[dsraven]

its also important to have the correct shade of welding lens. you don't wanna go too light, for obvious reasons, but if you go too dark then you have a hard time seeing the puddle. being able to see the puddle is important so you can make sure it contacts both pieces of metal without leaving a crater. when doing patches, like you have shown, I usually tack a spot at 12 oclock, check positioning and fitment, tack nother spot on the other side at 6 o clock, recheck fit, tack another spot on a third side at 3 o clock, check fit, tack the next spot at 9 o clock, check fit, then start tacking at the midway points between the tacks and allow to cool between. allow to cool so it is like room temp so it will be nice and flat when done. sometimes I use an air blow gun to help cool a large area. sometimes I spot, hammer on dolly a couple of hits to expand the tack, then cool. this is because if you force cool the tack can shrink more than the surrounding metal and it will warp the patch area. since mig isn't that appreciative of hammer on dolly when cooled off I hammer it when it's still really hot right after welding.maybe thats wrong, dunno, but it seems to work for me. when I get enough tacks so they are about 1/2 to 3/4" apart then sometimes I will lay a short bead down to connect the tacks. I start on one tack and end on the other tack so I run right over the original tacks. that way there is less chance of a pin hole. grinding the tacks down before starting this can help. there are also a couple different mig wires you can choose, one works better for dirty metal but is less appreciative of the hammer and dolly after. it may leave a brown looking bubble on the tops of the welds. the other one is good for cleaner steel. gotta be clean on both sides too. I think the videos may mention that wire use thing, can't remember. your wire supplier could likely tell you.