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

In SOME materials. In others...MIG may give you a good looking weld that doesnt hold as well as the proper stick.

I will note however..that MOST hobby/light commercial welding can be done with MIG over stick 75% of the time if not more.

I, like many here..have all three welding types to do..and have machines to do each. My MIGs get used more than nearly anything else on average. TIG follows close behind. Stick at 3rd place.

But thats because I do mostly hobby/light commerical work.

Get a good Mig..the Miller 251 is a very good machine and learn how to use it. You will find that it becomes #1 on your welding list.

You can even weld up and install spare tire carriers with it.

Gunner

GUNNER'S PRAYER: "God grant me the serenity to accept the people that don't need to get shot, the courage to shoot the people that need shooting and the wisdom to know the difference. And if need be, the skill to get it done before I have to reload."

Chuckle...Sorry..it went away last month. I traded it for a mint Cobra feeder and gun (water cooled!!!) and $200 from a guy who just bought a brand new Miller 252. It plugged right in and he could keep both guns hooked up to the machine at the same time. Guy runs a good sized sign shop.

I LOVE the Cobra! Now I got a nice clean late model Miller 35 to stick it on and am building an adapter box for the Miller 55G that is being rebuilt so I can run it. I might even build a box for the Ranger 9.

Its not as handy as the 30A... but for me...shrug..it works fine

And it even has leather covered torch cables!!

lol

Gunner

GUNNER'S PRAYER: "God grant me the serenity to accept the people that don't need to get shot, the courage to shoot the people that need shooting and the wisdom to know the difference. And if need be, the skill to get it done before I have to reload."

Oddly enough, Ive had the 30a for at least 3 yrs, but nothing to plug it into. I was in Reliable Tool late one afternoon, and someone had dumped a pile..at least 10 guns on the floor. I recognized them..dug out the best looking one and offered one of the guys (swamped and busy as hell) $30 for it. He glanced at it, told me he would take $50 and continued taking care of customers. I dug out the cash and RAN out of the store chortling like a dog robber.

Next time I was in..he mumbled something about giving me a good deal and did I want to sell it back to Reliable? I simply smiled, noted that the other guns now were neatly shelved with $600 price tags on them and paid for my purchases and left..smile on my lips and a song in my heart.

Gunner

GUNNER'S PRAYER: "God grant me the serenity to accept the people that don't need to get shot, the courage to shoot the people that need shooting and the wisdom to know the difference. And if need be, the skill to get it done before I have to reload."

As far as I understand, with correct settings and clean material, it will always give a proper weld with proper fusion.

The problem is that light MIGs are not capable of those settings, are run at lower settings, and produce a good looking weld that can fail.

With this one, all I have to do is follow the chart.

That was a good story.

I had some things that failed in a very funny way, but not welded ones.

Ignoramus30647 wrote: ...

Years ago there was a cartoonist who did one-frame cartoons, a version of which was "Famous last words". Why am I reminded of them?

Bob

Gunner Asch wrote: ...

I'm surprised that they would even let you in the door after that. Probably had someone follow you around, knowing then what a thief you are .

Bob

Gunner Asch wrote: ...

...

I have a friend who's been building custom cars for 30 years & who only has a (good) MIG to do it with. I.e., he has a lot of experience with it.

When his backhoe frame cracked I told him that I'd bring over my stick. But he welded it with his MIG & it was never a problem. When the cast iron water boiler for his home heating cracked, he welded it with his MIG & it held. No pre- or post- heat, no special wire, no peening. I was REALLY impressed.

Bob

Chuckle..I tend to pick up things for clients.

I once told them Id be in and had the flat bed waiting there for me. I think I gave them an $80,000 certified check on that one....

Pissed me off when they closed up the store and went strictly to Ebay..the bastards!!!

Gunner

GUNNER'S PRAYER: "God grant me the serenity to accept the people that don't need to get shot, the courage to shoot the people that need shooting and the wisdom to know the difference. And if need be, the skill to get it done before I have to reload."

If the metal thickness is within its range. Try welding something made out of cast iron and 2" thick........

It certainly wasnt funny at the time..though it picked a very good time..and direction ...in which to fail.

If it had come off in heavy traffic on the 405 in Long Beach........

Gunner

GUNNER'S PRAYER: "God grant me the serenity to accept the people that don't need to get shot, the courage to shoot the people that need shooting and the wisdom to know the difference. And if need be, the skill to get it done before I have to reload."

Indeed!!!

Gunner

GUNNER'S PRAYER: "God grant me the serenity to accept the people that don't need to get shot, the courage to shoot the people that need shooting and the wisdom to know the difference. And if need be, the skill to get it done before I have to reload."

I sense a conflict in the last sentence. instantly and properly selecting the right parameters. I know the new computerized stuff has like 100 saved parameters so if one had that sort of equipment and already been there once.

Do you have some 3/16 7024? I have some of this stuff which is far from fresh and with some simple flame heating instead of rod oven before using at least in a flat butt joing delivers as nice a result as one could ask for with just about no skill just hold and let the coating crumble. The flux removes itself also in this position about six inches away from the arc.

Fran

Choice of shielding gas also affects weld penetration and bead profile, too. 100% Ar will give less penetration but better profile than 100% CO2. A popular mix is 95% Ar 5% CO2. This gives enough Argon for good shielding and arc plasma characteristics, with enough CO2 for good penetration, but not enough CO2 to cause the sticky spatter.

Some can get away with using 75/25 (Ar/CO2) for both mig and dual-shield (flux core), but I personally don't care for how that mix runs for mig.

I really think the real point of the MIG vs. $other comments that have come up, and especially "good looking MIG falls apart" remarks, is that when you've got a good-looking oxy or stick weld, you almost (almost!) certainly have a good weld. A good-looking MIG weld may be good, or it may be a pretty bead with no penetration. I'm a pretty unskilled amateur, and have had too many MIG welds I thought were good fall apart (hopefully I'm getting fewer of these with time). But somebody who is good at it (I hope I'm clear I'm not saying I'm one of these people!) can get just as good a weld with MIG as anything else, and anybody who claims MIG is inherently weak is just extrapolating their experience (either with themselves as the welder or somebody else) inappropriately.

Though I'm surprised at a good weld (MIG or otherwise) on cast iron without any of the steps I'm told are necessary to get one.

I once was given a tank of Nitrogen instead of a mixed gas. It welded like crap! Took me a couple of minutes to notice the sticker.

We used to use the 75/25 mix with .072 Innershield on an automated bug doing oilfield caisson welding. 36" dia. 1.5" wall thickness. That worked pretty well, but that was with a lot of amps. Different from the usual .045 Innershield.

Steve

Some of the things you have to do when welding thick with MIG is turn up the heat (duh) and to turn the wirefeed speed faster than where it is a spray, but almost a submerged arc, and the wire is almost digging out the base metal. Movement of the nozzle is critical to point it at the place you want to melt, maintaining a big puddle is important, and of course the angles and push vs. pull have a great deal to do with the final result. With the wirespeed high, you almost HAVE to use a pushing movement.

Steve

Where at in CA? My spousal unit has family in south and central California, and once in a great while we go road-tripping to San Bernadino, Redlands, Yucaipa, and into the eL-Alien outskirts. I would love to come back home with a welding machine....

Where I'm at, if it wasn't for the navy base here, town wouldn't exist. You cannot really tell that there is a recession locally, but there are a couple more empty storefronts in the mall than usual. Homebuilding has screeched to a halt, though, and everyone is trying to get contracts with NavFac.

Gunner, none of what you want to sell is unsellable. If you cannot sell, you are simply asking too much. Ask a little less and it will all be snapped up in a hurry, especialy if you can deliver to Los Angeles.

"Gunner Asch" wrote

Got some smokin' deals this last couple of weeks at pawn shops. They say people are pawning stuff, but no one is buying. They must be getting about nothing when they pawn an item.

Steve

I thought this was your problem. I'll give you $5 each for the gas bottles. The BIG ones! But you have to throw in a working 4 ton pallet jack.

Steve ;-)