Looking for free fcaw welding videos and beginner's info

January 22, 2009 7:34 PM

Hi, I recently bought a 110 volt Lincoln wire welder from Home Depot and I'd like to learn about fcaw welding. I'm trying to find free online instructional videos about fcaw welding, especially ones that show close-ups of the welding puddle and how to move the tip, etc. But any beginner's videos (or other info) on fcaw would be great. Thanks...
posted by atm to Grab Bag (4 answers total)

A quick Google video search led to several instructional videos.
http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=fcaw%20welding&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wv#
posted by Linnee at 7:55 PM on January 22, 2009

one thing about fcaw welding that might be tough to get in a video is that you can tell a lot by the sound, which might not come across so well on a crappy web video. What kind of mask do you have? If you have one of those fancy dancy LCD ones, it might be easier to go by seeing, but I remember when I first got a arc welder and had a mask where I had trouble seeing right after sparking that the tip of "it should sound like a frying egg" was a useful tip for judging distance and speed. I just got a bunch of chunks of scrap metal and welded it together.
posted by jeb at 8:47 PM on January 22, 2009

Watch the videos, learn the safety tips, and techniques- and then practice a lot- blaze away on scraps.

3 things I didn't know when I got started:

Have a lot of extra contact tips around- these get spatter build-up or they melt when you are a beginner. You'll go through a lot of these.

On top of making sure your welding surfaces are clean- also make sure the surface where you attach the work clamp is very clean for a good connection.

Cut the feed wire at an angle.
posted by hellboundforcheddar at 6:33 AM on January 23, 2009

Oh and, for later, learn the art of jig-building.
posted by hellboundforcheddar at 6:35 AM on January 23, 2009