Like a dream??

[Stampeder]

Firedog:

I"ve been using stick for over 30 years. Still use my old buzz box!!
Bought a MIG few years ago (gas type) and I love it. I use it for almost eveything except welding pipe fencing.
It took me a while to get the MIG thing down. Practice, practice, practice. Needs nice clean area.
I weld all kinds of old machinery and all different positions. Vertical up, vertical down, and (YUK!!) overhead. Much perfer MIG in these situations to stick. Far less clean up and no slag problems.
I grind ALL my welds before welding whether using MIG or stick. I come from a family of welders so it's been drummed into me all my life. Clean and bevel the weld first.
Personally, I hold the wire right on the material when I start. Not necessarily the best way granted but I"ve welded and soldered all my life and I have a certain touch I use.
When I find the wire starts pushing, it's usually a bad ground.
Good MIG should sound like bacon frying.

I live up near Mineola. If you want to come by some time we can talk.
By the way I made my MIG experience even more challenging when I started out because I bought a used HF CE MIG off eBay so I had to do a little repair on it first, then teach myself how to use it. This forum and a couple others taught me a lot about it.

I still use my stick and always will. Paul (4shorts) is right. There are places for all the different processes. Pipe fencing is like house framing to me, as MIG is to cabinet making. Both are working with wood but differ widely in tools and techniques.

Keep trying, you'll get it and probably really enjoy it.:thumbsup:

Glenn.

 

[Chilly807]

Thin metal frustrates me no end. For giggles, try welding 3/16" or 1/4" and see if it goes better. If so, then work down to 1/8" and below. Also, use good quality wire like Lincoln. When I ran out of Airgas' Radnor house brand wire, I got a spool of Lincoln wire and it is a pleasure to use.

And as others have said...MIG likes clean metal. Wire brush and/or grind as required to get a well prepped joint.

I hear what you're saying about thin metal. I really like welding 1/8, though.

To me, thin is 20-24 gauge sheet metal. I remember welding up a Husqvarna chain saw muffler a couple years ago, the chain had gouged a hole through it. Trying to fill the hole was quite an experience. I finally got good results by welding very short bursts repeatedly. Ground it smooth with a sanding disc afterwards, now you have a hard time telling the muffler was ever damaged.

The 140 is a good machine, at least for the occasional welder. I suspect a bit of research and practice will lead to better results. I had a 120 volt Miller 135 a few years ago, great little machine within it's limits.

Sean

 

[gauthier]

Gun angle,,,well its more of a do I push or do I pull,,I always pulled,,and if you got gas flow up enough,you'll get shielding[generally speaking],,its that wire making that puddle that you got to watch,Wether you push or pull,,little wire,little puddle,you got to move the gun to point to where you want that puddle,its much less forgiving than stick when it comes to lack of fusion cold lap,you get out of puddle or don't point the gun where you want fusion,you may have got both,,,,stick out of your wire needs to be maintained,[maybe 1/4 to 3/8ths inch?],depends,but that will mess you up if you move nozzel to close or to far away,,your volts and amp setting are for a given stick out,

And I thought he was complaining about mig verses stick??? was just agreeing with him:laughing:,,,

Save your money by a good dc stick welder[unless your an auto body repairman or something,or a sheet metal worker]

 

[firedog]

Gun angle,,,well its more of a do I push or do I pull,,I always pulled,,and if you got gas flow up enough,you'll get shielding[generally speaking],,its that wire making that puddle that you got to watch,Wether you push or pull,,little wire,little puddle,you got to move the gun to point to where you want that puddle,its much less forgiving than stick when it comes to lack of fusion cold lap,you get out of puddle or don't point the gun where you want fusion,you may have got both,,,,stick out of your wire needs to be maintained,[maybe 1/4 to 3/8ths inch?],depends,but that will mess you up if you move nozzel to close or to far away,,your volts and amp setting are for a given stick out,

And I thought he was complaining about mig verses stick??? was just agreeing with him:laughing:,,,

Save your money by a good dc stick welder[unless your an auto body repairman or something,or a sheet metal worker]

Had a few more chances to practice with the wire feed; doing much better.
I've cleaned the metal before welding, evidently just not clean enough for the wire feed. I slowed down the feed speed & adjusted the gun angle, which helped a bunch.
The project I had for the first practice probable wasn't the best choice (a lot of inside corners).
I already have the DC machine, I bought the wire feed for some auto body work I have to do; just trying to get some practice in with it before I actually needed to do any thin metal work.

Thanks for everyone's input.

 

[KWentling]

Lots of good advice here. About the only thing I can add is with wire you want to push the puddle, not drag like stick welding. Dragging tends to trap impurities. Appearance of the bead is the same either way but the quality of the weld is better pushing. I certified about 20 years ago and the welds were X-rayed. Got to see the difference in pushing verses dragging.

Kim

 

[gauthier]

I have been certified also on pipe[with mig[,6g[45 degree fixed],but pulled[you can't push downhill],,that mig likes to run downhill,,but you need to have a little practice:laughing:

 

[KWentling]

I have been certified also on pipe[with mig[,6g[45 degree fixed],but pulled[you can't push downhill],,that mig likes to run downhill,,but you need to have a little practice:laughing:

Yea, pipe welding would be a different animal. Sometimes you have to drag. We do a lot of bore build up by hand that you have to drag the puddle. My certification was structural, all position, unlimited thickness, done with 1/16" 8000NI-II dual shield wire. Had to do verticals and overheads and they were X-rayed. Story behind my certification: Mine maintenance manager was a little concerned when he saw machinists welding on his new Marion shovel. (contract crack repair) All of our welders and three of us machinists certified to ease his mind.

Kim

 

[Just Bill]

I recently bought a very lightly used lincoln sp175t mig welder.
The guy couldn't make it work so he let it sit a couple of years and then sold it.
The wire was rusted in the liner, the wrong feed roller was used, and the polarity was wrong plus he was too lazy to read the book.
I downloaded the manuel from Lincoln and read it, $50 and about 1 hour and it was ready to go.
This link has a lot of good tips and info.
Mig welding is a welding process that is used by millions of people each day.

 

[jayste]

I recently bought a very lightly used lincoln sp175t mig welder.
The guy couldn't make it work so he let it sit a couple of years and then sold it.
The wire was rusted in the liner, the wrong feed roller was used, and the polarity was wrong plus he was too lazy to read the book.
I downloaded the manuel from Lincoln and read it, $50 and about 1 hour and it was ready to go.
This link has a lot of good tips and info.
Mig welding is a welding process that is used by millions of people each day.

You got a great deal on a good little welder! Congratulations!:thumbsup: