Hi, Everyone I"m another new member to your forum with a question I"m a fairly decent farmer welder but all my welding experience has been with ac stick welders I was thinking about buying a mig to weld light material tractor cabs etc then I was looking at lincoln literature on the D C invertec v155-s and wondered if they could weld light gauge with stick welding It says they produce from 5 to 150 amps DC and they can be powered by a generator So that could be handy on a farm I would surely appreciate any coments or advice Is mig a better option ? probably cost less ? but that small lincoln would be a nice handy machine I look forward to hearing anyones experance on this. Thanks Josey
light gauge with stick welding
Josey
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Hi, Everyone I"m another new member to your forum with a question I"m a fairly decent farmer welder but all my welding experience has been with ac stick welders I was thinking about buying a mig to weld light material tractor cabs etc then I was looking at lincoln literature on the D C invertec v155-s and wondered if they could weld light gauge with stick welding It says they produce from 5 to 150 amps DC and they can be powered by a generator So that could be handy on a farm I would surely appreciate any coments or advice Is mig a better option ? probably cost less ? but that small lincoln would be a nice handy machine I look forward to hearing anyones experance on this. Thanks Josey
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89 Posts
I had similar questions and frustration trying to well light gauge stuff with a stick welder. I tried very small rods like 1/32 -- still got burn through on a fairly regular basis. Bought a 110 volt Lincoln mig welder and I've really enjoyed the experience. Just bought some 24 gauge sheet to try this weekend. This will be the thinest stuff so far,but I think I'll be successful. I did buy the higher end machine with infinite wire speed (amp) control.
mig welding is great! I use the stick for the heavy stuff that the light duty (110 volt) isn't meant to do.
Bob
mig welding is great! I use the stick for the heavy stuff that the light duty (110 volt) isn't meant to do.
Bob
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30 Posts
the stick can work on light gauge, try changing the polarity to DCEN if you are using a DC machine and the rod will burn cooler
HI, Bob How did Your mig handle the 24 gauge material? What make of welder did you buy?
For 16 ga, I start at 55-56a DCEN and go from there with a 3/32 6010 or 6011. You have to move quickly and whip. It takes some practice, but can be learned.
Denrep, the technique will transcend any machine quality. I learned and did quite a bit of this with a red tombstone and a Miller T'bolt. Machine quality doesn't mean a thing if you don't know how to do it.;....then once you know how to do it, the machine type won't matter. You simply adapt to the machine's arc.
Denrep, the technique will transcend any machine quality. I learned and did quite a bit of this with a red tombstone and a Miller T'bolt. Machine quality doesn't mean a thing if you don't know how to do it.;....then once you know how to do it, the machine type won't matter. You simply adapt to the machine's arc.
have you tried 1/16" 6013 @ 25-30 amps dc+? never tried it with dc-. guess i'll have to give that a shot. thanks for the tip.....jim
I have used them a long time ago and never ever came close to liking them. I really don't like any 6013. 7014 is ok, but for sheet, all I ever needed was a 6010/11.
This is the process we used back when i worked for a shop manufacturing industrial ovens lincoln tomb stone dc using 3/32 and 1/8 electrodes 6010 and 6011 even did the corner joints like this with the 16 gauge everything had to be free of pinholes cause if you got a pin hole it would build a pool of water on top of the oven from the steam releasing . the ovens were 14 ft wide 10ft tall and about 50 feet long some where bigger
I would start my puddle and whip it
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Why not just use OA? It's more versatile and is very easy to use on sheetmetal.
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I regularly weld 18 ga with a lincoln hobby welder. I have pictures of some 14 ga tubing on here somewhere. the thing with sheet metal you want to start with the edge and carry the heat into the panel where there is a larger heat sink area. I will see if i can find those pictures.
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here they are. you will notice I started at the edge and carried the weld to the center. some have commented on them before about doing it in one pass. I am not saying it can't be done, but you run too big of a chance of blowing the edge due to carrying too much heat. A comple of simple rules in welding sheet and you will be golden. Start on the edge, don't carry too much heat, and balance your welds to minimize warpage.
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Sorry for the delay -- missed the follow-up. I bought a Lincoln SP135 plus. The "plus" gives you infinite wire speed settings rather than just 4 tap settings.
I have not started project with the 24 gauge yet, but I'm sure it will be just fine -- just take some practice getting the right amount of "heat" to get penetration without blowout. Will require most likely multiple small, short passes to avoid heat build up.
Look into some of the Fill-Freeze rods. I use 3/32 7014 for light gauge metal, and I run it cold. The celluloid flux is good for an easy restrike. It deposits faster than 7018, and freezes faster too. And it doesnt penetrate like a 6010 or 6011.
The welding shop has some 1/16 inch rods that may work too, although in my shop none of them have AWS codes on them, so who knows what they are. Dont be scared to hold the arc long enough to make a puddle...pull out before you blow through. A series of overlaping puddle spot welds would be my way to go.
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