Welding Tips and Tricks

Hi ya'll:
I've already purchased a miller 212 unit with spool gun. But from what I'm seeing on this site, many of you use TIG which makes me wonder if I purchased the wrong unit (MIG). I thought I had done a large amount of research before buying this MIG setup but seeing some of the pic's on this site using TIG, I'm quite impressed with those results.
I'd also like to hear anyone's thoughs on using MIG on aluminum in an outside situation. I'm having great difficulty MIG welding aluminum outside and seeing results to be happy with.
All thoughts are welcome.

RPat,
I don't think that you made a bad choice in buying a Mig welder per se, but if all you plan to weld is Aluminum then a Tig welder may have been a wiser choice. You can weld Aluminum with a Mig welder and a spoolgun, but it's usually used in more of a production setting than a hobby situation. I've seen some very respectable welds produced with a spoolgun in the hands of a first rate welder.

I'd say if you're like most hobby welders out there and just want to be able to build your own 'things', then a Mig welder is a good choice because the majority of these 'things' are going to be built out of steel. Whether it be workbenches, lawn furniture, trailer hitches, boat trailers and the like.

Myself, I prefer Tig welding and will use it even when it's not the best choice and cost myself time and money doing it. I have a Lincoln 180 Mig welder setting right next to a stick/Tig welder and I know I should use it more but don't. I hardly ever stick weld at home either and that's what I learned to weld with in my younger days.

I wouldn't let one project make you think you made a bad choice in equipment.

Len

Thanks Len for taking the time to comment. I greatly appreciate it.
My iron/steel projects so far with my new equipment is one of satisfaction with it. The results have been to my liking so far. The aluminum has been another story but I "chalk it up" to lack of experience with the equipment and playing around with the settings so far. But as I mentioned in the first post, mig welding outside on aluminum has been a real challenge.

thanks again sir,
RP

Welding with shield gas, whether it's with Mig or Tig in the outdoors is a challenge. You need to put something up around the area to block the air from stealing your Argon.

A windscreen of some sort is needed with only a reasonable amount of air flow to keep enough air for you to breath. What I'm saying is it can't be sealed off completely with the Argon having nowhere to escape. If your fumes are moving other than straight up, that's a problem.

Keep after it, it takes time.

Len


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Well put on the windscreen outdoors. I just finished a job on a 17 yard aluminum dumptruck bed needing alot of patching and cracked weld repairs.I used a 250 amp spoolgun on it outside and blocking wind was a must. On that thick of aluminum i prefer the spoolgun to tig myself, but i had to repair an 1/8 inch thick truckbed toolbox and tig was the right choice due to limiting the cleaning action on the diamond plate. Every application has different options so you didn't make a bad choice but you may need to spend alot of seat time to see great results on all aplications.


David

MIG/MAG is never a bad choice for what us hobbyists do in general.

One advantage with the TIG worth to mention is that it is almost spatter free meaning you can weld in areas or around sensitive things where a mig would be out of the question without shielding the area completely.

Hey, RPat-
I've seen some "MIG like TIG" aluminum welds on other welding sites so it may just be a technique hurdle to get past. (I have not MIG welded aluminum myself so I can't comment.) Your Miller is definitely good equipment. I'm new to this site and just noticed the TIG section has the most posts and activity- but if MIG is filling your needs why change?

If you're MIG welding aluminum outside and finding it tough because of wind or other conditions, TIG will be equally or even more subject to that limitation. If you're just plain interested in the TIG process, bad enough to make the jump, you might sell or trade the MIG for a TIG. Or best of both worlds, if you have the means and the space, maybe you could add TIG to your shop.

Sites such as WT&T.com and the wide availability of inverter TIG machines have made TIG much more accessible. MIG is already widely available (sold at Walmart, Lowes, Home Deep, etc.) and maybe for that reason doesn't have the same wow factor as TIG, but MIG *done well* is still a skill that many have yet to achieve.

Startin to get all poetical here, so maybe I should quit while I'm ahead!

Great comments from all. THANKS MUCH !!

RPat wrote:Hi ya'll:
I've already purchased a miller 212 unit with spool gun. But from what I'm seeing on this site, many of you use TIG which makes me wonder if I purchased the wrong unit (MIG). I thought I had done a large amount of research before buying this MIG setup but seeing some of the pic's on this site using TIG, I'm quite impressed with those results.
I'd also like to hear anyone's thoughs on using MIG on aluminum in an outside situation. I'm having great difficulty MIG welding aluminum outside and seeing results to be happy with.
All thoughts are welcome.

What thickness aluminum are you trying to mig weld?

I'm firmly in the camp of MIG and TIG and stick

My preferred method, TIG, MIG, dual-shield, or stick, depends on who's paying me (and how much!). (Not quite true... I like TIG for the quiet and clean, and I like stick-on-pipe for reasons I can't even explain to myself.)

Every process has it's place, and there's so much overlap that arguing the merits is often pointless.

Become as good as you can with what you have, and carefully explore what you'd like to expand your skills to before you buy another machine.

Steve S

I'd keep after it as everyone else has said RPat.

In regards to the two of you who have mentioned that TIG has the most posts, TIG is the most fickle beast of the three major welding processes. No offense, but most people can make a mediocre MIG weld after watching a YouTube video.

Now, I'm not saying that MIG is easy, but it requires one hand as opposed to two, and you just have to maintain constant and consistent movement speeds/oscillations to maintain an aesthetic and functional weld. I'm also not saying that making a repeatable structurally sound MIG weld is easy, but for most people's intents and purposes, they just load the .023 spool and never bother to change it until it runs out.

Also, for what its worth, you won't find many fans of the MIG like TIG method on here, and it is not something you should strive for. (Not that it isn't cool as fuck, but continue reading and I'll explain why) Paul, aka ZTFab from Welding Web has perfected his method for this, and his welds are structurally sound. YOU, and other new welders that end up reading this, need to learn how to make a consistent, functional, aesthetically pleasing MIG bead before you try and learn an alternative method like Paul's.

Stick welding is the same way, although for me its the most difficult because the last time I burned a rod I was 10 or 12 and had no clue what I was doing. Braehill showed me how to make it light, and I just basically messed around for an hour or two. Most people can cobble things together to the point that they'll hold for as long as they need them to.

TIG welding in my mind is the most rewarding of the processes, because only people that TIG weld and have honed their craft realize how much work goes into getting that perfect looking bead. Granted, after you put in the time under the hood, it can almost become automatic, but everyone else that is at that point knows exactly how much time and labor you spent getting there.

In closing, as others have said in different threads, every process has its place. You will not achieve pretty welds at first. You need to verify that they are functional before you make them aesthetically pleasing. Most aluminum welds I see that come from Wabash, Stoughton, and Great Dane (3 of the bigger trailer manufacturers) look like shit, especially compared to a TIG bead, but they work! And that is the most important part. Your welds need to work better than they look, not the other way around!

Excellent thoughts and suggestions. Currently, I'm at the point of trying to weld aluminum, making it work for what I'm trying to do without burning holes that I can't patch and yet achieve my goals. These goals are some I've had for 15 years so after laying some nice beads on the bench I am very anxious to start on the projects, which I have but the results are not what I expected but I'm making them work and trying to hide the flaws.
I've had a stick welder for 20 plus years, used it ONLY when I needed to "fix" something and had to relearn how to use it each time which is ok. Once you learn to ride a bike it typically doesn't take long to relearn it. Same with my stick welder.
My new MIG is my first MIG so I knew it would require some ramp up time. Ok, I'm rambling now so I'll stop.
Thanks again for taking the time to help a newbie on a new MIG. It's very much appreciated.

Also, spoolgun's are hard to get down, even compared to regular MIG welding. I've never tried it, but Braehill (my father) has a spoolgun, and said its rather difficult sometimes, so don't be discouraged that you're finding it hard to get down pat. Just keep on, keepin on man!

Thanks for the encouragement. I'm working on 2 projects today alone with my MIG/spoolgun. Thanks goodness my grinder is handy to correct the mistakes and re-try it. I'll post pictures later but no closeups. Too embarrassing.

RPat wrote:Thanks for the encouragement. I'm working on 2 projects today alone with my MIG/spoolgun. Thanks goodness my grinder is handy to correct the mistakes and re-try it. I'll post pictures later but no closeups. Too embarrassing.

Honestly, we will be able to help a little better with closeups.
-Jonathan

Thanks Jonathan. I'll post some closeups as soon as it stops raining. A daily occurrence lately.
To pick your brain before then: I'm having great difficulty with inside corners once the primary piece is welded on the boat. Then I measure the remaining pieces and add to it. I'm attempting to weld the inside corner the same way I weld flat or outside corners but it's not working with the same mig settings and same distance (or try to) with the gun tip to the piece. I'm seeing a larger buildup of aluminum weld and not smooth stacking as with other welds. I don't want to turn up the voltage too much for fear of burning thru the piece which I did yesterday on one piece.
What are your suggestions on inside corners for aluminum?

It has been a LONG time since I have used a spool gun. Presently I have a PP gun with pulse and pulse on pulse. Depending on thickness I run downs with pulse set high enough to lay flat and not burn through. For your spool gun you are going to have to run different settings. A "T" joint is the hardest alum weld in my opinion. Depending on which direction you are welding, try turning it up and see how that works for you.
-Jonathan