Welding Tips and Tricks

Hello guys, I am new at this forum so be patient I am a metal sculptor, and I have bee MIG welding for a while and even when i consider myself a good welder I would not try to weld anything where a life is at stake. Therefore, i still have some welding 101 questions. Here there is one of those. I did a litle experiment and found that I can use my MIG welder without gas to get some interesting texture on my pieces. however I am scared to mess up my equipment. Will I damage my welder doing that?

Thank you


Alfredo Alamo

No sir, it will not mess up your welder. It may goober up your tip and nozzle from the weld spatter, but that can be cleaned off. Weld on

jpence38 is correct, it will not harm your machine.

I caution you, however, not to rely on these gasless welds to support any weight or bear any stress from the wind, etc. If in doubt, conceal a proper weld on the back side of the piece (or wherever appropriate). Do not trust these "textures" to support your structure.

Thank you so much Otto and Jpence for your answer, now I feel free to do it.