Another Welding Question

[Cole Cross]

Will a 110a mig be sufficient enough to weld some 4x2x4" 4140 to a railroad track? I only need it strong enough to stay in place while its being hammered upon at least until I can manage to buy a real anvil. I'm guessing I'd have to make quite a few passes if this will work. Any input would be appreciated!

[cavala]

Should be anealed first.

[Mainely,Bob]

With LOTS of preheat,maybe,if you`re real good at welding(do you do this professionally?) and very lucky.
For those who do not know or are in denial,110 MIG welders were originally designed for things like sheet metal work(think HVAC ducting or auto body).Very little has been done since then to change them from the original design.

Now,I know a fellow that didn`t know what the numbers on welding rods meant and spent 10 years perfecting a way to make rods designed for flat welding only weld a passable vertical bead.I can also cut thick aluminum plate with a MIG welder running steel wire and the proper shield gas and get a decent edge once I get rolling.Doesn`t mean it`s the right tool for either job just means with enough time and proper determination you can cobble together a work around for just about anything.

Better to just either get the right tool and training for the job or bring it to someone who has one of those tools and knows how to use it and then open your wallet.If you pay him enough he might even haul out that extra shield and let you watch and learn how it`s really done by someone who knows what he`s doing.

[maddog]

RR track is generaly fairly high carbon. I've had no luck welding it except with SS rod. It should work with low hydrogen 7018 rod, pre heat & post heat (dunno the MIG wire equivalent) but mine didn't. It cracked apart after a few days. That was back in the days when my welding was really rough so I may not have done it right. Perhaps an easier alternative is to grind some slots or notches in the flange and bolt it down.

[meancoyote]

Yes :)

[John McPherson]

No. Not even close. Not in a reasonable manner, more like digging an escape tunnel with a spoon. The average 120V/140A homeowner machine probably has @ 20% duty cycle with .025" solid wire, which means that you can only weld flat out for two minutes, then break for 8 while the fan tries to cool the unit before the innards fry. .035" flux core wire would run hotter, but you still are limited by duty cycle. The useful limit of the machine is autobody and muffler repair, unless you are *real* good or really desperate.

A 240V/300A (light industrial) 100% duty cycle machine running .035 or .045" solid wire might work with just short arc MIG, and could certainly do it with spray arc or flux core. For a 480V/500A industrial unit and big wire it would be a cakewalk.

If you have to ask what any of that means, then you are not ready to leave the temple, er weld shop, Grasshopper. Only when you can snatch the Tweco tip from my hand.....

[Dodge]

I welded RR top rail to mild steel for my power hammer dies with my MIG but its a 150 amp 220v machine. I preheated to about 300 degrees and beveled the RR a good 3/8". The 110 unit?? You might get away with it but only after preheating much hotter I would think. I agree with Bob, however. Those little machines weren't designed to weld much more that sheet metal and exhaust pipe. I have seen one use to weld 1/4" plate to an I beam once, but the plate was beveled, the guy was a very seasoned welder and the machine was a fairly new Miller and I still wonder if it ever broke off.

[arftist]

No, it will not last long if you are slugging it. Could do it with an oxy-fuel welder though.

[clinton]

It could be done with proper fit up, run stringer beads and use multi pass welds making sure that each bead is tied in to the previous bead. Also the preheat as mentioned might be a good idea. You could make a Brazeal style anvil with the time you spend messing with the rr track and have a very useful tool that you will keep after you get an anvil. All you need is a piece of heavy plate, a torch and a grinder

[BIGGUNDOCTOR]

7018 and a stick welder set on DC reverse to run it. More penetration, and more material laid down faster. Good for dissimilar metals, and steels like 4140. Depending on how it is how it is being welded (on end or lengthwise) I would shoot for 100% penetration with the welds, don't just lay one on top of the other with a .375" bevel between them.

4140 will require post heating to anneal the weld affected zone to reduce the chance of cracking. Never messed with track, so cannot comment on how it welds.

In response to the 110V, yes. With proper weld preps,wire, and preheating it could be done. Is it the best way, no.

I have laid down a lot of beads with my little Lincoln that probably surpassed its 30% duty cycle. Probably couldn't do what I have done with a Harbor Freight special. I use it for things up to around .250", over that I pull out a bigger welder(I have them up to 650A). Pick the right tool for the job, but if that is all you have available...........

If you don't have a suitable stick welder, see if a neighbor does, or even contact a local high school metal shop teacher. I took night time welding courses at a community college. Our class had some big mamma jamma welders that would do anything I needed done. The instructor was a smith, and also had a blacksmithing course that he taught. One of the things you could do was build an anvil there. They used thick (2") scrap plate torched out on the CNC, stacked, welded with .065" Innershield, and capped off with a piece of dozer blade.

[evfreek]

Wrong tool for the job, but it could be done. I think that you are just trying to weld the block flat to the RR track, so this weld will not be taking all that much abuse. You aren't trying to weld two blocks together with a full pen weld. Cause if you were, you should use a big stick welder like everybody else says.

You will probably go ahead and weld it with the little MIG without preheating, and it will break on you. Just make sure your foot is not under it when the block falls. Those blocks can hurt.

[Hillbillysmith]

It can be done but since you're asking this question I believe I can safely assume you're not a professional welder, in which case I would not reccommend you trying. Railroad rail has a high(er) carbon and manganese content which requires preheat (not to mention the cross-sectional area being large as it is) in addition, chrom-moly (4130/4140) requires annealing, pre-heat treatment, normalizing, post-heat treatment, etc.... Either grit and bare it using just the railroad rail, or pay a professional to weld it for you (in whichg case, you may as well spend the money on an anvil).


Sorry,
-Hillbilly

[monstermetal]

Wait, What?

[Dave Hammer]

Wait, What?

What he said....

[steelcraftdesign]

I have welded RR track with a Miller 220V welder and it worked fine

[Scott Hightower]

the 110V is certainly undersized for this application

but if you must proceed, grind a deep bevel and weld multiple passes with the heat set at 100%

not a long term solution but may get you by

Scott
welders360