What did you do in the shop today?

[Marc1]

41 minutes ago, ausfire said:

Yes, I have looks at several You-tube videos about MIG welding. It's a lot more complicated than the stick welder which has only one control. The MIG has timers for wire feed and spot welding and some mysterious 2T and 4T settings. Getting the right combination of all of them is a challenge. As a welder, I make a good woodpecker.

You probably have a new electronic inverter multi something or other.

Post a photo of your welder controls.

When welding with the MIG, all you need is to ... remember to open your argon cylinder, set the Volts according to the job at hand and then start an arc on a similar sized scrap and change the vire speed setting until it sounds right. You can not change the volts as you weld but you can change the wire speed. Once it is set, all you do is weld. 

2T and 4T are advance setting you don't need to use for sticking a sculpture parts together. They are more for repetitive welding. 2T allows to use the pedal instead of the torch switch and 4T is to set up start and stop welding automatically (sort of) 

One thing to keep in mind is that if you are welding outdoors and using shielding gas, any bit of wind will affect your weld and you are better using gasless wire. Also ... unless you are good at MIG welding, it is difficult to get good penetration with thick material using shielgin gas and solid wire. You are better off using gasless wire and if possible go one size bigger.

[JustAnotherViking]

33 minutes ago, Marc1 said:

open your argon cylinder

Assuming you mean C02 argon mix for mig? Argon alone would produce a lovely and clean caterpillar of a weld with little penetration. Needs the oxygen to burn hot enough. 

Unfortunately I learnt the hard way and wasted a cylinder of argon learning mig 

[Daswulf]

I once had a tech go get a bottle filled(exchanged) and unknowingly brought back straight Argon. The MIG wasn't welding well at all no matter what I did. Looked at the tank and immediately knew why. Ugh. Yeah, MIG steel likes 75%argon, 25% CO2. Straight argon is fine for TIG and aluminum and stainless. I could always be wrong lol I'm a hack.

[JHCC]

All my welding so far has been flux-core (gasless) wire welding, which is messy but effective. Plus, no worries about gas bottles, regulators, etc. 

[4elements]

I rebuilt my coal forge. The fire pot was too deep so I added a 3/16" plate to raise the floor and added a bullet grate. it works much better now. I also went back to the bellows instead of the hand cranked blower. I'll save that for a bloomery that i hope to build someday. 

[Frosty]

If there's CO2 in the gas it isn't MIG (Metal INERT Gas) Running wire feed with 75/25 it's GMAW. (Gas Metal Arc Welding)

The oxy makes it hotter for better penetration and the carbon replaces what burns out and a bit.  Just don't try running 75/25 on aluminum, copper, bronze, etc.

I run GMAW for tacking and welding thin stock, much over an inch or so over 1/4" and I fire up the Lincoln Ranger 9. Rod rules!

The only place I've run much flux core is hard facing or crusher roll build up. Wear a good respirator at a minimum. Hard face and build up rods carry some nasty alloying metals.

Frosty The Lucky.

 

[JHCC]

1 minute ago, Frosty said:

Wear a good respirator at a minimum.

Always! Another advantage of FCAW is that I can run the stand fan to blow away the fumes — especially useful if I’m welding anything that might have traces of galvanizing. 

(There’s also the advantage of covering my ugly mug.)

[Frosty]

2 hours ago, JHCC said:

Always! Another advantage of FCAW is that I can run the stand fan to blow away the fumes — especially useful if I’m welding anything that might have traces of galvanizing. 

(There’s also the advantage of covering my ugly mug.)

It's not hard to make a wind break, the trick is not creating back eddies. Lots of times it's just a matter of where you stand

You sure have pretty eyes John. 

Frosty The Lucky.

[Marc1]

 

5 hours ago, JustAnotherViking said:

Assuming you mean C02 argon mix for mig? Argon alone would produce a lovely and clean caterpillar of a weld with little penetration. Needs the oxygen to burn hot enough. 

Unfortunately I learnt the hard way and wasted a cylinder of argon learning mig 

Mm ... must be neat picking day. An argon cylinder is an argon cylinder. The welding supplier has a string of different mix available according to the job at hand.

Small amounts of CO2 or helium and even oxygen are mixed with the main gas that is Argon. I will still call my MIG mix Argon just like I call the gas in the BBQ bottle Propane yet it is a mix of Propane Butane and Ethyl Mercaptan a bit of water and some iron oxide. 

As for the difference between MIG and GMAW  I doubt you can say that if you use reactive gases for MIG welding it ceases to be MIG, because then only aluminium welding is MIG since even SS can be done with tri mix ... but anyway ... I think Ausfire was more interested in some practical suggestions to understand his new MIG welder.  If you are still there, post a photo of your machine.

4 hours ago, Daswulf said:

I once had a tech go get a bottle filled(exchanged) and unknowingly brought back straight Argon. The MIG wasn't welding well at all no matter what I did. Looked at the tank and immediately knew why. Ugh. Yeah, MIG steel likes 75%argon, 25% CO2. Straight argon is fine for TIG and aluminum and stainless. I could always be wrong lol I'm a hack.

I used to send the apprentice to buy "rubber rods" for our bullet welder ... worked every time because the hardware guy was in it, sent the apprentice back with all sorts of stuff. 

PS

DasW ... if you work on cars I assume you weld thin stuff ... you should be using 93/5/2 and not 75/25. The latter is for 12 mm + steel ... or so I am told

[JHCC]

56 minutes ago, Frosty said:

You sure have pretty eyes John. 

That’s because Lisa picked a good color for the yarn in my work hat. 

[ausfire]

4 hours ago, Marc1 said:

I think Ausfire was more interested in some practical suggestions to understand his new MIG welder.  If you are still there, post a photo of your machine.

OK. I have read all those replies. Thank you for taking the time to help.

This discussion is probably a bit off thread, so I am posting a picture of the machine in the Welding forum under the subject line MIG problems.

[JHCC]

3 hours ago, ausfire said:

I am posting a picture of the machine in the Welding forum under the subject line MIG problems.

 

3 hours ago, ausfire said:

This discussion is probably a bit off thread

It's a good thing we don't run a railroad, because we get derailed ALL THE TIME!

[Daswulf]

10 hours ago, Marc1 said:

DasW ... if you work on cars I assume you weld thin stuff ... you should be using 93/5/2 and not 75/25. The latter is for 12 mm + steel ... or so I am told

All I have ever heard for mig welding steel was using Argon/Co2 75/25. 

I'll look into it more. What's the mix with the 93/5/2?

[JHCC]

In welding gas, 93% argon, 5% carbon dioxide, 2% oxygen.

Under the Mississippi legal code, section 93-5-2 is divorce on ground of irreconcilable differences.

[Daswulf]

Lol ok. Was looking and saw that gas mix used with stainless on a miller welding forum discussion. Again, I'll look into it more. 

[ThomasPowers]

irreconcilable differences: they use explosive welding to weld stuff like steel and aluminium for ship construction. It provides a structural member that each metal can be welded to with regular processes---if you install it correctly oriented...

[BIGGUNDOCTOR]

I always heard of 75/25 for thinner items because you get less penetration than straight CO2, and it also produces less splatter than CO2. I always used straight CO2 in my shop and a large cylinder was a whopping $24 compared to 75/25 which IIRC was double the cost. Straight argon was $75 for a large. 

I drug some scrap bits of iron home this week to drop off at a friend's house so his kid can get some practice welding. 

 

[Marc1]

6 hours ago, Daswulf said:

All I have ever heard for mig welding steel was using Argon/Co2 75/25. 

I'll look into it more. What's the mix with the 93/5/2?

Argon 93 / CO2 5 / Oxygen 2

Check this link for a guide to MIG gases. By the way for the purist, see that the welding of all this metals is still called MIG.

https://www.ewelders.com.au/selecting-the-right-welding-gas

Note that gas suppliers will recommend slightly different mix for commercial purposes. 95/5 would do just as well for thin steel, and of course the popular 75/25 is most likely just as good as their 78/20/2

[Daswulf]

Thanks for the link Marc. That's the only one I've seen that recommends that. I guess the 75/25 is just a good all around so that's what we seem to go with other then where straight Argon is used.( or nitrogen for the plastic welder)  Welding the thin metal on car panels is no treat but I get good welds with the 75/25 and adjusting the controls for thickness differences. 

Im sure certain fab shops might go with the different combos to tweak it and get a little nicer finish weld when they arnt grinding it smooth anyway. 

[Jonah k]

Built this sign hanger for our timber frame entrance to cover some of the less than ideal jointery at the peak. Oops. Oh well this tuned out alright

[C-1ToolSteel]

Nice work, Jonah. Great lines.

[Daswulf]

Nice hanger Jonah. 

Realized I needed some tooling for my 100lb. demo anvil with its smaller 3/4" hardy hole. Made a 3/4"spring fuller, and started a 1/2" spring fuller. 

[Glenn]

If you make tooling for the smaller hardie hole, you can make a sleeve to make that tooling fit a larger hardie hole. 

Anvil specific tooling, and you will always be lacking a full set of tooling for the other anvil. 

[ausfire]

Nice clean weld there, Das.

[Daswulf]

4 hours ago, Glenn said:

Anvil specific tooling, and you will always be lacking a full set of tooling for the other anvil. 

Some tooling I can use in the vise. Spring fillers just work best on the anvil. Not that they couldn't be made to work in the vise. Yeah, I can make sleeves for my other anvils for these tools. 

 

Aus, it's all about the gas and settings.