Anything welding

220 is a good route to go. And it shouldn't be terribly difficult to wire your garage for it depending on the location of your breaker box. Probably be less than $200. Worth while investment to be able to weld thicker material

 

Figured I'd attempt the ZTFab "MIG like TIG"..

I'm new to MIG, just picked up a machine last month. I've only done 6013/7018, mostly through being an engineer on fishing boats.

Here's what about an hour in my shop got me; need to work on my consistency - and my biggest problem is getting a "death grip" on the gun halfway through the bead.

These are both pushing, about 3/8" stick out.

- 2 steps forward, one back into your puddle, pause. 2 steps forward, one step back into puddle, pause.. etc.

1/4 MS, ER70S-6, 75-25 @ 25 CFM. Gonna have to go out to my shop to get parameters..

Ignore the horrible lighting (blurry), and the left edge of that first bead. Ran over a tack..

 

Intriguing, never heard of that before... me wants to try it!

 

yeah i use that a lot on aluminum spool and stick rod. Just make sure youre always staying in the puddle.

 

Just fooled around with it a little more..

Bumped my wire speed up, to try and get rid of that spatter.

Pretty cool technique - definitely not the only way to weld, though.





A lot of undercut at the start of that last one.. Didn't help that those are 20 year old F150 leaf springs..

 

spatter is caused by to much wire and not enough heat. Did turning the speed up stop splatter for you? on steel i like using circles, and zig zags or depending on the position i use a D pattern. there is almost no wrong way to weld, so its what ever you like best and what you visually like

 

Hmm.. I thought it was caused by too much voltage for the given wire setting..

Yup, bumping up the wire feed got rid of a lot of the spatter. Of course it doesn't help any that that's spring steel, and 20 years old..

 

yeah the old steel prob doesnt help to much, but it could also be a result of gun angel, i run with a 10-15 degree travel angel and i normal push, but if you do a straight pull youll get a narrower bead and more penetration

 

sub'd to learn more about welding later

 

Subbed! Welding is my dig.

 

Need more pictures of the truck

 

Agreed

 

Anyone know of any good online deals /sources for Black Friday / Monday? Looking for a Miller 180 specifically.

 

miller is giving out rebates right now. check cyberweld.com

 

It's coming along. I'll have some new ones up shortly. Should be driving her down the road soon as I'm tying up the cab cage now, then figuring out steering, putting it all back together.

 

X2. I don't know where I got the idea, but gor some reason I thought with MIG you had to make the 'e' / swirl-whatever motion to help bond/mix the metals.

 

ive seen lots of "nickle" welding essentialy the rolled effect you see, it looks gorgeous, from I can tell it holds

Im hoping one of these days ill start welding again

 

Nice!! Just out of curiosity, what are you doing for steering? Using the stock rack and modifying it or are you doing something completely different?

 

I've been teaching myself for the most part using my gramps old arc welder. My work is a mess compared to anything you guys got going on, Any recommendations for future investments in my own tools/materials?

 

If you can weld "half assed" with a stick welder, you are going to love welding with a MIG welder!

I always tell people if they plan on having basic skills welding, get a mig unit. It is a lifetime purchase, you will never wear it out using it for home use.

Stick with the Hobart or Miller units. They can be serviced anywere, which is not really going to happen unless you damage it yourself.