Welding Thread

[Grenade]

Hey welding pros! I have a little issue with the new welder. I keep it turned down as low as it will go, I have the metal clean & shiny but it still seems too hot and blows through the butt weld sheet metal seams I'm trying to join.

Now, I ran out of gas and am using flux core. This build might be thinner metal. It's certainly older metal, but the thicker sections of old metal welds awesome because of it's high Iron content (I assume).

I am hoping that when I use shielding gas later this week, that it won't blow through this sheet metal. When using gas, it's a cooler, cleaner weld, yeah?

I hope I don't need a different welder, because I'm about to embark on several days of sheet metal spot welding/stitch welding.


I have miles of this stuff ahead, and even with this new welder turned all the way down to #1, it seems too hot with flux core.

[Grenade]

I'm going to watch this and see if it helps any. If you guys hear anything I should do differently, please let me know because I seriously have dozens of linear footage of butt weld seams ahead.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4q1TExpmfY

[snowtigger]

None windy environment and GAS argon mix, don't do that flux core shit that's for welding thick square or round section tube, also check your welding wire size, thinner wire takes less to weld.
Go get gas and a flow meter and play with your speed settings and flow rates till it sounds like bacon frying on a skillet.

[Deadly_Smell]

have a look at this site, everything you need to know about basic welding:
http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/

[inglismark]

If i might ask, does the joint have to be but welded? if you can joggle an edge on one piece it will give you a bit more meat and make it less likely to blow holes through!

[Grenade]

I switched it over to gas with this bottle they let me borrow from work.


I started welding the seams to test it out and this is much better. I'll get going on the butt welded seams and post a pic when I get something that looks decent.

[inglismark]

I fucking shat myself when I saw the top of that pic, i thought the guys at your work had given you an acetylene bottle as a joke!

[Grenade]

I fucking shat myself when I saw the top of that pic, i thought the guys at your work had given you an acetylene bottle as a joke!

Haha! No, its 80/20 Argon & something else. It's working much better.

[inglismark]

80/20 will be 80% argon and 20% co2 aka argo shield, pure c02 is a bit spattery but pure argon gives too high a weld bead profile, the co2 allows the weld to be a bit wetter and gives a flatter weld, it is possible to weld with pure argon though, i only have the one gas bottle (pure argon) for the tig and i'm not paying rental for another bottle so when i need to mig, pure argon it is!

[Grenade]

Ok- the MIG welding with gas and when doing butt welded sheet metal? It's easy if you have your speed setting right and you don't try to run a long bead of weld. I was using the PSHHHHHT wait til the red goes away and then PSHHHHHT, wait til the red cools, PSHHHHHT and over and over about a million times. Like little "dots" or spot welds.

But it worked perfectly. Now since then I've left the big bottle attached and I've been welding everything with the gas and after a couple days, I'm as good with gas, as I was without. I can tell if it's too hot or the wire feed is too slow. It seems that when you use gas, you have to run the wire much faster than if you're using flux core.

I started to take a picture of some of the nice welds and I'll take some tomorrow, but my comment for this welding thread? By the end of today I wanted to come in and post that "Once again I've been forced to eat my internet words".
Now that I have the gas technique down solid- the only time I'll use flux core, is if my bottle goes empty. It's WAY better in every respect. Live and learn, eh? (sometimes I learn the hard way)