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welding problem

LOL....

Rick...MIG is good stuff. What I did wrong, was using a machine not meant to do what I tried to make it do. And I knew up front I was likely pushing the envelope of both my skill level and the machine. I tossed the dice and lost. Not something I do often, but I took a chance because I was in a hurry. Blush...... I should mention that I redid the project Exactly the way I did before, but used a much better Mig welder. A used 220vt machine that I got Because I knew I was pushing the envelope of the sorts of things I do (big iron) and that I would run into this issue again. This time, the job went well, the spare tire carrier has been on for a bit over 5000 miles and in fact, I used the carrier to pick up one side of the FULLY LOADED trailer using my overhead crane so I could change the tire with no ill effects.

I screwed up. Pure and simple. It was not the fault of the machine, but the fault of the operator. I asked a Yugo do do the job of a

3/4ton pickup. I now have a 3/4 ton pickup welder and my skill level has increased by several orders of magnitude.

Its not..but its the most common problem that the beginner welder makes. And God knows when I first started stick welding, I made most of them. I will now stack up my welds with the best of them for solid. Pretty...welllllllllll Ive got a long way to go.

I made my first decent aluminum TIG weld yesterday. Its an ugly ugly thing..but when I put it in the vise and stuck a pipe wrench on the top of the two 1/8" plates I butt welded together..it bent in an area not close to the weld. Im self taught, using both books and the internet as guides. Its taken me a full tank of argon so far in nothing more than practice and experimentation..but its starting to come together. My steel and stainless steel TIG welds, while not a thing of beauty are looking mighty good ...good for me that is. Ive been keeping the best of my practice pieces, marked with the dates I did it, on a shelf below my welding bench..and I use them to review what I was doing wrong and what I did to correct it. The first ones are hideous as hell. Even for me..an old oilfield trash shade tree "dauber". Perhaps its unwarranted pride on my part..but the latest stuff looks pretty damned good to me. Some of it. The aluminum part was kicking my ass really bad...shrug.

What you were doing wrong with the stick welder, is exactly what every beginner does wrong..you were watching the arc and not the weld puddle. Gods knows I did that enough times. Its fascinating to watch that ravening sun hot bit of lighting as it melts down metal. But you forget that thats just the tool by which you melt two pieces of metal and fuse them together. Im sure you know that you are supposed to watch how the puddle flows, and melts both pieces of metal together and the trick is to make sure you are indeed melting both chunks, not just one, while pretty much using the arc to do the job. Which is the hard part when you are getting started.

On the other hand..my son, who unfortunately has shown little interest in things mechanical, in 5 minutes of my tutelage, was running both TIG and MIG welds nearly as well as I can. No preconceived notions I suspect. My wife can also run a decent bead with MIG with about as much training time. I managed to talk her into giving it a try..and after much cajoling...she gave it a shot. She made the usual mistakes, watching the arc not the puddle and as I coached her..she started running some nice beads. Damned shame she is not interested in doing it more often..as I could get twice as much stuff done with her welding and me cutting and laying out.

MIG is good stuff for the proper use. There are some really really good welders here, and the knowlege base here has allowed a poor but honest oilfield trash type like me, actually weld stuff the right way. Listen to em. Then practice practice practice. The practice part is frustrating and fun. But like learning to play the banjo the rewards are fantastic.

Gunner

"Considering the events of recent years, the world has a long way to go to regain its credibility and reputation with the US." unknown

Reply to
Gunner
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I did that experiment with my daughter. She is a theater type, a lot of the scenery in pro theaters is built up out of 16ga 1" square tube. I asked if she wanted to be able to do that kiind of work. A resounding YES! I showed her how to design the project (some pieces are 2" shorter than the outside dimension), hot saw to cut it, grinder to prep the ends, flux core mig to assemble, pipe clamps to straighten things out, and grinder to fix the mistakes. Her first project was a 12"x16"x16" box frame for a work stool. Took 6 hours from handing her the safety glasses to the finished frame ready for paint. Welds weren't super pretty but the stool is still doing fine.

But I guess I shouldn't be surprised. She has d> >

Reply to
RoyJ

"Rick" wrote

Then she will get a big kick out of welding, too.

It depends on what you are going to use it for. For most tubing, they are plenty strong. For decorative stuff, unless you load it heavily or apply strong forces, it will hold plenty good. BUT, that is why I prefer a 220 v. machine over a 110. The better weldor you become, the hotter you can weld. The hotter you weld, the better the penetration and fusion.

For a top of the line 220v. rig, you are talking more like a thou$and with bottle, and everything. But, if you are only talking about decorative ornamental metal made out of square tubing, it will be plenty good. Use good engineering to triangulate loads, make bracing, etc.

Then, with some instruction and time, you will be making good welds that will hold up everything you want to. If it has to support people, is a building component, or something technical like that, you will have to have it inspected or at least looked at by someone who knows. Or, you will end up like Gunner's tire.

Steve

Reply to
SteveB

"Don Foreman" wrote

I probably would say

An autodark will help you weld. Buy the best you can afford. Or just start out, and see how you like it and if you continue welding.

I have a NexGen in a Huntsman (total about $350). I have welded for 32 years now, and I like good equipment when it comes to PPE.

Personal Protective Equipment.

Don't skimp on safety, and buy some good ear plugs on a spring to keep them hot molten metal bbs out of your eardrums. Wear them at all times when welding. They will save some hearing, too when grinding and doing other things. The spring makes them real easy to put on and take off.

STeve

Reply to
SteveB

Reading some of these posts (like the story of Gunner's errant spare tire), one might get the impression that MIG welds are not strong and should only be used for non-structural applications. I'm no welding expert, but in my experience, that is false. Of course, a lot depends on proper engineering, preparation, and welding technique (including the use of correctly-sized MIG welding machine). But if done right, you'll find that a good MIG weld can be as strong -- if not stronger -- than the pieces being welded.

Seventeen years ago, I was young (perhaps foolish) and didn't know better. I had a car with a cracked front suspension cross-member (the result of bottoming out at speed on a very bad road one night). This was the days before Internet newsgroups so there was no one to tell me that MIG welds were brittle, weak, subject to cracking, whatever. Rather than hire out the job of fixing the broken part, I decided to buy my own MIG welder and fix it myself. I bought a 170 Amp HTP welder (220 VAC) and welded it up. The cross-member out-lived the car (which died many years --and many miles -- later when the engine auxiliary shaft snapped and blew a large hole in the side of the cast-iron crankcase).

Recently, I was again doing some suspension work on another of my cars. This time, I was trying to remove a rear control arm. The bolt that attached the control arm to the rear axel housing had rusted tight inside the steel sleeve of the rubber bushing which was pressed in the control arm. I applied both penetrating oil and heat, but even my 625 ft-lbs air impact wrench would not free the frozen bolt (part of the problem being that the rubber bushing would absorb the torque). So I then tried a large acme screw press (like a very beefy C-clamp), like this:

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I put so much clamping pressure on that bolt that I felt that the press was going to fail. But the bolt refused to budge.

Finally, I got a 10-ton hydraulic "portapower" system, like this:

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I took some heavy steel channel, 1/2" steel plate, and large steel tubing, and I MIG welded a C-shaped jig to hold the hydraulic power cylinder on one side of the bolt and a press-anvil on the other side of the bolt. I don't know how many tons of hydraulic pressure I applied to that bolt, but after lots of straining, it finally let loose with a big bang. All the MIG welds on my jig held up perfectly.

The bottom line is that MIG can produce exceptionally strong joints.

- Michael

Reply to
DeepDiver

I had forgotten about meeting you at Boeing Surplus.

I looked at the picture of your weld. It looks good enough for government work. You should try to break one ( or more of your welds ). I expect you would be surprised at how strong it is. I am always surprised when I try to take apart something that is welded at how little weld can be left after some grinding that keeps things from separating.

Have a good time with your welding.

Dan

Reply to
dcaster

"DeepDiver" wrote

Absotively! Root preparation, cleaning, spacing, heat, positioning, direction of travel, and motion can get you some STRONG MIG welds.

This is why I tout the 220v. machines over the 110s. They will burn in so you get fusion. The problem is that most people will learn how to use the

110, then think if they put enough passes down that it will hold. It will look nice, but not hold.

And, even with the 110v. machines, if you know how to weld, and use the proper techniques, you can get some pretty amazing strong welds.

Steve

Reply to
SteveB

Rick -

I'm near Mt. Vernon and I've got a little Lincoln wire feed if that would help. I'm not much of a welder myself but your welcome to come up and use the welder or I could give it a try if you want.

Gimme a shout via email. The drive up might be less than the cost of renting a MIG??

Reply to
Dennis Shinn

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