Thread: Welder question

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.......didn't engineer's design the Challenger??? zzz

It's got a whole lot more to do with the expertise of the guy welding and the technique used then the equipment used !!! I've seen guys with a $4,000.00 tig that can't make a strong and safe joint, and my pal Bart can weld better with a stick then most people can with a mig. I've got a 200 amp mig, and a small 220 volt mig for panel work, big thing I don't like about the 110 volt welders is the short duty cycle and the voltage doesn't seem to be near as stable with 110 as it is with 220.

i've circle track raced and built my own 6 point roll cage .i used my little 110 v wire feeder just like you describe. my goal was to be securely wrapped within a cacoon of tubing, 'cause i hate getting hurt, and i took some vicious hits on the track with nothing but a beat up race car as a result. i even took a hit that bent the front end out of alignment far enough that i had to cut the frame rails off and weld them back on straight. the secret is, as has been mentioned, is to fishplate the weld. no verticle welds, only horizontal, top and bottom, or as written, diagonally. i don't feel that welding all the way around is a good idea, it may cause too much heat and weaken the area. for someone not confident in their skills, the horizontal welds are easier to do well. 1/4 inch plate should be heavy enough, verticle height almost to the top and bottom of the frame, and at least 2 to 3 inches ahead and behind the root pass area. do it to both sides of the frame. bare metal is the only thing to weld to.

I've done both also and find the fluxcore to be good for stuff like fixing the lawn mower handle, wheel barrow bracket, and other low stress items when know one cares how it looks. Mig gives you a much better weld with good penatration and control. That's what I used on my frame. The area where I work has about six different welding shops and one of the guys is a perfectionist, big time. He has welds better and anyone I have ever seen. Right now he is repairing a 57 Chevy frame and using Mig. So...there ya go!

especially when you consider the rear **frame** of a Nova is essentially a thicker sheet metal.
maybe an overlap of the original/repair metal pieces, sheet metal screws to hold TIGHT while welding top and bottom overlaps- no gaps.

......I like what Dave said; "it's got a whole lot more to do with the expertise of the guy welding and the technique used than the equiptment used".... Very True... plus if the guy doing the welding has expertise he'll know what equiptment to use without hesitation..... bill

I think Tig has become the current buzz-word and does have some advantages, mainly pretty looking welds. But a high quality mig welder, used by a competent welder is every bit as good, IMO.

When I built my '27 I took the frame to an autoshop instructor who teaches welding. I wanted him to mig it (that was 15 years ago) He laughed at me and told me he was going to arc weld it. I argued I wanted the welds to be pretty, he said they would be. He was right. WHen I picked up the frame, the welds looked like they had been done on a welding machine. Perfect.

My kid has become a very proficient mig welder, and has a nice Miller outfit, with a bottle of gas on it. I asked him if we should buy a tig, and he feels it would only give us the stacked nickel look, nothing more. We've had to take some of his welds apart to move things, etc, and there is super penetration with the mig. The parts were NOT coming apart easily.

I think it boils down to what you feel comfortable using. A whole lot of hot rods were built well using buzz boxes before other stuff became available. Me, my welds hold, but look like a monkey did them.

JMO,


Don

All welding processes have the same outcome, you joined 2 pieces of metal with electricity, i can weld with any process and make it look like the popular "stack of nickels" its all in the technique . Arc welding gives you a good fast thick bead, mig gives a little more control over speed and size of the bead, tig gives complete control, mostly on thin metal, i have welded razor blades w tig, quality in the machine is important, that decides what metal thickness you can choose from ,heat range adjustability, etc, and most important , practice practice practice

I still do all my frame and heavy work with an old 180 Amp Lincoln buzz box. The welds are great welds, but they are not as pretty as a mig. I use my mig on body metal, running 0.020 solid wire and a gas bottle. I have never had a weld failure, however on some of the exposed welds from the Lincoln stick welder, I have been known to break out the bodyfiller to pretty them up a bit before painting.

If you use a sweeping motion with the stick, it will look like mig weld ,i.e travel forward then sweep back to the crown of the bead ,kinda backfilling, then move forward again,and repeat it will look better,pretty much the same as doing a vertical up weld except on a flat weld you drag the rod instead of push, and stay at about 20 degrees from vertical, or 70 degrees from the work surface

Have yall seen the pulsed Mig outfits? The company I work for just bought about 10 new Lincoln Pulse Mig setups. Pretty cool.

Originally Posted by hotroddaddy

If you use a sweeping motion with the stick, it will look like mig weld ,i.e travel forward then sweep back to the crown of the bead ,kinda backfilling, then move forward again,and repeat it will look better,pretty much the same as doing a vertical up weld except on a flat weld you drag the rod instead of push, and stay at about 20 degrees from vertical, or 70 degrees from the work surface

You cannot use this method with every rod. It may look good but will be a bad weld because of trapped slag. Just make sure there is no undercut, roll over and good penetration.

speaking of slag/spatter, he will have a blast welding from the bottom of that Nova with fluxwire

heard on TV the saying- "take those sparks like a man"

wear some protection.

yes some rods like the 7024 is a good stick drag rod and will make a very nice weld if done right when it cools the slag will roll off by itself but you have to look out the slag wil get trap in it mig make nice weld but tig is the best for A one welds

Originally Posted by t0oL

speaking of slag/spatter, he will have a blast welding from the bottom of that Nova with fluxwire

heard on TV the saying- "take those sparks like a man"

wear some protection.

i was boxing my gto frame and my friend was laughing at me? i ask him what was so damn funny. he said all them sparks look like they were hitting me but said they must not i was still welding ? i pull up my shirt and said yep that looks like they did not hit me? i can take it till a hot pices of steel runs in my ear . then i am done