I thought myself a pretty good welder, better than most, back in my 20s. An older guy at our company named Peanut was welding thin large diameter tubing with 3/32" 6010. He was running a particular amperage and I thought I could turn it up about 7 amps and make a better weld. He said, "Sure. Go for it," and handed me the stinger without hesitation. I setup the machine, got in position, and did my best for about 8" or so, but knew it wasn't working, and I wasn't going to be able to do any better, and was actually doing a little worse with the higher heat. I finished it up, we both looked at it as I said, "Here ya go, Peanut." He turned the machine back down and said, "Thank you, Rick." Will never forget that slice of humble pie, nor Peanut's cool, calm, and confident demeanor in giving young cocky me an opportunity to embarrass myself in front of an old welding sage. :-) Learned an important lesson that day. It's stuck with me.
Don't care what trolls say or others... I am welder by trade and business... I enjoy watching and even catch few things here and there.. refresher is always good... isn't that why we all take a shower???
I learn something new everytime I watch your videos. Often I watch a video twice and still learn something new the second time. Time to get out the everlast welder and try out what I've learned from you.
Nice Jody, having the smaller wire is super versatile, I've found having the 0.035" it's really hard to weld the thin stuff. But the 0.025" you can crank up in a pinch and weld thicker metal.
This week, my brother and I built 150' of iron fence with 2x2 posts and rails, 1/8" for posts and 13ga rails. Pickets were probably 16ga, 3/4". We had plenty of these joints to weld. For the vertical down, there was a decent gap between the parts and I angled the gun so that the tip was almost up and then used an in and out motion into the puddle as I moved down. It made for nice looking beads that were flat across the face. Penetration was plenty for what it is and I focused the arc on the outer corner of the 1/8" material to not blow through the thinner rails. The miller 211 inverter worked great on 1/8" autoset. I wish it had voltage and wire scales instead of meaningless numbers on dials. The autoset works very well and is fast to change settings when doing different types of joints. My brother liked the 211 so much, he is going to sell his 252 and get the 215 as he needs something more portable and able to run from a generator. At least the 215 has volt and wire speed readouts, which will be great for him as he knows the numbers from the 252. Great video!
Thanks again Jody! a video on understanding the relationship of wire speed/amperage and how to really fine tune the two, would really unlock a lot of doors. Thanks again
Thanks for the video Jody, you really helped me out as I just bought a used Lincoln 180C for similar projects. This has saved me a ton of time trying to dial it in! And a big THANK YOU for all the work you have put into making such great videos, always interesting and easy to understand. It's almost like your standing next to a guy politely telling him what he's doing wrong. Your'e the man!
Just started a new job where they were willing to take on beginner welders. The only experience I have is from trade school a couple years back. I found it funny that you made a video on square tubing and talked about redirecting heat so you don't blow a hole in the edge. I cannot count how many times I made a hole and had to have help "patching" a hole. But I aim to get the hang of it. It's a tough job being a fabricator/welder.
"Drive by shooting stutter"..hilarious. Jokes aside thank you for this quick one .I will attempt some window frames for a shipping container cabin soon with my Lincoln 180.
Who argues that? A volume of different gases of differing properties can settle, just takes quite a while. Ar = 1.661 kg/m3 or 0.1037 lbs/ft3 (at NTP) CO = 1.842 kg/m3 or 0.11501 lbs/ft3 (at NTP) Doesn't take much to get a gas to mix well.
Very good advice (I don't know about rolling the bottle though, but I guess it won't hurt). I use thin walled square tubing a lot, and I think I learned a thing or two from the arc shots. Splendid as always.
i like how scientists always assume something and if you tell them otherwise they explain it in super technical terms but tbh i like your approach. If it works it works and dont let anybody tell you different!
Greatest welding videos on the Internet. Please do some videos with pulse mig. Bob is doing some pulse mig videos with an everlast welder. I'd like your views on pulse mig too.
Mig Welding tube like that I use the exact same technique. But welding Aluminium I found welding vertical up gives a much cleaner finish. There is one tip I would like to have is welding Aluminium ninety degree square tube joined on a forty five degree. I can never get a good finish on the outside edge. Any helpful information would be much appreciated.
I never thought about it until now - the idea that the thicker side will indeed take the heat better than the edge there. That's something I should be thinking about more often.
Hi Jody, quick comment about the rolling of the cylinder.... I believe at welding cylinder pressures the CO2 is supercritical fluid and not a gas. Im not sure about the Argon but that might help explain the mixing issue if at some point in the "life" of the cylinder the pressure is such that both arent the same phase. I know just enough to make a fool of myself when it comes to that stuff so take it with a grain of salt. Very interesting phenomenon, I will be thinking about that one for a while!
You are right. It does not have to be below zero temperatures for the gases to separate. They just don't do it to the same level as they would if it was that cold.
I have meaning to mention this before but at least to me, it makes a lot of sense to roll the cylinder. CO2 by itself will not separate since it is a chemical bound between Carbon and Oxygen, but that is a totally different story with Argon. Argon is a noble gas and it will not react with anything (Florine compounds are another animal and will ignore them). CO2 is a little heavier than Argon and probably with enough time, it will sit to the bottom of the cylinder. Once it begins to depressurize maybe after a while, it will get mixed again with the Argon, making the first welds weird. Btw, thanks for the video as always. Here I have access to 0.023" but works the same I suppose. I use it for sheet metal only since it goes to globular pretty easy.
how did you know i was struggling with this? I been trying to weld 3/4" square T joints and blowing through on the ends. Part of the problem is my HF flux core welder with 2 no amperage adjustment. Thanks for the great content Jody. I've really benn enjoying listening to the podcasts at work lately.
I've got rid of the gas bottle and have gone to flux core - so much more versatile, weld outdoors, no bottle to lug around and pay rent for and I'm only paying about twice the price for the wire. What I have found is that the fluxcore welds so much hotter then gas shielded. Apparently due to having to run electrode negative rather than positive. all to do with which way the current runs - from the work piece to the wire or from the wire to the workpiece it seems - lots of info out there Anyway it definitely runs a lot hotter and I;ve had to adapt my welding style to suit especially on thin wall - 2mm and down. Great on the heavier gauge material - seems to penetrate really well. Love it
In the course of a few months, I’ve been diligently watching your videos and I have learned a lot. My problem with welding thin tubes is, I blow a hole halfway through the path and I had my settings to the lowest. I would lay a pretty decent bead then blow a hole. I have been using a .035 Lincoln flux wire and I’m wondering if that is the cause of the problem. I could go down to .030 but I don’t think there’s an available flux core wire at .025... The other problem I had is welding with a bigger gap than what your video showed, I have applied the same technique you suggested but once I hit the edge of the pipe, it would melt off and create a bigger gap where I would chase it and finally closing the gap but creating an ugly weld. Again, thank you for sharing your time and your skills. God Bless...
I came from a video where you mentioned not using MIG on downhill vertical hot rolled? It's a short run here and thin tubing.. but I can see why it could be troublesome! That blob of metal! eek!
Nice beads.i used to arc weld but never had a chance to mig.it wasnt widely used out in the field.probably more of a shop application.always wanted to try it
wait till the red/orange color is gone or mostly dissipated (4ish seconds), and pulse the trigger, letting off as you see the area around the hole become overly red/orange (hot) or start to liquify. depending on the application you may want to then grind out that beautiful patched whole and weld back over it
i just started mig welding ...have to weld up 1.6mm gal steel for patio dog legs.....my work machine in running .8 wire would you advise dropping down to .6mm? could you please do a demo using .8 and show what you would do different....cheers neil ....love your work!
2nd term Apprentice level welder here, Unless you're welding something as thin as this it's suggested to weld uphill, more fusion, less chance for inclusion and roll over.
Thanks Jody, now I have an excuse if my mig welds look like crap. “ I forgot to roll the bottle “ ha ha ! . I learned something yet again ! Thanks for the tips Jody
I didn't use my co2 argon for a year and my welding does seem a little fizzley, mabe i need to roll it, of course argon will settle, it's denser than CO2. of course gasses can settle at room temp, argon will sink for sure. I've used half of it, should I get another bottle, has it used too much CO2 from the mix? why is he dragging?
Evenin Jody. First Thank you for your videos. They help so much. Thank you for sharing your knowledge with us. Quick question is the welding in this video sped up? Or is that the speed you traveled? Please and thank you.
I can't see a thing beneath a welding hood. I tried for about 15 minutes and gave it up. I came back a few hours later and tried welding a sprocket to an axle. I didn't even bother with the hood...just pressed the wire thing against the seam I wanted sealed, closed my eyes and went to work. Since I couldn't see through the hood, figured the outcome would be about the same....and it was. Total $#!+. So, my question is....what sort of visor would a fella need in order to see aa clearly as the welding footage in this video? Thanks!
I'm curious if you went downhill because the thinness of the metal? wouldn't it be a better idea to Weld uphill for structural integrity, or would the heat pool too much
I've heard the roll the cylinder thing before too. What do you think about just a quick couple of seconds purge? Take the flow meter off and crack the tank valve, let her free flow for a few seconds? Loud as all get out, but as good as rolling it? Your thoughts, please.
I just got the tig finger and am looking forward to trying it in class. Have you ever used the tig finger for mig so you can get your hand closer to the nozzle to have more control?
I live on a farm where we MIG everything, steel and aluminum. My welds never look as good as yours. I don't even try overheads anymore. I'm asking that you take a perfect setup and make one thing wrong at a time. With that I might recognize what I am doing wrong. Too slow. Too fast. Too hot. Too cold. Too wide. Too tight. Too much stickout. Too straight. Too loopy. And anything else you have seen occasional welders, like probably most of us subscribers, get wrong. We have Miller 350P machines, one each for aluminum and steel.
Hey Jody I’m an aluminium welder (still learning) just wondering if you could do something similar with a mig on thin wall aluminium. Your videos are great thanks for the tips
Actually since the gases are under extreme pressure in the cylinder, which is causing the gases to behave more liquid like, it does make some since that if left stationary for a long enough period of time that the more polar CO2 molecules would have a tendency to bunch together and the more non polar Ar atoms would group as well to some extent. Now there is still going to be mixing however I think it would be possible that the mix would be less homogeneous and more heterogeneous.
Awesome video as always, Jody! I have a bunch of this tubing to weld and only a little inverter stick to do it with. Can you give some tips how to do this? Rod? Amps? Technique? Thanks so much for the help.
Jody I am looking for a Mig welder for thin sheet metal (auto body thickness) 22g and 20g steel. Butt weld, plug weld and lap joints are the processes I am doing. Blow throught, warping and popping are the main issues. My shop is already equiped with millermatic 350p, miller dynasty 210dx, miller multimatic 215, Millermatic 251 and an old Miller 180amp a/c stick machine. The machine does not need to work on thick materials (mm350p and mm251 got me covered). Or if it's mabe a set up thing I am missing. The mm350p is amazing on med to thick materials but not great on thin. The settings chart in the machine is not great for thin metal do to thinnest wire setting are for .035 wire. Any tips pointers or suggestions would be great. Thanks Steve.
found it and yes your method works lovely. just I cant duplicate it. I am guessing flux core with an acient machine with rocker switches for setting is not the best thing for me. setting I have options on are. (A-B) (1-2) (2-3) with a dial for wire feed speed. good old clarke machines. vomit.
Next time you weld something this thin, can you use a 120v box? Many of us have 120v welders and it would be good to see _you_ weld with a similar welder we have.
Jody, great video. Always learning something new! So rolling the bottle, is like after 30days of no use or what would the interval be that you found it should be done? Thanks so much! Be blessed!
Jody would the bend in the tube be considered as "more metal area" because of the continued surface away from the edge of the joining tube? I'm trying to get better at welding exhaust but keep blowing through watching your vids have helped me alot but learning on your own can be a little tough. Thanks for the helpful vids and if I can return the help with any automotive info just give me a hit be glad to help you.
You mentioned that you have trouble seeing the weld joint and the gun oscillation helps. I really struggle with this. Are there other tips you can offer?
Good timing , have been wanting to try .25 on my Miller. Question, can you get away without having to change the liner in the hose on the miller to compensate for the smaller .25 wire?
I have a Millermatic 140 without autoset. I can never get the right amps and wire feed. I know about timing the wire at different setting of feed. Is there any way to test the output of this machine? Thanks if anyone knows. Most people know a lot about welding than I do.
Thanks, gotta buy myself a gas welder , 👍 prices go up with the ampage, is there a min size welder you would recommend to weld thin sheet & up to 5mm plate size ?
In Thailand we have to use 2.6 arc rods to weld 1.6mm tube because we can't get any smaller rods. (you know, strike, off, strike off all the time) Mig is available but not much choice, especially in the provinces. Oh well!
hey @weldingtipsandtricks , in your video you can see the pool, and the area around very clearly. is that what it looks like from your helmet view or is the shade turned down for the camera? i was told to use the highest shade possible so that you dont damage your eyes. when reading online some people seem to say that the shade adjustments is just for the amount of light that passes through. so i can turn it up or down to suit my eyes?? say if i was using a shade 10 rather than a shade 11??
These videos are solid gold. I’ve welded as a hobby since I was a kid, and I’m always learning more. Shielding gas, plus meticulous surface prep. Grind or wire brush it clean, and remove any grease or oils (I use brake cleaner, other folks use different degreaser)
I asked my welding supplier the same question. I have a 75/25 mix, he said going to a 85/15 mix can help with splatter. I'm running and ollllld Airco multi-process machine, so any help is good help.
Jason Rodgers really shouldn't use brake cleaner then weld. The brake cleaner off-gasses and it's pretty nasty. I've been told it can kill you in the right circumstances. Use acetone. Much safer.
Thank for the video. I've ended up with .035 wire in my 110 Lincoln and since I don't want to change it, what will the difference be in welding thin tubing?
Barry Munsell The larger rod/wire requires more heat/Amps to melt the wire and may be higher too much for your base . And short oversized wire Rod makes it easier to burn holes especially in thin material
They're independent of each other. I have one of those dual flowmeters and that's exactly what I use it for. Set it for 7-10cfh on the one, then the other feeds the machine. Works a treat!
I have the same machine and when I use only 30 f*** score I get so much spatter I tried using Pam and some other stuff but there's just a lot of spatter anything I can do to help?
Aboabdo Barbar IMO, even though I’ve heard great things about the ESAB rebel series, at that price point (~$2500US) I would go for the Miller 252 all day. Unless, portability is a concern/need. Also, finding consumables at any LWS will be easier with Miller brand welders vs ESAB.
I bought one of the dual flowmeters from Jody, both meters are labelled for Argon on one side of the tube and CO2 on the other side, but both scales are cfh only, no L/m.
Matt Leicester all i have seen in the netherlands are dual scale even the loose flowmeter,what every welder should have ,the loose one that is.cos you need the gas out of the torch..thanx and goedendag
