Can I weld something this weekend having never held a welder before in my life? We will find out together. Also an update on the rough running Honda Transalp XL-700.
All respect to you Ryan for letting us follow your learning processes. That's what makes your videos authentic and interesting! Gives a lot of us confidence to attempt new things also.
Thank you. I appreciate that feedback. I'm sure there are 1000's of people like me that are keen to try but lacking experience. Making mistakes can be part of the fun.
Thank you. I was pleased with my first attempt. I did remove the obvious paint before welding, but didn't show it. Much to still learn, but practise will only help. 😃
Thank you. The total cost of welder, helmet and gloves was only around £100. So for me it made sense, I have no idea if I will regret this purchase in the near future or not, but so far so good.
Hi ryan! Ive seen all the hundred videos between superdream and project scrambler in the last two days! I just bought a cb250t to restore and stumbled inside your garage. Very useful. You remind of myself working on bikes, just trying and learning, often mistaking and trying to recover!! Truly authentic. There should be more videos like yours. XX from Italy mate
Hi, Thank you for your comments. I hope you enjoy your CB250t as much as I enjoyed my Superdream. Good luck with getting a welder in the near future. Ryan
Everyone's got to start somewhere, and that low-stressed bracket seems like a good place to start. I would offer a bit of advice about footwear and clothing, that I learned the hard way - boots with leather uppers are essential, as the spatter will burn through man-made materials and textiles in no time, and it hurts. Similarly with clothing - I used to wear an old waxed cotton jacket to protect my clothes (and skin) when I was welding. The smoke is nasty stuff, so good ventilation is vital. One point about joining two pieces end-to-end: I couldn't see how you prepared the ends, and you may have done this, but you will get a stronger joint if you chamfer the ends, so you have a valley to fill with weld, then it will penetrate the joint fully, rather than sitting on the surface, especially if you are grinding it flush afterwards. I was a mechanic and only welded occasionally, so mine wasn't the prettiest welding, but it never fell apart. As with everything, the more you do it, the easier you will find it.
Thank you for excellent suggestions. I didn't give much thought to footwear and overcoat. I also didn't prep the ends like you described, i will be sure to consider that next time. 👍🏻
One more thing: buy a couple of fire blankets and cover up delicate parts. You dont want welding spatter into your carburetors or burning the paint job....
Simple thing to remember about it clean as much as possible start off with low power then increase it till it sounds like bacon frying that constant crackle and practice practice you did fantastic job with the bracket. Well done 👍
Lol, cool timing - I bought a new welder today as well 😅 Congrats and well done with your first welding job!!! Some tips: if possible position the item so you can weld on the top surface. Welding on the side is harder, under is worst. Don't put the magnet too close, it 'disturbes' the welding arc. Gas-less welding is a pain, when you switch over to mig with argon-mix gas you will see 😊
Really pleased for you Ryan, The two best machines for the workshop are a welder and a lathe, so you are half way there. I would spend a couple of hours practising on scrap metal though, it is all about amps and wire speed. You want enough power to penetrate the metal with out blowing through, so that it does not sit on top like bird shit to get a strong weld.
Good to see you just have a go at something new. One tip - that steel will be covered in scale from manufacture, clean it back before welding for a better finish, any scale, paint, grease or dirt will affect your weld. Good first attempt though.
It's good to learn something new Ryan, lots of YT channels showing FCAW. I'd suggest practice by laying beads on some scrap steel, ensure the polarity is correct (often comes wrong from factory) & sitting down to weld. Yep, definately onwards & upwards!
If it's got slag you drag, which yours has and clean up weld before welding it. Well done though, it's a very rewarding thing to do once you get the hang of it.
