WELDING TECHNIQUES

they are wide. i think i just try to overlap everything a lot so it all is heated up greatly

I tryed some of the advice from this thread today, and My welds already look alot better. who knew SSM was good for something other the bashing amd fighting

Originally posted by iLLblazer



I definitely wouldn't trust the 175 up to 1/2" but it is a great welder and will handle anything you throw at it automotive wise. 1/2" is definitely pushing it though. MAYBE 3/8 but I don't even know if its rated that high.

the pro mig 175 IS rated at 1/2 but with multiple passes.

always make sure that you have you regulator set to the welder specs. it will make a big difference. i was running to much gas pressure and it was cooling the weld as i went and it was causing fat welds. i turn to regulator down and it made a huge difference.

Got this from another site on TIG welding techniques. Worked very well for me:

When I was learning to TIG weld, I was told many times that there are a lot of variations in technique and to keep practising until I 'got' it. That is good advice, but several times I was stuck doing things in various wrong ways until I looked in a book or on the web. Believe it or not, the 'by the book' method works until you develop your own style, the problem is finding a decent book. So I will suggest a couple of things that may be useful if you are learning.

- You can try practising with the machine off. If you can visualise that you are trying to move the torch smoothly with the tungsten close to the metal, then try it without the distractions of welding masks, welding rod, etc, it might cause you to get in the right frame of mind. Make sure you are comfortable, not having a death grip on the torch, tangled up with the hose, etc. You want to be holding the torch almost vertical and 'pushing' it along.

- I found it helped to learn to be smooth, to count beats 1 2 3 4 or breathe regularly. That gets you in the right frame of mind.

- Too much gas is as bad as not enough, it causes turbulence which gets air into the weld, making a mess.

- Don't worry about the stack of dimes, first concentrate on getting a solid weld with no defects.

- If (when) the tungsten gets contaminated, don't even bother trying to carry on until you have re-ground it.

- On Miller's site they have a calculator that gives you ballpark figures for what current to use for different materials, thicknesses, joint types, etc.

- Try welding with the gas off so you get a feel for when this is happening or you are getting a leak.

- It seems backwards, but a sharp point on the tungsten will make the arc diffuse over a wider area, and if it is really sharp, it will wander or otherwise be inconsistent.

- Make sure the tungsten is only just protruding from the ceramic cup.

- If the arc is wandering or sputtering, or the welds are getting contaminated, stop until you find the problem. There is no point in trying to get a good weld under those conditions.

^thats good info

i got a question about MIG though...

a couple of days ago i was practicing on some 1/8" steel and i was welding a butt joint. i even bevelled the edges, though i probably didn't need to. anyway, i was using a Miller 251, and set the voltage and wire speed to the recommended settings on the chart inside the welder. all of my welds seemed to be sitting on top of the steel, instead of being more flush with it. i even went pretty slow to make sure it penetrated well. i assume that i needed to turn the voltage and wire speed up more to fix this, like i should have set it up by the chart for 3/16" even though i was doing 1/8". so how do i go about finding the right voltage and wire speed if the chart settings aren't working well? and how do i get my welds to be more flush and penetrated into the metal instead of sitting on top of it?

^ Over time, you start to get a feel for it. And each machine is different. I weld on the same heat setting most of the time. Try bumping up the heat, or slowing the wire feed down a bit, and make a slightly wider pass.

However a butt joint is always going to produce a slightly taller weld.

Vertical MIG? what techniques for vertical does everyone use. top to bottom or bottom up. a stitch pattern or straight line.

Originally posted by LowBlazin



Vertical MIG? what techniques for vertical does everyone use. top to bottom or bottom up. a stitch pattern or straight line.

I go bottom up, that way I don't have to fight gravity.

Seth, you had a picture once of a rear end that was being narrowed. The edges were beveled on the section that was cut out. What tool was used to bevel the edges? What tool do you guys normally use and what technique?

The correct way to run a vertical bead, is vertical up. And you make a shape similar to a Xmas tree. It has to do with gravity. Vertical down is said to flow too fast and cool the bead quickly creating a weak bead.

Nathan, the beveling on that axle was done by first using a cutoff wheel between the tack welds to open a gap. Then a hard stone was dug into those grooves. Since its thick it created a bevel on its own. It wasn't beveled before being tacked together, for easy assembly.

But for any beveling I usually use a hard stone and work the edge until it looks like about a 30-45 degree chamfer.