MIG WELDING BASIC STEPS

"MIG WELDING" - When using a MIG welder, You always wonder... What kind of gas do I use? What wire? What this ? What that ? Here's some of my tips and they're not out of a text book, Only my personal experience of 12 years as a welder.

C25 Welding Gas or C02 ??

I always like to use the( C25 Gas) with 0.35 solid wire. C25 is 75% Argon and 25% C02. (C25) costs a few dollars more but not very much, maybe 2 or 3 dollars more.

You can use C02, but C25 will give you a cleaner, smoother weld and awesome penetration.

Now Before you start welding "Always" make sure your ground clamp is on clean, bare, metal, and that it's free of paint and rust . You can take a grinder to it if it's dirty and make it shiny, and clean, and ready to be welded .

Also be sure that your tip is free of weld boogers and spatter and that the tip is not sticking out past the nozzle.

READY ???

#1 Before you do anything protect your head and body by wearing the right protective gear.

*HEAVY DUTY WELDING GLOVES *HELMET- AUTO DARKENING OR SHADE 10 TO 12 LENS *BANDANA OR HAT *LONG SLEEVES OR WELDING LEATHERS(LEATHER WELDING COAT) *SAFETY GLASSES (THESE ARE OPTIONAL IF YOU FEEL COMFY NOT WEARING ANY) *JEANS OR PANTS *STEEL TOED BOOTS you'll also want to use some handy mig pliers to cut your wire with !! TRUST ME YOU DON'T WANT TO BURN YOURSELF !! IT HURTS !!

#2 Clamp your ground to a steel table or direclty to you work (MAKE SURE NOT TO PUT IT IN YOUR WELD PATH AND WELD THE CLAMP .)

#3 Hook up your gas bottle and tighten up the regulator with a cresent wrench. Set it to whatever your guide or welding machine says. Plug in your welder and set it to whatever setting you choose. It should usually say THE SETTINGS inside your welding machine .(metal thickness) wire speed ... gas ,yada yada yada . Personally - I like the Millermatic 140 autoset. I built this with it when I had my mobile welding biz!! #4 Turn on your machine, Hold your gun in a 10 to 15 degree angle in a push motion and squeeze the trigger. It's pretty easy once you get the feel of it.

MIG welding, as most of us are aware, is a semi-automatic arc welding process in which a continuous, consumable wire electrode and a shielding gas are fed through a welding gun. At the end of the gun, there is a contact tip which passes electricity to the wire. Both the wire and shielding gas are activated to create the weld when the operator depresses the trigger of the gun.

Pros of MIG welding

This welding is quite popular as it is easy to learn and calls for no special skills. Even a first-time operator will be able to achieve a good weld with minimum practice.

People favor MIG welding as it is a much faster than Stick welding and saves time. Thus operating cost of this welding is lower than Stick welding because of this saving of time. MIG adjusts to limited electrode length and this allows for longer welds with fewer interruptions.

Besides, there is also no waste of filler metals and generally speaking, thinner materials can be welded far more easily with MIG than Stick welding. One more reason people favor MIG welding is because MIG welding is a tidy process and does not require chipping slag as in Stick welding. MIG certainly makes for very convenient weld tacking and fitting of parts and there is very scant stub loss due to the continuous spool of filler metal.

This welding is versatile and capable for a variety of applications, including - trailer hitches, auto body repair and restoration, farm/ranch equipment, household projects, repairing wheel barrows, bicycles, etc. This type of welding demands less time when compared to other types of welding processes.

Cons of MIG welding

The initial cost of MIG set up is high in view of the regulators and shielding gas - though some MIG welding may be done with self-shielding flux core and without gas or a regulator.

It is indeed a fact that all types of material can be welded with a MIG machine. But, in the MIG process different materials require different wire and gases. For instance mild steel can be welded with either self-shielded wire or with CO2 or a CO2 mixed gas but aluminum material requires the use of Argon gas.

It is inadvisable to weld through dirty materials with MIG machines. It is said one should always weld on the cleanest possible material, so for best results scrape off paint, rust or other debris where the weld is being made.

There is no denying that MIG welding equipment is more complex, expensive and less portable and the welding gun is difficult to maneuver. Filler metal can become tangled within the wire feeder making the operator feel annoyed and also adding to downtime. The operator has to patiently keep leads and liners in straight position to allow for proper feeding of filler metal.

Summing up

When electrically charged wire is fed into the welding arc then it is MIG welding. MIG is commonly preferred because the welding leads are very easy to perform. As a matter of fact, it is said that even robots can be utilized to get the mechanical job done. MIG welder is capable of working with almost all kids of metals, though aluminum and mild steel are the most popular ones.

Alex is a SEO copywriter for Welding Supply, Diesel Generators, Plasma Cutter. He written many articles like Plasma Cutter, Welding Machines, TIG Welding. For more information visit our site everlastgenerators.com.

Contact him through mail at weldings.info@gmail.com.

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