Anything welding

What grade of 4130? there is Annealed, Normalized, Quenched & Tempered. I hope you got an awesome deal because it will do nothing much more then mild for you unless it's heat treated and normalized after welding. Also I would only Tig weld as heat is a killer of hardened steel.

 

I thought 4130 was the grade.

Local place, this is what I picked up -

http://www.speedymetals.com/pc-6150-8431-14-x-12-x-12-4130-pickled-and-oiled-plate.aspx

 

Yeah I kinda worded that wrong it is the grade of steel but its treated different when heat is applied. The price is right but I would Tig it and at least normalize it after welding.

 

I've never TIG welded before. I've thought about renting a tig welder if need be. Could/should I build the diff covers with mild steel and simply weld some 4130 to high-impact areas?

 

interesting that this has been brought up. does anybody know of a good reference to learn alloysXheat-treatment for steel, aluminum, and/ or chromoly?

in my work steel (pipe) is welded to whatever specs call for: 60k lb gets 60xx+ filler and if it specs 70k lb it gets 70xx+ filler. I know that some jobs require higher tensile strengths but I have only gone as high as 90k lb wire and that was more for fun than anything. it cracked at most start/stop points. rather than follow directions I would like to KNOW directions

the small amount of aluminum I weld if not specd out I run what is on the shelf (4340 for 6061? its been awhile) I know that aluminum is much more picky on alloy/ heat treatability and I would like to know WHY im running certain fillers.

stainless is easy. job wants 304? fill with 308L. job wants 316? fill with 316L

I have never touched chromoly but would love to learn the different alloys/ heat-treatment

where can I get the skinny?

 

The 4130 wont be much different without the heat treat.

 

D 1.1
AWS ANSI Structural Steel Welding Book Code D1.1

 

It would almost be the same, might as well just but more filler in. On the impact areas.

 

I hope this isn't too random for this thread but I saw this cool show on Netflix called "Secrets of the Viking Sword: NOVA". It's a PBS NOVA show so it's available on Netflix and PBS online. The program discusses carbon content and impurities in steel affects the different qualities of a sword. A blacksmith tries to recreate the process they used back in viking times to recreate a viking sword.

 

Hi, I want to start welding what is a decent mig machine to pick up and doesn't cost that much. How about Harbor Freight? they have some good price

 

That will never happen the cheapest Mig that is decent starts at about 500 bucks. HF does not sell good welders.

 

could i make panhard bar with a 110 mig machine? will it penetrate the metal? I'm planing to make all the rear links for my 4runner

 

When I was 16 I bought a 110 from HF cause I wanted to build a roof rack for my moms explorer. I had just started welding in school that year and thought I could practice some at home. It was def a cheap welder but I got pretty good with it and it welded a small roof rack together fine. I even made a 6 point roll cage in my buddies mkIII. Of coarse it wasn't very good and it was out of small 1" tube but it was still fun to do. My point is that you can weld stuff with them and they can be a cheap option for a beginner .... But ..... Once you get better or want to do something structural then you're gonna end up buying that $500 + welder

 

Look on Craigslist ...I got my miller 211 for 400 bucks

 

Depends on the thickness of the material you want to use.

1 amp for every .001 of thickness. So for 1/8" you would need 125 amps. 1/4" would be 250.

1/8" is about the absolute max you can do with a welder that plugs into a regular household electrical socket

 

I'm looking for a MIG welder for garage use so prob not 220v. Flux core and gas. Pretty easy to use and tune if not auto set. Just a good all around little box. Not going to be building a tank but has to be big enough to build brackets, cross member or maybe one of those military trailers so I can have an expo rig! Any suggestions? Maybe upgradable at a latter time to play with some TIG.

 

The miller 211 is a great unit, can be used as 120v or 240v. Small in size but big on capabilities.

You say "flux core and gas". You do know that you use solid wire if you get the gas?

Flux core works good with out the gas, but once you use the gas you will never use flux core again.

The Hobart Handler 140 is another good choice, but I think it is only 120v. The model numbers change so often that its kind of hard to keep up.

Whatever you buy, try not to be put off on the price. You only buy 1 mig welding set up in your lifetime. Another positive thing about these 2 brands is that they sell very fast for a very large percentage of what you paid for them. Hopefully you don't get in a jam where you have to sell, but its good to know.

 

Yeah I know the difference between gas and flux I was just wanting both capabilities incase I have none or run out of gas. Do these two easily change between wire size for different gauge metal? Don't want to spend a lot but willing to pay for value if that makes sense. Gotta have cash leftover for projects! Thanks for the recommendations. I've welded with gas before but I'm extremely rusty and planning a project!

 

both machines would be fine with either wire. .035" in either type will get you through most any situation a garage would run across. that way you only have to worry about one set of driverolls and liner, (though a liner that accepts 035 should take 045 also. I think 030-045 is typical liner size)

driverolls, ftr, should be knurled for flux-core and smooth for hard-wire but one set of smoothes should do just fine as long as you are running one size of wire.

just remember, as I see people screw this up all the time, electrode positive for solid wire and electrode negative for flux. and flux core will give you more "heat" per volt and is great in all positions

 

Great info, Thanks!