I bought my welder at Tractor supply. It's a Farm Handler (Cambell Hausfield) and cost less than $300. Came with a cart, helmet, regulator and spool of flux wire.
My first mod was and new regulator with a guage and a large cylinder. I just practiced on some old metal and the floor pans before I tackled some of the exposed stuff.

 

I don't like using the flux core wire. I prefer .023 with argon. Flux core is for building trains and frames

 

I have the 90 amp 110 volt model from Harbor Freight. Gone thru 3 small spools of flux core wire.. But as I'm about to start working on my 55 cab, I've decided to go gas shield, and am excited to try it out..

Everything I've read said that smaller wire was better for this kind of work, and your article confirms it again.

anybody have any guidance on gas usage? Haven't seen that discussed anywhere..

thanks

Sam

 

For welding mild steel a argon carbon dioxide mix is usually used. I want to convert my little lincoln welder to gas. Its got much a whole bunch of use and I still ain't a great welder, but least stuff has been holding. One of my struts on my car rusted out and the part that holds the spring was rubbing against the tire. I was so poor at the time I just welded it up. I still have to replace the dang strut. It will be nice to be able to buy regular wire because it is a little less costly, and welds should be purdyer, but most of the welding I have to do the weld gets ground down anyways.

 

The argon/co2 mix is right on, I bought a small bottle from my local welding supply house. This keeps me from paying monthly rental fees. Since they swap out the bottles when I refill, I never have to pay for bottle inspection.
In order to provide a solid shield of gas, you should be running the gas at about 18-20 psi to the gun. My oem reulator did not have a gauge so I bought one that did. I played with the settings until I could lay a nice smooth bead on some 1/8th inch steel. That ended up being about 18 psi. I use this setting for all of my welding and my take will last about 1 1/2 spools of 5lb wire. More than enough for what I do. Also remeber that mig welding in a windy enviroment will blow the gas away from the weld pool and your welds will look nasty and be contaminated. Use a shiled to block the wind if your welding outside.
The biggest thing to remember when welding sheetmetal is to not try and go fast. Spot weld all around the panel about three inches apart. Than wait about 15 minutes to let it cool. Spott weld halfway between the previous welds and work around the panel. Once the spots are about 1/4" apart and the panel is cool, you can lay some 1/4" beads between the spot welds. Again, work around the panel and let it cool. Do not try to do it all at once.
When your letting the panel cool, you can do some hammer aand dolly work on the panel to make sure it all stays in line.

 

Thanks for the post. I have very little experience working with sheet metal, but I did as you described, and the results are great. One question, you say that you apply the POR onto the metal surfaces before welding. Doesn't this still leave vunerable spots where the welds are? Wouldn't I still have to get some kind of undercoat or more POR on the backside of parts of the patch when it is in?

 

Any suggestions on which wire to use for which job, stainless vs mild steel with copper? All for gas shield mig welding..

mostly will be doing body panels, floor boards, cab corners

Sam

 

also, I need to build some custom headers for my F100.Vloare/460 engine combo. I'd really like to do TIG. Can I squeak by with a 90 amp Inverter style with TIG torch?

Sam

 

The bigger the better for being able to use for other projects., but the rule of thumb is every amp is good for 1/100 in of metal. there for a 90 amp is good for .090 in materal max. steel al may be less. Ed ke6bnl Sure makes for a clean look when you tig up some header or we have done some bent and precut tubing for the neighbors dune buggys super charger cooler. Ed ke6bnl

 

1 amp per 1/100 (.01)? did you mean per 1/1000th> .001 * 90 = .090
so, 16 gauge = .060, needs approx 60 amps, 14 gauge (0.83) needs 83 amps,
90 is bigger than both. and with 16 gauge (.060) I have a 50% capacity buffer.

Sam

 

sorry I stand corrected Ed ke6bnl

 

no 'correction', your text was correct, just missed one little '0'..

thanks, now I think I COULD try it

Sam

 

Wow!.. first welds with gas shield are SO much nicer, SO little spatter.
Wished I switched over a LONG time ago

Now to try some sheet metal!!

Sam

 

The only disadvantage to the gas with the solid wire is that it is not so good in a windy area where the shield gas can be blown away and for smaller units the penetration is far less with gas compared to the flux. I am no expert but I was using the 75/25 %
mix and I brought home a bottle of straight c02 and I did not notice enough differance with a side by side comparison to justify the more expensive mix gas that has about 1/10 the volume of the co2 bottle of the same size that when full is in a liquid/gas state. I believe the co2 has more penetration the the mix and I can grab the bottle put a differant regulator on and fill a flat tire. Ed ke6bnl

 

I understand on the outdoor problem. Hit on the first try last night. 92 degrees here, and hte humidity is up, so I had the back doors of my garage open, with a nice stiff breeze going.. I had to close the doors..

Thats interesting about the CO2.. I bought the Argon<->CO2 adapter with the regulator, so I can use the same set of gauges and regulator.

Sheetmetal with my welder will be a challenge I'm sure, with only 4 heat settings.

Thanks

Sam