Help Welding a Welder Cart

[Rickabilly]

(09-15-2012, 08:40 AM)EdK Wrote: Will do Rick. I'm going to pick up some 1/8" steel today to practice on. The roll of wire I have on the welder now has been on there for almost a year now out in the garage with extremes of temperature and humidity so I may have to put a new roll on.

Ed

If there is any chance of the wire having rust on it, and when you are starting with limited experience, you should unreel the outer layers of wire and either; throw it away or keep it for tying things things together, etc, but don't try to weld with it.

If you are on a budget and aren't we all? you don't need to throw it all away just the outside layer or two, you can check it by using a white cotton ball gripping tightly around the wire and pull the wire through as smoothly as you can, pull two yards/metres through at a speed of about a metre per second, if the wire pulls smoothly without any grabbing and the cotton ball is free of any rusty colour(sometimes there is a slightly oily line but there should be absolutely no red to it at all, when I say no grabbing, I mean not even the slightest tug, if the wire passes this test it should be fine to use. Oh and the copper coat should be uniformly bright.

Looking forward to seeing the results.

Regards
Rick