The guys that help me with trimming all the bushes was digging the totem pole and asked about if I was a welder by trade.
Once I was done giggling I said no, just a hobbyist. He asked if I'd be willing to tack the grating back down on his trailer. Heck yeah, it's only 103F in the sun.
Always feels good to help a brother out. But I'm definitely getting too old to do much in the middle of the day anymore.
Yeswelder MIG-205DS
(3) Angle Grinders at the Ready
Just a hobbyist trying to improve
The guys that help me with trimming all the bushes was digging the totem pole and asked about if I was a welder by trade.
Once I was done giggling I said no, just a hobbyist. He asked if I'd be willing to tack the grating back down on his trailer. Heck yeah, it's only 103F in the sun.
Always feels good to help a brother out. But I'm definitely getting too old to do much in the middle of the day anymore.
Lose the part I'm working on............finally find it. Forget where I put my safety glasses........find 'em. Forget where I put my seein' glasses........find 'em. Can't find the tape measure. Lose the part again. I went through THREE SILVER PENCILS TODAY.............lost every damn one of them.
I get so damn frustrated I want to just walk away from it all some days. It's gotta be stinkin' age. Never used to be this bad.
Your welder sounds like mine. Won't feed for crap. Wire speed goes up and down while welding. Cuts out during running a bead.
Never am sure why it won't feed. It seems to stick in the contact tip. On occasions when it doesn't birdnest, it digs a spot in the wire trying to feed. I pause a second, watch, it cools enough to break loose from the tip & jumps out 1/4".
It was sputtering a bit (not feeding steady) before I ran out of wire. Switched to a roll I'd had upstairs in the garage where humidity is always low. It was visibly darkened on top of the roll where it had been sitting, as though dust was corrosive. Seth theorizes mice walked on it.
I spun off a few layers, it filled a 30 gallon garbage bag. It just wouldn't feed. I tried new tip, no help.
I did buy a new roll of .035, it runs better.
This welder is a bugger feeding! I have three conventional guns. A little bitty one bought for .023 wire, never successfully ran an inch of wire. Instant birdnest.
Original gun M25 runs .030 or .035 some of the time, other times not good.
Big 400 amp Bernard gun is most troublesome. I ran dual shield a few times successfully, but last try was a fail. I tried a hundred things. By project end I was using lube I bought at Maine Oxy. Found a "jump liner" that came with the gun. It is a smaller bore liner maybe 16" long to fit in the gun. You cut off the long liner & replace the end with this. They explained the wire I was using was made for 85/15 gas & I was running 45/25. Something must have worked, I finished my trailer hitch.
There is a former "Miller Certified Repair" guy. I paid him $100. to tell me my rollers weren't aligned. He turned the screws 1/4 turn, declared it fixed, it was worse than ever. I've since tried minor fine tuning without success.
I hate to send it away, I won't have a welder for months, it's my only MIG.
Last edited by Willie B; 08-07-2022 at 12:45 PM.
An optimist is usually wrong, and when the unexpected happens is unprepared. A pessimist is usually right, when wrong, is delighted, and well prepared.
Across the street neighbor asked for some assistance with a gate that was sagging. Owners are proud of the rustic look and want any solution to match cosmetically. Measured twice, kicked the dirt some, tossed a few ideas around before deciding to try a little wheel that will support the weight as it closes and latches.
Before I attach the wheel (they choose the antique look) a change is requested, can we extend the fence and relocate the gate? Thinking it might be a good time to build it better I choose ten feet of 4" x 4" square tubing, 3/16" wall thickness buried 4' deep. My neighbor is running the job, digs the hole, I help him mix six sacks of cement, and set the post.
Last edited by _Dom; 08-07-2022 at 02:20 PM.
Reason: Straighten pictures
Miller Multimatic 220AC
Miller Thunderbolt 225
Victor OA
A few days later I added the horizontals, 2" x 2" sq 1/8" wall. My neighbor then installed the pickets. You can see the original post was galvanized in the above picture, prepped with a quick pass from a flap disc. Still learning about the MIG, auto settings for 75/25 gas, working outdoors but didn't have much wind to deal with so minimal loss of shielding. Customer is liking it, they want the "rustic" look, I am all about posting pictures on WW so they graciously accept me trying my best.
Need to start taking notes, tried push, pull, on horizontal, uphill and down on the vertical. Relying on the grinder to make me look competent, no paint on this job. You can see the barrel hinges, hoped to be able to reuse them and it worked out OK. Will include settings in the next post.
Last edited by _Dom; 08-07-2022 at 02:26 PM.
Reason: more pictures
Miller Multimatic 220AC
Miller Thunderbolt 225
Victor OA
Settings as auto selected for the thinner section (.120" ) 17.7 V, 304 WFS. 75/25 gas, 20 CFH, .030 wire. As mentioned I am still getting used to having a machine that pusehes its own filler, not at alll happy with my results. Often the deposited weld is humped up in the center so I am trying all sorts of motion, whip, circle, Z trying to get the toes wetted out. I am thinking my best reults were pulling on the horizontal fillet, downhill on the vertical. ran a few stringers and touched up some high spots with the grinder.
Thinking I should add the little wheel, post will be filled with concrete and is certainly solid as it sits today. My concern is the soil is mostly sand so the post may sag over time. The existing post was probably plenty stout, worked well for years and only recently began sticking as it latched. We talked about some adjustable hinges, decided this would be a worthwhile approach.
Last edited by _Dom; 08-07-2022 at 03:14 PM.
Reason: added text
if the bead is humped and toes not wetting you can be sure its a bit cold. rather than autoset you can look at the chart in the door. if the material thickness on the door doesnt give good results you can go up to the next bigger material thickness also. or halfway between the one your at and the next setting up. with mig ,about the only time you turn it down and not up is on very thin stuff like .065 or smaller or open root stuff. other wise crank that motha up
if the bead is humped and toes not wetting you can be sure its a bit cold. rather than autoset you can look at the chart in the door. if the material thickness on the door doesnt give good results you can go up to the next bigger material thickness also. or halfway between the one your at and the next setting up. with mig ,about the only time you turn it down and not up is on very thin stuff like .065 or smaller or open root stuff. other wise crank that motha up
Not always voltage you need to turn up. Sometimes a small increase in wire speed makes the difference between cold weld & good fusion. I can see it in the bead 1/2 second after it's welded. If the deposit is red hot & a distinct line of not red hot workpiece, you need more heat.
Good fusion is visible, once cool it lays on like water on a weathered car hood. Cold MIG deposit beads up like water on a waxed car hood.
An optimist is usually wrong, and when the unexpected happens is unprepared. A pessimist is usually right, when wrong, is delighted, and well prepared.
Gota turn the volts down and wire way down when going up is what I’ve learned going uphill. And when starting helps to have a shelf made by a couple triggers tacks. And grind a groove in there to give the weld a place to go. Slowing down would probably flatten that out a lot. Doesn’t look that bad to me tho. I’ve learned not to whip it, that’s how you get a cold looking weld. You can actually make the weld really big going uphill. And weaving spreads the heat out and flattens the beads
Last edited by motolife313; 08-07-2022 at 09:41 PM.
Cornchip, you are spot on checking the doorchart, I have noticed it there and keep meaning to look closer ! Really just faking it with MIG, did I mention this is the beginning of my second bottle of gas and spool of wire?
Willie, great tip on watching as it cools. Will pay more attention to that in future. I understand that wire speed should be my first adjustment (after lurking here so many years). Just hoping to get it settled in my "muscle memory". I cant seem to shake the old bad habit of cranking up the heat (voltage) and moving faster as an answer to any and all problems.
Moto, Turning both voltage and wire feed down for uphill is something I will try on the bench, it isnt simply practice that makes your welds consistent, it is perfect practice. I seem to have moments of excellence punctuated by " ah crap, guess that is a do-over"
Last edited by _Dom; 08-08-2022 at 12:15 AM.
Miller Multimatic 220AC
Miller Thunderbolt 225
Victor OA
vertical up no weaving. That’s a overhead weld too. Turned the machine down for the other side. 24 volts or so and 175 wire, at least that’s what the machines said and 1/16 wire
That would take me 2 clamps, chunk of angle, tape measure and simple square and a hammer. Maybe even angler and 1 clamp, hole or better yet a slot in narrow piece of big angle for a bolt. A version of this.
Looks good. Could you share some of your techniques/ tools for aligning fixturing and squaring those parts?
Congrats on the new job.
Triggered a couple tacks at the bottom for a shelf to start on then just slowly worked my way up kinda going up 1/8 maybe and pause for a millisecond and just continue doing do, try to keep the torch straight, I don’t do much fitting, just weld lol. Pretty sure they just use basic hand tools and digital angle finder for angled parts. Thank you
A few days later I added the horizontals, 2" x 2" sq 1/8" wall. My neighbor then installed the pickets. You can see the original post was galvanized in the above picture, prepped with a quick pass from a flap disc. Still learning about the MIG, auto settings for 75/25 gas, working outdoors but didn't have much wind to deal with so minimal loss of shielding. Customer is liking it, they want the "rustic" look, I am all about posting pictures on WW so they graciously accept me trying my best.
Need to start taking notes, tried push, pull, on horizontal, uphill and down on the vertical. Relying on the grinder to make me look competent, no paint on this job. You can see the barrel hinges, hoped to be able to reuse them and it worked out OK. Will include settings in the next post.
It's hard to weld uphill when you're on top of the joint, looking down through the arc. I never can really see the puddle fully, and rely on a good deal of muscle memory. If you don't do it every day, it takes time to get your mojo back.
So you all vertical up mig w/o any weave? I don't weld anything heavy, so I've always avoided mig up. I think I've only once done one up that was passable.
Mig up is really good. Its really easy to get good fusion, can get it to the root and wash the faces in a fillet. Everyone knows what gorilla welds are?
Mig up is really good. Its really easy to get good fusion, can get it to the root and wash the faces in a fillet. Everyone knows what gorilla welds are?
The operator can compensate a little, melt in a root and heats it up for a second heavy pass. Even with little less focus on appearance, under the backside of a truck bumper etc no risk of running cold over top on heavy sections going down. I do a lot of down, its my fave mig pass but in gaps, on light material, plates with edges can be well melted etc. But 2 channels to a truck bumper to heavy plate and its up.
WeldingWeb Craftsman
Originally Posted by Shootr
The guys that help me with trimming all the bushes was digging the totem pole and asked about if I was a welder by trade.
whtbaron liked this post
vertical up no weaving. That’s a overhead weld too. Turned the machine down for the other side. 24 volts or so and 175 wire, at least that’s what the machines said and 1/16 wire
a beam from today
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