Welding 1/4" steel- Mig or stick?

[greenmule]

You don't go about trying to weld something in one pass,[sometimes you can] but thats not how a welder goes about making a weld.
Think that stuff about this machine can do this and this machine can do that was started by welding salesman,or fab shops working with fillit welds with flux core,or some other such thing.

You need to rate the machine you want to buy in amps/volts and duty cycle.

For instance,mig,steel,.035 wire, maybe 120 amps,you want a machine that will put out 120 amps at 80 percent or more duty cycle.

Stick,1/8 rod,steel, maybe 110-130 amps,so you want a machine to put out about 120 amps at 60 percent or more duty cycle.

Now if you want to run bigger filler,you will need a bigger machine,if you will be running smaller filler,than you might get by with less.

Thats how you go about buying a welding machine[as far as how many amps and duty cycle,not this silly thing that somebody said it can weld 1/2 inch in one pass.

 

[nunyabinis]

Here's the "proper" way to buy a welder:


First you price a Road Boss Road Grader..... Approx $2,500.


Then you figure out how much the raw materials to build one would cost..... $465


Then you price a MillerMatic 252....... $2000


Then you tell your wife, "Hun, I could buy a Road Boss or I could buy the raw materials AND a MillerMatic 252 MIG welder to build it for the same money then I could use the welder to build implements in the future at significant savings plus it'll give me something to do and keep me out of your hair and I can give my old Lincoln 175 MIG to dad cause you know he's been thinking about getting a welder."


Wife says it's a no-brainer. Get the raw materials and the Millermatic 252.



It's all in the presentation.





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[RobJ]

Very,very true.

If you got an ugly weld,it is generally[almost always] ugly clear to the bone,and in most cases[almost all],shows that the welder making it,can't weld.

But,for 90 percent of what most guys weld on here,nobody gets hurt if it breaks or fails,and most of what a amature gobs up will stay together[at least for a while],so it generally serves the purpose.

But it does amuse me to read these welding posts and see how guys who bought a welder last month,describe how to do this and that and post pictures of their globs.

I think in some cases an ungly weld just hasn't met a grinder...yet. My welds are not the prettiest but if I'm welding something heavy my rod is buried in there to make sure I get plenty of penetration. On the other hand I've seen real pretty welds that were skin deep and didn't hold a thing....uhhh some made by me! Mine must pass my drop/toss/de slag test!

I'm still holding claim to fame one of my welds at the weekend place. For some reason people seek me out for welding...maybe I'm the only one that their welder actually works!! Or my rods still have flux on them...dunno. Anyway neighbor comes over with a gang shaft from a deere 22' disk..broke in half...as in 2 pieces. Can you fix this? First thing is I start grindinga huge bevel, I think the shaft is 2" square or something. He says WTH you doing? This is the part that I "know" what you are supposed to do, but may not always do it correctly. End of story is the disk is still working 5 years later and I drive past it about every trip up there! At the moment I can't recall anything that I welded that has ever broken.

 

[greenmule]

Well,good than.

But,if its ugly on outside,its ugly on inside,and,your not supposed to have to grind the surface except for fit or something,it will make a welder mad if you tell him to flat top a weld for no reason[I'm talking a welder,not a rod/wire burner]. I always took pride in my finished weld,and,like I said,if a guy can put a pretty cap/cover pass on a joint,than its a safe bet that whats under it is just as good.

Speaking of seeing kinda pretty welds break,yeah,that mig is famous for that,lack a fusion/penatration.

So,a real welder will turn machine up,[kinda like your sayin],in order to get it,BUT,he will leave it up,to fill and put cover on[if needed] and will make it look just as good as the one that was welded cold and kinda pretty but broke. Now that takes skill with the mig,and I'm talking about doing it in all postions[overhead,up,down,horazontal],and making it all look the same.

But,I'm talking about people who weld for a living,most everybody here[everybody?] doesn't,and for what they are doing,it might work out and a good hobby,just trying to clear up a few bad habit/rumors. Not trying to argue with you week end warriors,[no need of that].If you ever decided to take a welding class,they charge for that,my info is free.

 

[nunyabinis]

But,I'm talking about people who weld for a living,most everybody here[everybody?] doesn't,and for what they are doing,it might work out and a good hobby,just trying to clear up a few bad habit/rumors. Not trying to argue with you week end warriors,[no need of that].If you ever decided to take a welding class,they charge for that,my info is free.

I've watched many welding videos on YouTube and practically EVERYBODY gets their arses handed to them for their welds and "technique" by the commenters ..... no matter how good it is/they are.


Pretty funny. Like Politics and Religion, if you don't have a THICK skin do NOT bring up the subject of welding.



.

 

[greenmule]

Well don't know what your driving at,but glad you've watched many videos.

You fed that dog any good biscuits lately?

 

[Dargo]

Now that takes skill with the mig,and I'm talking about doing it in all postions[overhead,up,down,horazontal],and making it all look the same.

There is a lot to be said about that. If you can't make a good vertical or overhead weld, odds are that you have no concept of what it takes to make a good weld on flat material. It's sort of like a 16 year old who can successfully drive in and out of his parent's driveway thinking they are now qualified to race F1. There's just a bit more to it. Understanding the 'how' and 'why' is almost as important as practice. I can get my 9 year old son to stick two pieces of metal together but I wouldn't call him a welder nor trust his welds. You know, sometimes a little info is dangerous. I too see guys here dispensing welding wisdom and they haven't taken a single course and haven't even burned even fifty pounds of rods in their life. But, hey, they bought a welder over a year ago. How could they not know it all?

 

[nunyabinis]

Well don't know what your driving at,but glad you've watched many videos.

You fed that dog any good biscuits lately?

Just saying there's more opinions flying around out there about welding than you can shake a stick at. Hard to know who to believe and, me being one of the dudes what hasn't a clue about the "right" way to weld ..... I just ordered two DVDs on welding.


http://tinyurl.com/qrrjba


That dog wasn't causing me enough pain so I went ahead and got her a little brother. A Black and Tan Coonhound.


I got plenty of pain now.



.

 

[greenmule]

Yeah,I do things like that too,was thinking about getting my little rabbit dog,a female[he's getting old],than raise a mess o puppies,yeah man,that sounded good [for about a day or two],but came to my senses.

My wife years ago,wanted a golden retriever,[just had another beagle],we got space and live in a spot where that shouldn't be a problem,so.... we bought not one,but two akc retriever male puppies[the one would be lonely,right?],man what a mistake,one was retarded mean,and the other retarded stupid,[they were purebreds alright,inbred to the extreme]they about killed my beagle,would fight each other all the time,would tag team any dog they saw,so when my little girl came along,shot the retarded mean one,than his brother which was retarded stupid,got even more stupid,and howled all night cause he missed his brother[who by they way always tried to kill him],so,ended up shooting him too later.

 

[nunyabinis]

Ouch!!! Sounds like a nightmare scenario.


Luckily, the Bluetick is just retarded dumb but a real sweetheart and the Black and Tan is a retarded lover and will lick you to death and loves being a lap dog.


Actually it's much better having two of them instead of just the Bluetick. Alone, she had so much energy I'd have to run her a couple miles every night just so I could get some sleep. Now they play all day long and wear each other out so they sleep at night..... just as I hoped they would!!!

They've become quite a hunting tandem on tree rats and rabbits. I love to hear them on a trail or treed. No sound like it in the world. Takes me back to my youth.