[JasCono]

I’m new to welding and on this site. I’m in Australia and have been learning how to weld with stick and GMAW mig. All the great educational videos I watch on a YouTube for Welding Tios&Tricks, and others refer to inches per minute. Where I am confused and need some advice, my machine runs in metric metres per minute.... I take note of the settings used in U.S and can’t convert. For example welding 6mm plate (1/4”) with 0.035 wire my settings are 11 metres/min 21 volts. This is roughly 435 inches per minute but I see most settings in videos are around half that. Is there a reason for such a difference? Does it have to do with input power?

[cj737]

Double check your math. Should be 1" per minute = 0.0254 meters per minute.

[tweake]

yeah its a pain. there is a few conversion apps that help.
some utubers are quite good in mentioning both units which helps.

[JasCono]

Cj737 that’s my problem, I’m over thinking it. An example of my recommended setting is 16V 7metres per minute. Imperial it converts to 275 inches, 39inches/metre. I was second guessing myself as it seems a lot higher than the settings I see some of the good welders using in the U.S.
Tweake I have used an app to convert.

[weldin mike 27]

I find that the machines we have in Australia don't really have a set value for wirespeed or voltage. I use materials thickness and it always hotter than you would expect. I weld things at work on 6.4mm and 23.7 volts and it's very hot. You're far better off just learning about the machine you are using and not trying to have a setting that transfers from one machine to another. You'll get a feeling for a good vertical heat, a gap filler, a full on hot setting and a nice cool thin material setting as you practice, but they don't correlate between brands.