolted back together but I do have a few brackets to weld to it.