Need help practicing on a MIG
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Posting Guru
Joined: Sep 1999
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From: Pensacola Florida
Need help practicing on a MIG
A friend loaned me his MIG to practice with. My formal training consists of a buddy telling me "make it sound like frying eggs". I would like a little more than that. For sheetmetal (57 F100 thick sheet metal) what would be good settings. I think it is loaded with .135 wire. Does that sound right? It has a argon and Nitrogen gas mix I think. What should the reg be set at? OK You see how little I know so in twenty words or less teach me to weld.
Ooppps I forgot I'm practicing on some 3/16 thick box tubing so I'll need settings for that too. Also how do you know if the wire speed is too fast or slow?
Ooppps I forgot I'm practicing on some 3/16 thick box tubing so I'll need settings for that too. Also how do you know if the wire speed is too fast or slow?
Post Fiend
Joined: Apr 2002
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From: Central Kali
I think you mean .035 wire. The gas is probably argon and CO2. Set the flow to about 20 CFH. Run some beads on a piece of 1/8 plate. Set the wire speed to about 3 on a scale of 1 to 10. If there are two main voltage ranges, try a upper setting on the low range. Run some beads side by side as you change the wire speed and voltage. Practice a lot before you try bodywork. 
Posting Guru
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From: Eastern CT.
I have a lincoln sp100 110 volt mig welder, while it is capable of the gas setup, I have not done this yet, and still use the Flux-core wire,( no gas), seems to me the smallest wire with flux-core is like .030, and that was kinda heavy for when I put new sides on my old pickup bed !,,I think you may wanna use the .025 or maybe .020 wire (if its available, not sure on the smaller diamaters) it will weld better without to much burn-through !
Practice, Practice, on scrap adjusting voltage and wire speed, until you are comfortable to start on the real project.
Later,,,,,,,,,,,,,,Mark
10-burnin, 6-turnin, sometimes 4 smokin,,,,,,,,,,
Practice, Practice, on scrap adjusting voltage and wire speed, until you are comfortable to start on the real project.
Later,,,,,,,,,,,,,,Mark
10-burnin, 6-turnin, sometimes 4 smokin,,,,,,,,,,
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From: chicopee us
Remember to switch the polarity (if need be). My mig has a switchable ground lead which needs to be set to positive to use flux core wire. The best thing I did was to go on the bottle as soon as I could. I found it to be 100% easier to weld with gas, especially on thin stuff (like body panels).
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From: USA
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From: nc
Originally posted by drewcoolness99
if you are going with a bead try to make it look like a smeared booger
and if you are doing body work just remember to do little tacks otherwise you could warp the metal.
if you are going with a bead try to make it look like a smeared booger
and if you are doing body work just remember to do little tacks otherwise you could warp the metal.
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Thread Starter
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Posting Guru
Joined: Sep 1999
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From: Pensacola Florida
Well I have practiced a little and I messed up at first and couldn't figure out why it looked crappy nothing like smeared boogers. LOL I soon figured it out that I forgot to turn on the gas. Big difference. I still need a lot of practice but it is coming along. My wire size is .023 I think NOT the big stuff I thought. I'll check out the Miller web site thanks for all the advice.
Tuned
Joined: Sep 2003
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Senior User
Joined: Nov 2003
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From: chino valley az
cleanleness is crucial. grind out all lose rust till you see good clean sheet metal. most people will try to weld over it with no luck, or nasty looking welds. i have found this to be a real problem with people who are familiar with arc box's and 6013 "dog" rod. flux core .030 is often easier for someone to learn on. it eliminates one factor in the welding process. it doesn't look as good. but it will be easier to handle with till you get use to adjust temp and speed...