Bought new Lincoln mig 140T. Got questions.

[kenmac]

If you intend to weld on uncleaned material ie, rusted or painted . Buy yourself a stick welder also cause, if it ain't clean it ain't going to weld very good with a mig. I love my mig ( I use gas instead of flux core) but, there are just times when nothing beats a stick !

 

[BTDT]

Wire brush (cordless), and wire wheels for portable grinders, bench grinder (with grinding wheel and wire wheel), safety goggles, working and non-working refrigerators (you know what for).

 

[Dargo]

Also be sure all flammable liquids are stored away from welding and cutting area.

I know the above statement sounds silly, but it's easy to forget. I'd clamped a piece of 3/8" plate to my welding table, cut out several pieces with my plasma cutter, used several grinders on the pieces, welded three or four areas on my little project and dropped a piece only to find that my son had moved one of my jerry cans to right under where I was working. I mean this can had all sorts of molten metal on it from the plasma cutter as well as being covered with metal from the grinding. Fortunately it was a good sealed can with diesel in it and not gas, but it was still not something I expected to find under where I was melting metal!

So, even when you "know" there isn't any flammable liquids where you are working, I'd suggest looking again just to make sure. I don't know how many times I've been welding and looked up to see that I was right next to a can of WD40 or spray paint. Man, none of those things need to be where you are welding. Any of the above could be potentially deadly and I don't want to find one by accident again. I may not be so lucky next time.

 

[swines]

Things you'll need:

1. A tool to clean the spatter from the inside of the nozzle cup. You can use either a 1/2-inch diameter wire plumber's brush (used for cleaning the inside of copper fittings prior to soldering); or a special MIG nozzle reaming tool. They both do the same job. The wire brush is cheaper but will need to be replaced when it wears. The nozzle reamer will last at least 20x longer as it really doesn't wear.

2. Buy some 90/45 degree welding magnets. Invaluable for holding metal in position for welding.

3. "Nozzle goo." About $5.00 for a jar. Dip the hot nozzle cup in the goo - keeps spatter down and from collecting on the inside of the nozzle cup.

4. MIG welding pliers (Welper) . Cut mig wire, spatter removal, wire pull out from tip, use them for changing tips, etc. A clip-on belt holster (xtra cost) will keep them handy.

5. If you do a lot of tubing work, ultimately you'll want some 90-degree corner clamps. The Bessey 90-degree welding corner clamps are pricey but work better than nearly any other clamp and the screws are copper plated so spatter won't stick to them.

6. Clamps. There aren't enough clamps in the world as far as I can tell. I have about 15 welding clamps and still run out on certain projects. You need all different sizes. Small work takes small clamps, big pieces take big clamps -start collecting welding clamps now. The Vise-Grip C-clamp style with swivel pads are the ones I use the most.

 

[wushaw]

There are several online welding supply outfits that carry all kinds of consumables, saftey equipment and just about anything you can think of....make a list and go shopping.