Well I finally picked up a spool gun (30A) for my welder (Miller 252). I don't ever plan on doing projects as big as John. But look forward to bein able to fab some rigging or little things hopefully.
Is there anything that you guys can offer to help shorten the learning curve?
Welding tips or tricks?
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kmorin
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THE hardest road!
buck3, I want to make sure you're tuned a little regarding aluminum welding. MIG is a good welding method but is most suited to long seams. Why? because the torch movement is more uniform in regard direction of weld travel. And that is where you should start practicing; longer straight seams with 4" then 6-to 8" welds so you 'get your hand in' as they say in the trade.
I'd say that you would be well served to find a local builder, and buy his off-cuts especially those that have any factory edges on them- sheared or plaz or saw cut strips 2" to 8" wide and as long as you can find. Cut them into 12-18" long pc and practice the three seams- outside corner fillet, T or inside corner fillet, and butt seams (hardest to do well).
Now to your OP. The problem with welding brackets and rigging, and smaller objects with MIG is; the welds follow around the object and the torch has to follow/lead the weld. That means that using a MIG torch to weld a pipe to a plate base is much harder to get right compared to welding those same 6-8" straight. IN one case you set yourself to hold the torch/gun in a more or less fixed attitude to the weld, leaned back a bit, gas cup close, both hands on the torch with the lead hand braced perhaps on the piece- pull the trigger and move along the weld. In the second case you have to move along the weld in a circle if the weld is a pipe base, or around and angle or bar if the bracket has these?
All welding torches should be 'aimed' pretty much at the weld, and if the weld is around 1" pipe, then you'd move the torch around that pipe as you weld. That is some wild torch movement because you're holding the gun which is about 12" long or so, and the 'big end' has to whip around the weld path. While the gas cup moves around the 1-1/2"circle the body of the gun moves around a 2' + circle. Almost all butt welds on a 1" pipe would have to be done in halves of the circle, due to movement, but they may have to be done in 1/4" with a MIG torch so there are more stops and starts, and that makes the MIG torch less widely used for smaller tighter work and more used for long hull seams.
Typically TIG is used for bracket welding, rigging (of pipe or bar) and other small weld joints that are not long seams because the very small torch (compared to a 1lb. gun like you have) so the amount of movement around small joints is less a work out. Further, most TIG goes as slow as you'd like, where MIG has to be lit and run because of the wire deposition.
So I'd suggest you need to get your 'hand in' on the easier to learn longer welds and that practice will make welding brackets and rigging with big MIG torch easier to get done when you move to the more complex welds that require more movement of the MIG gun.
Cheers,
Kevin Morin
I'd say that you would be well served to find a local builder, and buy his off-cuts especially those that have any factory edges on them- sheared or plaz or saw cut strips 2" to 8" wide and as long as you can find. Cut them into 12-18" long pc and practice the three seams- outside corner fillet, T or inside corner fillet, and butt seams (hardest to do well).
Now to your OP. The problem with welding brackets and rigging, and smaller objects with MIG is; the welds follow around the object and the torch has to follow/lead the weld. That means that using a MIG torch to weld a pipe to a plate base is much harder to get right compared to welding those same 6-8" straight. IN one case you set yourself to hold the torch/gun in a more or less fixed attitude to the weld, leaned back a bit, gas cup close, both hands on the torch with the lead hand braced perhaps on the piece- pull the trigger and move along the weld. In the second case you have to move along the weld in a circle if the weld is a pipe base, or around and angle or bar if the bracket has these?
All welding torches should be 'aimed' pretty much at the weld, and if the weld is around 1" pipe, then you'd move the torch around that pipe as you weld. That is some wild torch movement because you're holding the gun which is about 12" long or so, and the 'big end' has to whip around the weld path. While the gas cup moves around the 1-1/2"circle the body of the gun moves around a 2' + circle. Almost all butt welds on a 1" pipe would have to be done in halves of the circle, due to movement, but they may have to be done in 1/4" with a MIG torch so there are more stops and starts, and that makes the MIG torch less widely used for smaller tighter work and more used for long hull seams.
Typically TIG is used for bracket welding, rigging (of pipe or bar) and other small weld joints that are not long seams because the very small torch (compared to a 1lb. gun like you have) so the amount of movement around small joints is less a work out. Further, most TIG goes as slow as you'd like, where MIG has to be lit and run because of the wire deposition.
So I'd suggest you need to get your 'hand in' on the easier to learn longer welds and that practice will make welding brackets and rigging with big MIG torch easier to get done when you move to the more complex welds that require more movement of the MIG gun.
Cheers,
Kevin Morin
kmorin