Learn MIG Welding

[dragoneggs]

Ron, I didn't realize you as a seasoned welding professional, haven't used MIG. Are you talking specifically about using a spool gun for aluminum? If you want to play with my 211MVP to experience MIG, you are welcome. Confessions... I have the Spool Gun for aluminum but I have never cracked it open as I have only been playing with steel with the standard gun.

 

[WranglerX]

"IF you are not going to eventually do aluminum then spool gun is needless investment..."

Dale, under most circumstances I'd have to agree; but I may NEVER weld aluminum. There are, however, times when a 30 foot reach can be handy - I got my MM252 with three tanks and a 30 foot spool gun on CL for less than HALF of retail (not hot, just laid off) - the MM252 had less than 5 lbs of wire run thru it and was a tiny bit dusty, kept in a nice shop, and the $1000 30A spool gun had NEVER even had a tip installed. Since I got it I've run about 150 lbs of .035 wire thru it, maybe 20# of that was 2# spools thru the 30A... Steve

One example of a few where I've needed the extra reach -

View attachment 626896 View attachment 626897 View attachment 626898 View attachment 626899 View attachment 626900 View attachment 626901 View attachment 626902 View attachment 626903 View attachment 626904

Yes but take into consideration each individual's need are different... I was speaking for most general terms that apply to larger percentage of people interested in or doing MIG welding...

My needs are a little less exotic....



Dale

 

[Big Barn]

626949[/ATTACH]

Dale

That’s a nice cart with clean lines, Dale. I like it!

I’ve used the same solid rubber tires elsewhere.

 

[WranglerX]

That’s a nice cart with clean lines, Dale. I like it!

I’ve used the same solid rubber tires elsewhere.

Thank you, it was made purely with short lengths of scrap, had just enough 1 inch square stock to do it with not 1 inch extra to waste....... Big wheels and big casters go over bumps and stiff on floor better than small wheels casters.... Ever get a bean stick in front of a caster in market shopping cart?

Dale

 

[jaxs]

:confused3:
To spool,or not to spool,that is the question.
Whether tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous failure,:worried::gloomy:
Or to take spools against a sea of troubles:tragedy:
And by spooling end them.:number1::applause::drink::dance1:

I haven't compleyly mastered flux core and gas shield with a regular gun. Until I do master them,I'll just use an extension cord to move machine in range of work. After that's accomplished I'll buy a spool gun to practice on aluminum and long stinger lead if confined space prevents getting machine close to work. Meanwhile for multi story red iron buildings, I drag out stick machine and long leads like they have been doing for decades.

 

[Tractor Seabee]

Ron, I didn't realize you as a seasoned welding professional, haven't used MIG. Are you talking specifically about using a spool gun for aluminum? If you want to play with my 211MVP to experience MIG, you are welcome. Confessions... I have the Spool Gun for aluminum but I have never cracked it open as I have only been playing with steel with the standard gun.

Mark, MIG became popular toward the end of my pipefitting career so never really got into. Actually I was a fitter not a welder although my welding skills kept me working more. After certifying on SMAW and O/A and brazing of power piping and pressure vessels I had all the welding work I wanted. Became foreman and superintendent early on also, so that stopped the hands on. Fitted for both MIG and TIG welders so it is not totally foreign. I did not know a spool gun was aluminum only. I need to get the recent Dial Arc acquisition going and start doing DC work instead of the AC I have been doing. I couldn't turn it down at the price of $250. It is really a production machine. Used them much in the old days. If I live long enough I may get one of those multi-function machine from mark at Everlast.

Where are you on the rear remote project?

Ron

 

[dragoneggs]

Mark, MIG became popular toward the end of my pipefitting career so never really got into. Actually I was a fitter not a welder although my welding skills kept me working more. After certifying on SMAW and O/A and brazing of power piping and pressure vessels I had all the welding work I wanted. Became foreman and superintendent early on also, so that stopped the hands on. Fitted for both MIG and TIG welders so it is not totally foreign. I did not know a spool gun was aluminum only. I need to get the recent Dial Arc acquisition going and start doing DC work instead of the AC I have been doing. I couldn't turn it down at the price of $250. It is really a production machine. Used them much in the old days. If I live long enough I may get one of those multi-function machine from mark at Everlast.

Where are you on the rear remote project?

Ron

I’m embarrassed to say. Need to get on that project!

 

[BukitCase]

" I did not know a spool gun was aluminum only."

Ron, actually the REVERSE is more true - as in, aluminum is (sorta, but not really) spool gun only -
1 - Aluminum tends to NOT feed very well when PUSHED thru a tube, altho if you're REALLY careful to keep the mig gun TOTALLY straight or nearly so, SOMETIMES it can work. It's just NOT worth the PITA to do so, so for MIG welding it's easier to
2 - Either use a spool gun for aluminum, or (B) if you do a LOT of aluminum welding, the larger machines (250 amp and up mainly) can use what's called a Push-Pull mig gun - a full size spool of aluminum wire goes inside the machine like steel wire does, and the machine's feed rollers PUSH the aluminum into one end of the push-pull torch - but that torch ALSO has a small drive unit built into the OUTPUT end of the torch that PULLS the wire- this is what nearly ALL "all day long" aluminum fab shops use; it's a lot more efficient to change spools every 20 lbs than every ONE lb...

3 - not sure about the small hobby class spool guns, but the 250 class and up ones will take either a 1 pound spool of aluminum wire or a 2 pound spool of hard wire (aka solid steel) - same size 4" spool, but with steel wire it holds twice the WEIGHT.

Back up and check the pics I posted a few posts ago; almost ALL the "aerial" welds were done with the 30A spool gun and my Miller MM252 MIG. Calm day, a couple CFH higher gas flow than indoors, works fine til the wind comes up - then you either quit, put up screens (wind block) or switch to flux core wire. The alternative is welds that look like you blobbed on JB weld with a broken spatula, or worse.

Each MIG process (mild steel, stainless, aluminum, etc) will ONLY work well with a specific shielding gas - for mild steel, usually either CO2 or C25 (which is 25% CO2, 75% Argon) This is for "short circuit" welding, other mixes are used for higher power/speed "Spray Transfer" mode.
Stainless can use a "Tri-mix" or, IIRC, a mostly Argon mix. Aluminum wants straight Argon.

For a REAL education, Jody's WeldingTipsAndTricks site mentioned earlier is what you want.

HTH... Steve

 

[Tractor Seabee]

" I did not know a spool gun was aluminum only."

Ron, actually the REVERSE is more true - as in, aluminum is (sorta, but not really) spool gun only -
1 - Aluminum tends to NOT feed very well when PUSHED thru a tube, altho if you're REALLY careful to keep the mig gun TOTALLY straight or nearly so, SOMETIMES it can work. It's just NOT worth the PITA to do so, so for MIG welding it's easier to
2 - Either use a spool gun for aluminum, or (B) if you do a LOT of aluminum welding, the larger machines (250 amp and up mainly) can use what's called a Push-Pull mig gun - a full size spool of aluminum wire goes inside the machine like steel wire does, and the machine's feed rollers PUSH the aluminum into one end of the push-pull torch - but that torch ALSO has a small drive unit built into the OUTPUT end of the torch that PULLS the wire- this is what nearly ALL "all day long" aluminum fab shops use; it's a lot more efficient to change spools every 20 lbs than every ONE lb...

3 - not sure about the small hobby class spool guns, but the 250 class and up ones will take either a 1 pound spool of aluminum wire or a 2 pound spool of hard wire (aka solid steel) - same size 4" spool, but with steel wire it holds twice the WEIGHT.

Back up and check the pics I posted a few posts ago; almost ALL the "aerial" welds were done with the 30A spool gun and my Miller MM252 MIG. Calm day, a couple CFH higher gas flow than indoors, works fine til the wind comes up - then you either quit, put up screens (wind block) or switch to flux core wire. The alternative is welds that look like you blobbed on JB weld with a broken spatula, or worse.

Each MIG process (mild steel, stainless, aluminum, etc) will ONLY work well with a specific shielding gas - for mild steel, usually either CO2 or C25 (which is 25% CO2, 75% Argon) This is for "short circuit" welding, other mixes are used for higher power/speed "Spray Transfer" mode.
Stainless can use a "Tri-mix" or, IIRC, a mostly Argon mix. Aluminum wants straight Argon.

For a REAL education, Jody's WeldingTipsAndTricks site mentioned earlier is what you want.

HTH... Steve

Steve, at this point I am backing down and staying with my SMAW. I see no real aluminum fab in my future. I am a guy who likes to do a big variety of stuff. I have SWAW welded aluminum for repair work. There are some pretty good rods out there. I don't do much thin material stuff either. 3/32 and 1/16 6013 or 7014 seem to do me well. Now that I am back to a DC machine (not gotten the circuit in for it yet) good old 6010 root and sometimes 6014 fill is my go to for structural stuff. 6014 makes a nice cover bead. Like I told Mark (Dragoneggs) my goal is to get the $ to get an Everlast multi process machine and try it all. My O/A skills satisfy some of the in-between stuff.

Ron

 

[BukitCase]

Ron, from what you've said that sounds like a good choice for you; in spite of the fact that I've never welded professionally, it sounds like we've had some similar experiences - I started with O/A in the early '70's, then started with SMAW on a friend's SA200 - also tried another friends AC buzz box, wasn't too impressed after the smooth DC of the SA200. Couple years later got a good deal on a 250 amp AC/DC Solar welder (still got it) but I never could get it to run quite like the old SA.

Made do with those welding stuff for different tractors/implements/vehicles til about 2009, then bought my first MIG; a Miller MM211 (transformer version) - got spoiled by MIG, but wanted more (bigger projects, etc) so sold the MM211 to a friend when I found a MM252 with all the extras, for a bit under HALF of new (deal included a $1000 spool gun that was NIB) - still got that one, added an Everlast DC stick/TIG inverter machine - the TIG side of that goes down to 3 amps and up to 200, with programmable EVERYTHING (doubt there'll ever be much aluminum in MY future either, so didn't wanna pay twice as much for AC TIG) -

Bunch of forced OT before I retired (rare metals plants, instrumentation/control tech) so part of the OT added a HyperTherm PM45 plasma cutter, then ANOTHER MIG (mm211, the newer inverter version - much lighter than the old 211, dual voltage), then a milling machine, mag drill, etc - bottom line is I can pretty much fix anything that's broken or build something I need that's either too expensive to buy, or hasn't been invented yet

At this stage of life I'm pretty sure they're gonna "pat me in the face with a shovel" LONG before I ever get BORED; in my book, that means I WIN :thumbsup:

Oh, BTW - when I first used that Everlast Tig/Stick, I realized I had gotten the new version of the old SA200 (MINUS several hundred pounds), and THEN some - I'm pretty sure you won't be disappointed when you get your Everlast... Steve