Anything welding

Glad I found this thread. I just bought a DIY plate bumper and I have never welded before in my life. I really want to learn, so my plan is to buy a mig and practice before actually trying to weld my bumper together. Ive had my sliders welded on and they used a Hobart 140 ARC (wirefed) and those welds are strong. Welds arent very clean but it doesnt bother me.

Since Im new can anyone tell me what Im gonna need other than buying a welder, flux wire, gloves, helmet, proper clothing?
Money is an issue but I should be able to get a decent setup. The higher the amp the higher the $ is what i can tell. Thats why ive decided on a 140 mig. If thats not enough for up to 1/4" steel then please let me know. My main concern is to be able to weld my 3/16ths steel plate bumper together, so im mainly focused on what I need to buy for that and to get strong enough welds.

I want to buy a Hobart 140 mig/flux

Some of my questions...
-Im not sure if I need the 220V or if I can get away with 110V?
-Do I need to use gas or can it just be plain wire fed?
-What size wire should I get to weld 3/16th plate together?
-Whats the difference between a 220v or 110v? and why is 220v more often reccomended when 110v is more accessible

These are just some questions I had off the top of my head. Im sure there will be more

Thanks

 

You'll be maxed at 3/16" with a 140amp. You need 180 to get 1/4" in a single pass.
Pick up a decent auto darkening helmet($120+ typically) (no cheap ones like Harbor freight! They can damage your eyes over time!), a decent jacket (around $40+) (and old cotton sweatshirt can suffice but will be susceptible to lighting on fire and letting sparks burn through to your skin), good leather MIG gloves (expect to spend about $20).
Also get a good grinder with sanding flap discs for blending welds, and a few cutoff and grinding stones.


Now to answer a few questions....

Some of my questions...
-Im not sure if I need the 220V or if I can get away with 110V? I would certainly get a 220v if you have 220 available. They're going to have better duty cycles and be able to weld thicker material. Some of the newer small 220 welders are MVP where you can run them off 110 if you go somewhere with it that 220 isnt available (but then again they only run up to 140amps on 110v IIRC, and will max out at 3/16" once again)
-Do I need to use gas or can it just be plain wire fed? Gas will get you much cleaner looking welds, with less post-welding cleanup. Flux core benefits by not having shielding gas to blow away in the wind if welding outdoors, it burns in a litle hotter on small welders, and you can weld dirtier metal with flux core as the flux flushes contaminants from the weld pool
-What size wire should I get to weld 3/16th plate together? On a small welder, probably .030 diameter, or up to .035" on the upper end
-Whats the difference between a 220v or 110v? and why is 220v more often reccomended when 110v is more accessible220 welders are more powerful, as I mentioned earlier. You'll be able to weld thicker metals, and weld similar thickness as a small welder but with increased duty cycle. Look up duty cycles and you'll see what I mean, a lot of small welders are only 20-30% duty cycle.... that means in a 10 minute period they can run for 2-3 minutes and have to cool the remaining 7-8 minutes before welding again. They rate the machines at something like 104* ambient temperature though, so at in cooler weather you can weld a little longer.

 

Thanks for the reply Eric!
I said up to 1/4" because I may possibly go that thick for other mods but 3/16 may be the thickest. So would a 140 mig weld one of your plate bumpers in a single pass?
By the way I your DIY kit is the one I have on order

I'll be sure to get a 220v. Getting the hookup isn't an issue since my uncle is an electrician. Since I'm new I'm trying to make it as simple as possible so I may or may not use gas but I will be welding outdoors more than likely, nothing is definent yet. How big of a tank would I need for a bumper job?

 

if i were you i would do dual shield fluxcore if youre going to get a 140 welder. dual shield means you have the shielding from the flux wire and you are also using gas (c02) it will cause the weld to get more penetration. You dont need a big bottle of gas, you can get by with a smaller bottle for the bumper.

you also dont need a jacket right off the bat, i weld in a long sleeve shirt granted my arms have burn marks in them from time to time. but if you cant afford the jacket right now i wouldnt worry about it.

as far as a hood goes you can get a fixed shade hood, normally like 40-100$ thats all you really need need for mig welding because when you have the hood up you set the nozzle where you want it then flip your hood down and pull the trigger.

 

Stock rack isn't looking like it's going to work. Looking at converting to an older pickup 4x4 box and idler assembly. Feel free to drop by my thread to bs. Don't want to clog this up with my ramblings.

As far as suggestions on dual shield, I personally hate the stuff, but the welds do come out looking like they were polished. Just remember no circles with flux core wire. Forward then half step back motor only. Circular movements will place slag inclusions in the weld.

 

Just noticed this post and thought I would toss some suggestions. When arc welding, you don't really want to be moving the rod in ither direction parallel with the surface to be welded. The stinger and rod should actually be place at such an angle that as therod consumes itself, it naturally burns at the correct speed and heat. This skill takes time to acquire, but once it's done correctly, the weld will tell you so by peeling the slag off of itself.

 

I forgot to meantion ear plugs. I never weld without them. Besides being too loud for me to comfortably weld, they keep sparks from getting in your ear. Until you have experienced it, you will know what I mean. I can't explain it.

If you get the chance to weld using the cover gas, you will never go back to flux core, unless, like you said, you will be welding in windy areas outside. It really is that much better.

 

Thanks for the tip, yeah I'll be sure to get dual flux core and I'll definently get gas. I'm watching some videos and they explained the purpose for gas so now I understand a little better. I may use layers instead of a jacket but I'll definently get leather gloves and a helmet.

 

Also, when welding 3/16 plate together can I make a strong enough weld with one pass using the dual flux core or should I use the back and forth (overlap) method. I will be using gas

 

im not sure how the bumpers are supposed to be welded together but i plan on doing a pass on the inside of the bumper and then a pass on the outside of the bumper, so if you think of it like that you only need to get 3/32" (half of 3/16")of pen on each side to get full pen.

 

Are we talking butt joints or angle joints? Regardless, you should be able to get plenty of penitration on 3/16 plate.

When I made my bumper, I only welded the inside of corners then ground the outsides smooth. They are not going anywhere.

As for "back and fourth" weave, I wouldn't worry too much about the style of welding, You put 2 welders side by side and the guys will have different forms.

A decent welder will use the style if welding to match the conditions. I use at least six forms of weldign when I do my welding. We don't even consciously register the fact that we are using a different on a different joint.

To break it don to the basics: If you can make a good looking weld, there is a pretty good chance that the weld is a quality weld.

 

One good reason to wear a welding jacket is that sparks burn holes in your clothes. If you're wearing polyester or other synthetics, it is possible your clothing will catch fire and melt. Not good.

 

I see no need to run dual shield on a plate bumper. do they even make it in less than .045"? in my experience that stuff doesn't work unless sprayed anyway and a little welder isn't going anywhere near spray.

flux cored wire is(no extra gas) is fine to work with. I like it. as somebody said, it is hotter per volt, and works well in all positions. up, and down.

using gas is EASIER! only because it is more forgiving of settings. you can string bird-shit, going clack, clack, clack, grind it off and no one will ever know unless you get in a wreck. flux core is prone to porosity if settings aren't right

 

Very good point. I guess I should get proper attire. The guys that welded my sliders were wearing long sleeved t- shirts and kept getting burned, especially since they were welding upside down. Either way, I plan to do more welding after the plate bumper so I should get what I need to begin with.

 

If I bought a 140amp 220v mig welder. What Amperage would I have to run it in order to get enough penetration/ strong weld on 3/16'ths steel plate?

For most 140amp welding machines, if I did run it at the full 140 then the duty cycle would be like 10% or less. Most are rated around 90amp-120amp at 30% duty cycle or less.

So if I bought a 140 would I have to run it at 140 or could I run it at 90-120 and get a strong enough weld for a plate bumper (3/16 steel)?

 

As always, the answer is "it depends". It depends on the material thickness, whether or not you're running a shielding gas, etc. The answer is anywhere from 150-190A.

Download Miller's app (free) to give you a better idea of what you'll need.

 

Getting there..

Lots of time in this first set, all the dimensions are my own..

Pissed, because for whatever reason I decided to get a notcher and abrasive cut off saw from Harbor Freight - they're both complete shit. Worse, because I'm totally aware that they're garbage tools, and decided to try and save a few dollars. Instead of needle bearings like the JD2 of JMR notchers - the HF one has brass bushings. One of them dropped right out immediately, and the shaft was bent from the factory. Garbage.

Cut-off saw is one of the biggest piles of shit I've ever used..

Ignore that rough edge on the gusset, didn't clean it up yet and haven't beveled the back side either, yet.

Going to add another tube in the kickout section - need to get some more material.

 

Looks good!

 

What notcher do you use?

I've used the JD2 TN100 at the shop where I bend my tube.. Pretty solid, and not overly insane on the price, either.

http://www.medfordtools.com/metalworking/tubenotcher.html

 

JD2 Notchmaster