Welding Tips and Tricks

Hello

I am needing to weld 1/4 steel plate with my Millermatic 135 and .030 (75/25 gas) solid wire. I would hate to buy a new machine to weld 10 - 8" passes but I may have to if my machine won't cut it ! I am making post bases to go on my porch that I am building. Can I get descent penetration if I go up hill, bevel the edges and make multiple passes?

Thanks for your help !

Randy

You certainly can do this - but it will take a long time as your machine will likely keep tripping the circuit breaker after a while.

The duty cycle is extremely low wide open.

But, if you are not in a hurry you should be fine.

Gravity holds the post to the plate for the most part anyway (assuming they are the bottom).

I would upgrade your machine though. They really aren't much good over 1/8".

Maybe just pick up a cheap used stick welder for $150. Provided you can stick weld that is.

Great, thank you for the quick reply. Fortunately I have plenty of time to let the machine cool down. I really want to buy the next size bigger but I wasn't planning on buying one this soon. I appreciate your response. What I am building is a "U" shape bracket for an 8 x 8 post.

I see, so the weld will be an outside corner joint.

This is more favorable to using an undersized machine.

Set up the joint with the inside corners touching so there is an open corner to weld - top row, second from the left.

MinnesotaDave wrote:You certainly can do this - but it will take a long time as your machine will likely keep tripping the circuit breaker after a while.

The duty cycle is extremely low wide open.

But, if you are not in a hurry you should be fine.

Gravity holds the post to the plate for the most part anyway (assuming they are the bottom).

I would upgrade your machine though. They really aren't much good over 1/8".

Maybe just pick up a cheap used stick welder for $150. Provided you can stick weld that is.

ditto ^^