welded a wire coathook with MIG

[Sodo]

I have a few of these old coathooks. Broke one of them the other day. Rather than trying to replace it, I just welded it. A MIG can weld on the excavator dozer blade one day, then weld a piece of wire next.

It's great having a welder, such a versatile tool. And the repairs done quicker than you can say "I bet you can find those on eBay"

Looking forward to buying a TIG torch!

 

[k0ua]

Well, that is a job that cries out for TIG, but you accomplished it with your MIG, I am a bit surprised, you were able to do it, but you did good.

 

[Shield Arc]

A MIG can weld on the excavator dozer blade one day, then weld a piece of wire next.

The BIG problem with Mig welding, and anything structural. Mig is notorious for cold starts! If you can, incorporating run on, and run off tabs are the way to go for anything structural!

And running vertical down hill with Mig on anything thicker than 1/8" is a BIG no, no!

 

[Sodo]

James I WILL get a TIG, I promise! I'm utting the PRO in procrastination. Wish I had one yesterday so I could start learning it, but have LOTS of projects (non-welding) piling up. MIG for TIG-jobs is OK when its inconsequential. When an important repair comes up that might be ruined with a MIG I won't wait any longer.

And running vertical down hill with Mig on anything thicker than 1/8" is a BIG no, no!

Haha Shield Arc you CAUGHT me. (,,,,,he's referring to a different thread)

Could be a general rule for a new welder for some situations, and is a good subject to have an "understanding" on.

A welder needs to understand the loading that specific weld is expected to support. Must consider the contribution of the other welds that make up a structure. There are lots of folks out there capable of making the decision (,,,,,, that running vertical downhill may be OK). For the hobby/maintenance (farm repair) crowd, -----> if a structure will be sound even if you delete the downhill weld entirely, then the downhill weld is JUST FINE. And in that case adding the downhill weld may make it a little, or even a lot stronger. And it may be more satisfying too.

Yelling is kinda fun sometimes,,,,, good thing I'm WAY OUT IN THE WOODS!

Shield Arc is referring to a different thread but tying this one back to its topic, running downhill on a coathook IS OK !

 

[Shield Arc]

Running vertically down hill is fine for sheet metal. When working out of the sheet metal union I ran a lot of silicon bronze vertical down hill on duct work.

Something for you to think about. Next time you drive to Seattle via I-90, when you leave Mercer Island the last pier before the floating bridge, is all held together with my Mig welds. Would you feel comfortable knowing I ran it all vertical down hill?

 

[Sodo]

Would you feel comfortable knowing I ran it all vertical down hill?

Nope, don't need to think about it. I believe a floating bridge on a municipal highway project falls under a different category. Structural, important, load-bearing welds must be performed to a standard; as specified on an engineering drawing, and will be inspected.

On TBN, fellas here can only DREAM of ever doing an important weld like that - but most wouldn't really want to. Projects I see here are welded, double-welded and triple welded, and ground off it it wasn't pretty. As if the guy has hobby time or something. He just wants to take the pics, paint it, and then go put it on the tractor.

Other times he wants to keep welding because he doesn't really understand where the strength is (in the joint) but mainly wants it to be strong. Maybe he DOES understand where the strength is but just wants to keep welding. Sometimes just doesn't want someone else to who knows better, to question the strength. In my case sometimes I often just add another bead cuz it's not nighttime yet, but some other fellas might do it cuz it's not yet dinnertime yet. It's a different situation, different motivations. Not really "work".

You wrote that thicker than 1/8 is a BIG no-no. Agreed uphill can be done stronger. I will agree that structural welds thicker than 1/8" downhill is where more experience will help you. And that welder should decide if uphill (stronger) is better than downhill (looks good and more fun).

Anyway this is getting pretty far off-topic. I showed the coat hook repair as an example of the versatility of the MIG as a tool. Some folks only have one welder. Others have a stick-welder and a MIG, and are unaware of how useful the MIG can be for repairs NOT possible with the stick welder.

 

[Shield Arc]

My Mig welds were not planned at all! I was the rigging foreman working on the Seattle side of the 3rd Lake Bridge. Our sub contractor who set those box girder beams. Got in a big hurry and couldn't wait on the surveyors to lay out the hole placement in the sole plates. The sole plates were 2-inches thick, with 3-inch bolts holding a lower plate about 4-feet lower. The sole plates were cast in the concrete piers. The sub contractor drilled every hole, half a hole off! WSDOT wanted the sole plates chipped out, and replaced with new. But that would have destroyed the concrete piers, and set the job schedule way back. The project superintendent talked WSDOT into letting me fill all the holes with Mig weld. I had to take a series of welding tests to prove to WSDOT that I could do it. The last test I filled a hole in a 2-inch thick plate, the testing outfit drilled and taped the hole. And pulled a tensile test on the bolt until the bolt broke, not pulled out of the hole.

 

[Soundguy]

Nice job.. i think that would have been a 'braze' job for me..

 

[muddstopper]

Sodo, I think you missed the tip that was just provided to you about mig welding. The suggestion was made to use a start tap to help with the cold startup weld of a mig. A start tab allows you to get a little heat into what every your trying to weld before actually welding on the part. Of course with a coat hook the worse thing that might happen if the weld fails is your coat falls to the floor. I have problems with vertical welds with a 220v stick machine the same as with a mig. Vertical uphill welding will put more heat into a part better than vertical downhill welding whether mig or stick. And you are right, sometimes i will add more weld simply because I got one more rod out of the box than I actually needed

 

[Shield Arc]

Sodo, I think you missed the tip that was just provided to you about mig welding.

That's OK muddstopper, I'm the last guy Sodo is going to listen to. He has told me several times this is just a tractor / home / hobbyist forum. His mind is made up, no one here wants to learn how to weld correctly.