Well, I’m not likely to get me welder’s certificate anytime soon! <\/p>\n
At least I was able to strike an arc and this time I didn’t just burn a hole through the metal like I did the last time I tried. I was able to actually lay down some metal on the mild steel plate – though it was a bit haphazard. you see, the arc is so bright you need to wear this really really dark shade on the protective helmet to avoid eye damage. <\/p>\n
Thing is you can’t see a thing when the shade is down. I tried it outside and could see a faint outline of the table where I was meant to be working, but there was too much light coming in from behind the helmet. So back into the garage I went. There I set up a couple of the band’s spotlights shining directly onto the work – that did the trick!<\/p>\n
Now I just need to be able to keep the arc going for a while so it builds up a continuous bead of weld metal. Maybe I’ll have better luck tomorrow….<\/p>\n