That aluminum heatsink and the use of more tacks with segmented continuous welds are absolutely ingenious! I wouldn’t have figured those out without watching your video. Thanks heaps!
Thank you so very much for making this! I’ve struggled for years when I weld thin material constantly trying to fill in the empty spaces that I make with too much heat! I can tell this will be a game changer for me! Keep up the good work and have a good day! 😊
Well thank you very much. I just found your channel and you wouldn't believe how much I have learnt just watching this episode. The start of your video was a picture of my welds. I have watched many videos trying to learn but so many are American and because they use different measurements it is difficult to apply to how metric system. I hit the subscribe button as quick as I could. Thanks for the information, now I can practice with hopefully better results.
Thank you Sir for your efforts. Your video is just right for my level of welding skill...rudimentary. I use a flux-core MIG welder for the fact that having a gas tank is not economically viable for the occasional jobs. I am going to weld up a leaking water tank. I tried all sorts of repairs, from epoxy resin to silicone. But the gap at the seem at the base is too big for these to work. As soon as the tank is a quarter full, it leaks. So I am going for the MIG option to fix it for good.
A couple of minutes in an he welds and then says you can see it doesn't look very good but it'll hold. guy those are some of the best thin metal welds i've ever seen with a mig. I touch it and it bleeds through. I'm going to give it a try. Thank you
Great video! Complete newbie to welding and trying to do a few bits on my 48 year old car. This video gives me confidence to have another crack at it as I was blowing holes before.
Thanks for this video. I've got a project I'm doing right now, and this is my first time using flux core. Also my first time welding thinner material. I have some experience with stick welding thicker stuff, but this is a whole different ball game. I found myself wanting to go much too slow, and I would end up burning through. So I would have to go back and fill in the holes. Anyway. Just wanted to say this is greatly appreciated.
John you show to some peeps, how can be done, the usual not even need to get that, usual they need HOW to tack usual material 3 or more mm, but we (at least me) Im really greatful to show that trick :) I try to say, there is no task that you cannot solve if you dedicate yourself to the task. have a nice day John
G'day Primoz yeah its not a beginner video but a lot of people probably think thin metal can;t be welded with a MIG. Sometimes we all get in a corner where we would like to be able to weld thin stuff. John
Nice video. Like most people, I got my MIG to weld thinner materials so this has been very educational. Tomorrow, I'm going to the scrap metal yard to find a good piece of plate aluminum to use as a heat sink. Whenever I need to turn up the heat and make strong nice-looking welds on the thick stuff, I turn to my faithful Lincoln Idealarc tombstone welder and a 1/8" 7018 low-hydrogen rod. That old welder has copper windings and probably burned a million rods before I got it.
@@farminglifeaustralia6716 Thanks, I'll see what they have. If all else fails, your trick where you weld multiple tacks then weld back over them should be sufficient to prevent burn-throughs. I'm not too concerned about making the prettiest welds, I'm more concerned about them not breaking.
Great Video mate, much appreciated for someone like myself just about to have a crack at welding for the first time. lots of useful straight to the point info! Cheers 🍻 Keep the videos coming mate! Subscribed 😉
Great video John, cars are always hard to weld . In panel shops we slowly tack and cool it with air to stop distortion. The whole job is always slow but it's the only way. So true it's experience and yes the reading glasses are a must for old buggers like me. It's really amazing how far these welders have come. When I was in trade school tigs and spool guns didn't exist. Welding alloy was a black art and the wire would always jam in the wire feed . They spent more time fixing the wire feed than welding. These Unimig welders are top quality and last. My old 210 is 30 years old and nothing goes wrong with it, mate is a fitter and his is even older ,same thing just goes forever and it's got thousands of hours of heavy work on it. These videos are great, good work John.
Yes welding alloy or stainless was about the same as witchcraft when I was young. I first saw a TIG when I was 20 and the bloke who owned it we thought was some sort of bloke from the future. People starting out now don't realise how easy it is compared to 40 years ago. The welders are so much better, information is easy and gear is cheap compared to the old gear and wages years ago. Multi use machines didn't exist as far as I know. And if they did I wouldn't have been able to afford one. John
@@farminglifeaustralia6716 ha,ha, yes that's exactly how it was. They were still teaching us to fusion weld with an oxy and use bronze . Plenty of cars back then had bronze welds and lead loading. The paints sealants and coatings on modern cars are incredibly good compared to the old stuff. If the old cars had those modern materials they would last forever. They glue the new cars together now. They say it's as strong as welding but I can't see that . Bit like the fake crash tests they have saying old cars are weaker. I know I'd rather be in my 77 Chrysler regal in an accident than my SS Commodore. Its just amazing what welders like the 185 viper can do. The size of them is tiny compared to the old stuff. Can take them anywhere. We amazed when we saw a small unimig weld 10 mm plate better than an old huge transmig. They really have come a long way that even inexperienced people have a good chance of doing reasonable welds, but also thanks to your videos. Its so much easier these days. Some things got better and a lot went backwards to. I'll be getting a 185 viper in a couple of weeks. Unimig should be sending them to you to review. Exelent reviews, thanks John.
@@petergoodwin2465 Thanks for that I asked the local panel beater, Well car crash fixer about a job on a car and he said I don't know where you would get a panel for that. I said wouldn't you just fix it and he said How? I said knock out the bent bit and weld up the rusty bit and repaint it. He said you are talking big money for that work now. We dont do it. John
@@farminglifeaustralia6716 They don't like that work . Cars are throwaway now. The new ones are basically ,asembelers replace parts and if it's had a tap insurance companies write it off. The whole car has to be gutted and put on a bench to be jigged. Unlike older rear wheel drive cars , just use a cross check and trammel guage . Modern cars have no adjustments especially front wheel drive. Had my 360 machined by Pavtek , great engine builder .He said you can't beat a carburetor, not wrong. Most panel shops say they will cut the rust out and just fill it then charge for terrible work. 6 months later the rust is twice as bad. Filler holds water. Wife's 67 Chevy impala is the perfect example of rubbish work. Had no brakes , engine was stuffed , suspension was gone completely. Windsceen channel didn't exist anymore. When it rained everything stopped working, water all over the fuse box. Looks like a dream car but black paint and a new interior makes anything look good. The rust in the cowling is not for the faint hearted ha,ha, hinge pillars I made and new channels. Lot of work but they are made to be repaired. Rebuilt the 327 , heads were gone , Edelbrock make alloy heads for them . Again how things are better these days . Did the same with the 360 in the Chrysler. Costs the same to have the old heads rebuilt . Why bother when the Edelbrock heads make up to 500 Hp. Bloke we know has a Chrysler by Chrysler hard top, needed full restoration. Lots of work. The car is 1 of only 500 they built. Told him I want 16 grand to do the work as I know him . He said no way too much. He paid a panel shop 10 grand and it fell apart in 6 months. They filled it with fibreglass and filler . Same thing when I worked in those places. Seen lots of very angry customers. One I felt sorry for , he had a nice old HQ statesman factory 350 chev . Small bit of rust in the lower quarter panels . Idiot boss looser told me fill it. I said the guy will be back , idiot said he won't know. I said blokes who own factory 350 statesmans do know. He came back and punched him in the nose. I had to cut it out and do it properly anyway. The back window was leaking, that's why it rusted. Showed him and did it at home for 2 cartons. The new guys bug me when they think they know more than the old guys. Seen them laugh because we still use air tools .glad I'm out of that trade.
@@petergoodwin2465 I am not a panel beater our car repairer but one of my old hino trucks got rust in the front door. When it came up for rego the bloke said thats got to be fixed. I took it home and took the door off cut the crook bits out replaced the steel no bog, bit of primer and some paint no worries. The funny thing was I didnt have any thin steel so I cut up the lid off a 44 treated it and it seemed good. The rest of the truck died years ago. The bits I fixed are about the only thing with no rust. Ha Ha. just as well rust in cars is not as common nowadays no way could you fix it like the old cars. John
A really useful and practical video John . Enjoyed that . Been stick welding for 45 years but my trips to MIG have not worked out well . I think I might buy a Unimig and give it another go .Thanks No link for yours but I'll go to Global Welding Cairns.
Thank you for the intuitive advice. I just got a basic little michigan 130a from total tools to try to learn on. It has no rough guide for settings unfortunately. It has 2 nobs. One is wire speed. The other says V/A I had a crack on some scrap tubing, and i learnt very quickly that even with being right near the door (garden shed) & with a commercial fan at my back bowing it out she still filled with smoke. So i left it at that for this evening. i'm gonna try and dog proof/shade off an area to practice on. One observation i noticed is on the surface, except for where i fillied in my blow holes, it's relatively flat. But when you poke a torch inside the tube it's a bit like an iceburg. I never got any slag though either. I am wondering it that is due to this tube being i think galv coated. or because the wire is 0.8 flux. If i can get it right. Eventually I would like to try and make (out of 20 or 25mm square tube) a frame for a desk with shelves x 2🥶.
I think you could get a reasonable job but in my experience flux core never give the exact same result as gas. I dont mean its no good just different. John
Hi man. My metal from the electrode is almost everytime going only on the sides of the metal, never "glueing" the real parts. Afer cleaning the debris, i see that the electrode was sticked to the upper side of the tube and the lower side (if i'm welding a T) if you understand how i'm explaining. I read somewhere that it is because of the volts. My welder has 90volt in idle and don't know how much it has during the actual welding. I tried to weld rectangular pipes of 4cm x 2cm x 1,5mm to make a table. I switched to MIG because with electrodes didn't work at all. MIG was from the first time surprisingly good, with flux 0,8. Merry Christmas!
I think when you talk about the first part where you mention the electrode you are talking about stick welding. The problem you describe is a common one with light gauge metal. Because you have the amps turned down to cope with the thin metal this is a common problem. This problem will go away if you practice enough. Mig is much more forgiving and a lot easier to use on thin metal and when you have gaps in your joints. I hardly ever use my stick welder usually only in the paddock when I use a generator. John
you are a ton of information thank you . i have a question . i want to seam weld my engine bay would you prefer a mig to spot weld or a tig . the metal is thin.thanks milton
I would use MIG. If its thin try putting a bit of aluminium or copper behind the weld before you weld as a heat sink it makes it much easer. Sometimes its not possible but if you can it works good. John
I guess it depends on your budget the welder I use the UNIMIG 185 is a 3 in one MIG TIG and ARK so most of your welding is covered. Probably a bit overkill for a absolute beginner. If I knew bugger all about it I would try to find someone to help me get started. The advise from an experienced welder is probably more important than the welder. John
@@farminglifeaustralia6716 yes I am going to experiment. I also want to try screwing an aluminum backing strip that can bend behind a quarter panel seam and see what happens. Say 1/8” thick. It might be worth preventing warping. You gave me a good idea to try. Aluminum is soft to bend, conducts electricity and is a good heat sink. I was impressed with the difference. I’ll keep you posted. If you try it first please let me know!
@@jimdrechsel3611 I have used aluminium tube put down the inside of hydraulic steel tube that is rusted full of holes to tig up the pipe. It worked a treat. John
@@farminglifeaustralia6716 that’s very creative. Farmers have always had to find a way. I worked in a machine shop for years and welders never mentioned it but we never had to weld anything thin. When I catch a break I’m going to experiment with using an aluminum backing. I will get back to you with results. I have to check this out. If this works it could be a game changer for welding panels to prevent blow out and lessen warping. Thanks for sharing.
So far I tried aluminum plate behind a sheet butt weld and it worked great. It was very hot and definitely acted like a heat sink. It didn’t stick to the steel weld at all like copper can. I’ll try a long panel sometime soon
Hi, I'm looking to buy an affordable setup to weld some 1.0-2.0mm steel. What do you think of MIG welding with 0.6mm or 0.8mm filler wire that has shielding gas in solid form in it? I have limited experience with welding, but the best I've done yet was MIG so I like how relatively easy it is to get decent results. Thank you for the very informative video!
Glove is for p*ssies lol, love this kind of no sh*t giving old school guy, but in all seriousness, I've recently started to be required to use MIG welder to do some light welding with some auto mechanical parts, and because I am working in a huge factory, the welder is not adjustable (company locked it), so any manual applicable tricks for thin metal pieces are greatly appreciated. Thanks.
I don't think so when you get down to material that thin you will need to be very experienced and generally the wire should be thinner than the material you are welding. John
I had never welded til last week, and now I am trying to do an Audi rocker panel with a MIG. I have burnt so many holes in the damn thing, it could be the worlds largest golf course. I have to have the nozzle so close to the metal, I cant see anything. I'm just hoping I filled the holes up tight (welds look like a terrible disease) so they don't pop back when I dress the welds.
@@farminglifeaustralia6716 Thank you for the clarification. We have two big gas supplier companies here (central-eastern Europe), Linde and Messer. Linde lets us "buy" bottles* then just swaps out when needed for a same size one. I wrote "buy" because here the owner of the bottle have to be punched into the collar of the bottle. So Linde still owns the bottles they just don't ask for rent. And bottles* because only the older 150 bar ones not the newer 200 bar ones. These older bottles eventually will disappear then the only option will be renting I guess. Messer only rents bottles. For someone who use these regularly the rent might not be an issue but for me who did not used up a full 50 liters at 200bars (10.7 m^3) argon bottle in 6 years it would be quite expensive. (I "bought" this bottle when it was still possible to do so)
Weld something thicker until you get a bit of skill. Also old exhaust pipe has had all sorts of nasty stuff put through it and the metal is corroded to different thicknesses in places and is contaminated with exhaust chemicals that make welding harder. Welding old mufflers is achievable but not a good place to start when learning. John
Good video. Very simple. BUT .......(some humour here) ......how do you spell "aluminum" ............"aluminum" ?........or ......."aluminium" ? I know ....it's a BRITISH thing 😂 .
