May have asked before... still undecided... MIG vs TIG/Stick

I can't answer the question as asked, but have you considered making an over-and-under cart for them? :P --Glenn Lyford

Do you mean two welders on one cart?

If so, I have a big Christmas tree style hanger for welding stuff on top of the syncrowave, as well as water cooler, so it would not be practical.

i

It might not expand your welding capabilities, but it would sure speed up a lot of welding projects. I have one of the small MIG welders, a Lincoln SP275. It is like having a glue gun for metal. Welding something is quick and easy. It can be like TIG in that there is no flux to remove afterwards if you are using inert gas shielding. Or if you use dual shield, there is very little flux to remove, but you do not have to have the metals as clean as for TIG.

My advice is to keep it and at least try it for a while. You can always sell it later if you find you do not use it. But my bet would be you will use it more than the synchrowave.

=20 Dan

Dan, thanks, that's what a buddy of mine said also. He is using his Millermatic 250X, much more than his Syncrowave 250. I have decided at this point to keep it. As you said, I can always sell it later, and most likely for more money also, as this recession is ending.

i

I would suggest a spool gun. A mig or flux core welder where you can climb around your projects without having to deal with a wire feeder and a hose like device you have to be sure doesn't kink. Then you have the issue of what sort of gasses you want, how stingy you are about leasing cylinders and the space they take. Your argon is good for aluminum but you likely will want something different for dual shield which I like very much. The .035 can be wound on the spools for the spool gun. Real simple put a bit in a variable speed drill wrap tape until it fits go slow at first. Other folks are more elaborate. Maybe even the .045 can too but I haven't got any of that. Maybe the millermatic 250 you have is spool gun compatible or has one I am not really familiar with various models.

Fran

That would be rare. Last time I had to do it was when I was making my trailer.

An owner tank of 675/25 came with this welder.

I think it is, but the spoolguns are prohibitively expensive.

i

Since MIG, TIG, and stick are comparing apples and acacias and appaloosas, I'd say yes.

Steve

Steve... I wanted to hear that... Thanks...

I'd hang onto both. Stick - great for many types of welding, BUT thinner stock can be a real BIT%^ with stick.

TIG - Thin stock and up to the limits of the torch BUT try welding outside in a breeze, Where'd the shielding gas go???

MIG - The better rigs can handle just about anything you throw at them. Run a flux cored wire and you don't need to worry about the gas. Spool gun for aluminum makes a great item.

MIG Cons,can be matching the wire if you have strange alloys. Not real conducive to a fast changeover.

Ignoramus9936 wrote in sci.engr.joining.welding:

Absolutely!

I got my Miller 30A for $50 from Reliable Tool.

Gunner

Political Correctness is a doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical liberal minority, and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a turd by the clean end.

I'll give you $100 (double your money) & shipping for it.

Bob

And I will give him $110 just to beat your price.

I hate you, Gunner! You suck!

i

If you use files after the weld and are kind of an amateur you will find if you haven't already tungsten stuck in the weld defeats the file. The wire feed type of welding in the mild steel stuff I do files wonderfully. With the wire feed system you might find you grind more especially if you don't have the knobs set quite right and want to improve.

Fran

I hope you got the message I was trying to send. And that is that now you are experienced enough to know that these three processes do three very different things arriving at three different results. You have learned that

7018 is a rod, but now you understand just how it welds different than other rods.

And so it is with the welding processes. So, yes!, having MIG will give you a process that will allow you to weld items that are best done with MIG. There are things that are best MIGged, Tigged, OA's and stick welded.

You have said that you are not a very good welder. I don't think you are giving yourself enough credit having seen the pictures of some of your projects. You've gone to schooling, and if we all got together for a Weld-a-Thon, I'd say you'd be in the top 25%. You don't just have a garage full of tools. You have a garage full of tools AND you know how to use them, and in a lot of cases, how to FIX them, and I mean the difficult technical stuff that the average guy has to take to the shop.

You're a horse trader. If you get a machine, and you use it a lot, great. If not, it's there for when you need it for that special job. If you don't use it at all, I know you bought it at a bargain basement price, and won't get hurt when you sell it.

I meant for my first answer to be positive, so I just had to explain it better.

HTH

Steve

"fran...123" wrote

With

With the machine Iggy has, the adjustment allows you to fine tune. IIRC from my Millermatic 200, the heat is in stages, but it's not as bad as some, this one being not enough, this one being too hot. Gas has a lot to do with it, too. Argon/CO2 has less spatter, but is a lot more. Plain CO2 will give you fine spatter that STICKS. Depends on the results you want.

Steve

Iggy, the next time you change the liner, put in a .045, and it will last longer before getting clogged up. About three times longer than a liner matched to the size wire. It's not that sloppy a fit, and anything .045 or less will run through it. Don't forget that little felt cleaner thing that goes on the wire before it goes into the tube.

Steve

Yep.

Just one thing that crossed my mind, but with this Millermatic 251, and proper selection of parameters, I could instantly get better looking welds than I would with stick.

Well, I have done some things. I like to look at welds in things. Compared to various beautiful welds that I often see, I know that I am not nearly as good.

Yes, I will try to keep it clean and protected, so I can always sell it for much more than I paid. I have a complete package with the full

75/25 tank and all. i

This one is digital and has infinite adjustment.

i