^Well chances are, if he doesn't have his own gear he isn't a welder. Just sayin. I bring my own with a 2nd pair of gloves, lenses, extra wheels, even my die grinder comes with sometimes.

Gas lense and jumbo cup. I go as big as I can unless in a tight spot then I'll downsize or drop to my mini rig. For the gas easiest thing is to just set up a purge if you can't, id make a little dam or something and limit how far I go. You also need to let the puddle flow. If they look blobby and co...

Lol I am from Illinois originally, it's called Meth. Yea good ol IL. I need to get out of here. I can remember in high school kids doing lines in the bathroom between classes and coming back from lunch out of their mind. Sad to see. I'd say out of 20 applicants, 12 will fail the drug test, 13 will ...

Wanna add, get your nicotine before. Seen some people freaking out cause it's been 3 hours since they had their fix. Granted a few were in need of some other type of drug..... I don't know where some of these people come from but you don't see me signing up to be a chef. I wanna give everyone their ...

Got to agree with you. Mainly on the fact, a mig bead can look good but be bad. Im not knocking the penetration because it can punch through 1/2" plate with room to go if hot enough. But unless the operator knows, it is not a good idea. When I lay in a 6010/ER-70 root, I know it's in there. Mig...

^^Say what you want, but use a snap on fine tooth, and then a run of the mill generic. Theres usually a reason tools and consumables cost more. Like when I first got my stihl 24". My generic farm n fleet saw hasn't seen the light of day since.

Those look pretty good. As for the shiny part of it, I would say it's not enough cleaning action. That's from my experience and my opinion. I don't do a ton of AL and unfortunately (somewhat) I don't have too many problems so I can't provide too much troubleshooting.

Lincoln all day. 7018, 11018 and 6010, 8010 only. Tig rod I've got a bit of everything.

Needs more wire fed in and a little consistency work. But now too bad.

Well do you want to be a welder or a welder? That's the question. A welder is proficient at all processes. But I will tell you this, almost every weld you make will be a fillet or pipe weld.

The welds look blobby and overheated but yet sitting on top. Would mind giving some parameters?

While I'm not a fan of 6013, and refuse to use it, you did one heck of a job! As to be expected, of course.

It doesn't make any difference. Nothing is transferring. Only thing is it will get blunt a bit faster. Which as long as my puddle is focused and my tungsten isn't becoming a ball I'll weld with it and they'll turn out fine. Once you realize what you can get away with for x-ray and bends, you become ...

I'm gonna go on a limb and say you're too cold. Run into this problem once in a while when the person doesn't turn it up to what I ask. Itll weld but it sits on top and is very easy to snuff the arc out. I get down from the lift or wherever I am and have to turn it up 15-20 amps and it runs beautifu...

You can't open root with 6013. The flux composition is not made for that and you will get a lot of slag in there. You need 6010 or 6011. Honestly, not trying to bag on you, but throw that 6013 away. You want 7018 or some form of xx18. I know it sounds snobby, but its just not practical.

No problem. Be sure to be back when you start up. Stick isnt as picky. And once you get the feel you can doing it while you're daydreaming.

Open root tog or stick? Not that hard either way. With tig remember to push on the rod to push the metal inside and only nip the edges. Stick is even easier. But with all welding, prep work is the most important.

I would say no. With mig you can pusle it yourself and same with tig. Unless you run scratch start which you won't need it for either.

You may want to outline the joint with a soapstone or sharpie. You may also need to look into a cheater lense.

You don't need to remove the galvanizing it will just smoke a little more. .030 can be done I am dokng a bunch of 16ga no problems. If it's only panel try silicom bronze you will be very impressed with the results and it doesn't burn theu the galvanizing so rust protection will be good still. If yo...

.025 takes less heat to burn so you can run colder to accomodate for the thin metal. I realised you were just tacking it just giving you a heads up for later. Wire speed helps you punch through and voltage gives you the heat to do it by my understanding. And yea I feel you, I would rather be buildin...

The galvanizing needs to be hit with a grinder. Be careful not to take too much metal. And yes .025 would be easier but let's throw the chart out the window. Does your machine have specific settings or just an increase value? That would make it easier but it sounds as tho you have too much wire spee...

I don't know how much it really matters on the order you go, but I was always told left to right. However just like any other rule, it can and will be broken in the field. Sometimes you just need to get the job done and text book rules cannot be obliged by.

Knowing that you are using a foot pedal and the material makes me think you are less crazy. As long as the puddle flows and you don't have to wait for it to catch up. I also usually weave which takes less amps. Setup seems fine for what youre doing. I might run 20cfh but if you're in a controlled sh...

250 amps!... On 1/4"??! I would say cut it in half. Most of my roots at zero land 1/8 gap are 100-110 and most fills are 130-150 on 3/8 to 3/4 plate. Pipe runs the same. I'm not sure what you're doing to need it that hot but from words only, ID say it's too hot.