How to Weld - MIG Welding

Step 11 Other resources

Some of the information in this Instructable was taken from an online Mig Welding Tutorial from the UK. A bunch more of the info was gathered from my personal experience and from an Instructables Intern welding workshop that we held at the beginning of the summer.

For further welding resources you could consider buying a book about welding, reading a knowledge article from Lincoln Electric, checking out the Miller MIG Tutorial or, downloading this beefy MIG Welding PDF.

I am sure that the Instructables community can come up with some other great welding resources so just add them as comments and I will amend this list as necessary.

Check out the other how to weld instructable by stasterisk to learn about MIG welding's big brother - TIG welding.

Happy welding!

Comments

[salemsgt]

I just came into possession of a Chicago Electric 90Amp wire welder, non-gas. I have no operations/ owners manual. Does anyone know where I can get one? And, I have heard of a spray that helps limit spattering, what is it and where can I get it? Yep, I'm a rookie, just trying to learn. I'll appreciate any help anyone may offer. Refer to [e-mail] Thanks a million

[warstan]

Pam works well and its cheep.

[pfred2]

Download manual here:
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/manuals.taf?f=form&ItemID=98871

You can get anti-splatter spray at a welding supply house. I have some, never use it.

[ncblu]

i weld for a living. folks before you spend large amounts of money on a welder, make sure you are willing to spend the time practicing, thats the most important thing, practice, practice, practice. start running straight passes, no weaving or sewing or circling. when running a bead remember - where you point the tip is where the weld will be. if you're using gas, watch for porosity because you pulled the tip back too far and contaminated the weld. dont grind your welds - it's a bad habit, even if your welds arent pretty, they will be in time. speed is very important, constant steady speed. the welders you buy at harbor freight or walmart are fine for tack welding, but i wouldnt put it to use on a trailer or something that could have bad results if a weld cracks. if you run without gas you will get lots of spatter, even with anti spatter dip. prep is the most important, make sure your metal is clean and bevels should be between 25% and 50%. when making t-welds or perpendicular welds remember the metal will contract TOWARD the weld bead, not away from it ( i know this is contrary to popular belief and highschool science but it will happen ). never weld in a down direction, never drag the bead like you would in stick welding, always be pushing the puddle in the direction you want to go. most of all practice, practice, practice

[headache2000]

Thanks for that "pushing" the weld info  I've been trying  to drag the weld. Not working very well either.  Probably not my only problem however. As I mentioned before all I've ever done is stick welding.

[Beausejour]

HI There Can you tell me how close i should hold the tip from my work.

[brandon_a_boyer]

For solid wire you want the wire to stick out about 1/4 to 1/2 inch, for flux cored wire you want a 1 inch stickout.

[ironandwine]

So what brand of mig welder would you recommend looking at? I'm a carpenter but my next job has a good amount of steel involved.

[stallsworth]

miller

[ncblu]

2nd that - they're worth every bit you pay for them

[ncblu]

its kind of hard to tell you exactly what type. I use miller welders at work because they are industrial grade and allow for mig/tig/stickwelding in one unit. they use gas shielding and are 3 phase units. the best way to decide is to try this link at miller http://www.millerwelds.com/ under the product menu, you'll see smart select, they ask you a bunch of questions to help you decide. once you found the type and specifics that will give you an idea if you want to try another brand. it all depends on the type of metal your welding, the size of metal, available supply voltage, will you want to use gas or gasless and the size wire you want 0.16 or 0.32 is best. the units at walmart and home depot are ok and they can be used in either gas or gasless mode but using gas shielding is always better, if you go gasless you will use flux-core wire and it doesn't work very well on thicker metal and it spatters alot. hobart makes a pretty decent portable welder but they're pricey. lincoln makes good welders also. as for helmets, what do you want, automatic or standard. i would go to a welding shop for a helmet, the ones at the hardware stores that you can get for 99 bucks are only going to give you sore eyes after a little while, they just aren't that good. i use both kinds, automatic for short welding and my standard helmet if I'm gonna be running passes for the next few hours continuously ( stay away from gold plated lenses in your manual helmet, if the gold gets scratched the UV will pas right through and burn your retina's) get a good pair of gloves that aren't tight on your fingers. while you're at it pick up a good chipping hammer and wire brush from a weld shop- the ones at the hardware store wont last and grab a container of nozzle dip, some spare tips an extra spool of wire and a pair of welpers ( pliers) i know it sounds like alot but it really helps make the welding go smoother and makes for cleaner better welds in the end

hope this helps

[ncblu]

one more thing, if you want to make a living as a welder, do not weave or circle or sew - you likely wont make it through to morning coffee break. also be prepared to weld out-of-position, this is welding on any surface that isnt sitting flat on a table ( which actually is harder to do properly than it sounds ). you might be welding upside down with hot metal dropping in your shirt.

[kenbob]

Thanks. You provided some good tips here. As an amateur welder, the grinder is my friend. My last project (posted) was especially difficult for me as it was my first where the final structure was bigger than I could move. You could do a great supplement on magnets, bracing, squaring, etc.

[pfred2]

I like my grinders too. I think you hit upon one of the major drawbacks of welding with your statement of a "final structure was bigger than I could move". That is one reason why I bolt everything together I make today. Things coming out accurately is another reason why I use mechanical fasteners. Thermal expansion is another major drawback of welding. I would like to know how people use magnets while they weld too. Magnets seem to make electric arcs waver to me.

[ohament]

Thank you for the informative article. I have a MIG/TIG welder and only used a handful of times. I always wondered why I got brown beads and splatter so I avoided having to plan projects requiring welding. You have restored my confidence and I'm beginning to plan my utility trailer upgrade which will require some welding!

[jayrak]

YouTube videos on MIG welding:
http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=TheLightningStalker&view=videos

[ironandwine]

hey ncblu, looking at the hobart 140. question is, my platform is 5/16 diamond plate, this welder is rated to work with up to 1/4 inch. would it do the trick or do I need to bump up to a 220 unit if I'm going to be welding on 5/16 material?

[Mig Welder]

b33133rice ditto! thanks I'm too young to purchase one but my uncle probably has one

[b33133rice]

Recently I discovered that I had an interest in MIG welding. This tutorial had lots of good and valuable information that I can use. I have some notes down on paper now that I'll put with my other welding notes. Great site! After reading through this tutorial I became a member.

[mattbesquare]

Thank you for the tutorial. confidence increases exponentially with each picture. Dont stop, when your working alone and have never done this the pictures really really help. Thank you!

[IRISHMAN]

THIS IS A GREAT SITE. VERY HELPFUL.CANT WAIT TO GET MY OWN MIG AND START LEARNING,ANYBODY WITH GOOD TIPS WILL ALWAYS BE HELPFUL.

[Bitwise]

Very nice...you do a good job of describing the actual process of laying a bead, something that is not available to actually be seen, hence visualized, by us non-welders. I'm on my way down to Harbor Freight to get a cheap MIG unit for some tests of my own!

[stasterisk]

How did your tests go?