Anything welding

What do you prefer, mig or tig? For stuff like fabrication.

 

Depends on the application. Small intricate parts I would tig . If I have alot to weld I would mig. Depends on the person I guess

 

Thats basically the exact same thing I'd say.

Essentially if there are lots of welds or the metal is a little dirty then MIG, but if absolutely clean welds are required on a visual part, or on thin and delicate/thin materials then TIG

 

so for doing a bumper mig, then tig for the pretty bits?

 

it kind of depends on time and budget as well. Mig is a lot faster and therefore cheaper to use on things that can be mig welded

 

cool. thanks for the help!

 

This. And maybe feed the wire to make sure it's not broken.

 

Today I was using my welder for only the second time. I figured out the incorrect heat setting after a couple crappy beads.
However, I was having another problem that maybe someone could help me with. Quite a few times, when I would strike my arc, I would get a "pop" and the stinger would be gone. A couple times it would fuse itself to the tip and I'd have to break it free before it would advance. Is it possible I had the tip too close to the work? Also, the gas diffuser, when fully seated is flush with the tip; is this correct or should I slide the difuser out a bit so the tip is recessed?
I appologize for what may seem like stupid questions, but other than Youtube, I'm learning this by myself. I'd like to take an adult class for Welding, but the only couses I've seen, are full blown classes at the Vocational school.
BTW, it's a Hobart Handler 187, solid wire, using 75/25 mix.

 

Take a look here: www.weldingtipsandtricks.com for some hints.

How close the tip is to the nozzle depends on what you're doing. Generally, the higher the heat, the more the recess-up to about 1/4" or so. So for low heat/current, the tip would be flush with the nozzle.

 

Lookin good Derek!

 

+1

 

Ian408, thanks for the tip. I had actually seen some of those videos on Youtube and there's a lot of good info there.
I actually figured out my problem ... the polarity was reversed. It was set up for flux core, assuming from the factory, and I didn't change it for the solid wire. I still had a couple "pops" when starting, but nothing like before as the stinger was still present; that may have been a poor grounding location. I have a good sizzle now when welding.

 

I've never welded before, but will be in my automotive class in the next few days/weeks. We pulled my grandpa's Miller stick welder out of the barn last week, the handle seems to function, so I figure if we throw in a new power cord, it will probably work. What can I weld with stick? I know I'm a noob and there's probably threads about it, but I figure there's tons of people to help on this thread. Could I weld a custom bed or bumpers with stick?

Thanks everybody, I really appreciate any help.
John

 

Simple answer is yes, you can certainly weld up bumpers/racks/bed with a stick. Would it come out as nice as a mig, not likly but if your good at it you can lay some nice beads. I would use a 7018 rod or something along those lines.

 

Thanks for the quick response! I watched a video on what all them numbers mean, but I don't remember... lol

 

Well a E7018 rod would mean E is for electrode, the first 2 numbers would be the tensile strength (70 = 70,000psi), the 3rd number 1 shows what position (1 is all positions), and the last number shows the coating.

I think thats what they mean, not 100% on that.

 

Thanks again! I think that sounds about right

 

If you want things to look nice.. I would stay away from stick.. You dont have control over heat like mig or tig ie: pulse.

 

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I can do lots of things but the 3 things that I always wanted to learn how to do ... but never did ... were:

(1) Type ........ (2) Play the Piano ....... (3) and Weld ....... and Welding is still high on my list.
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