Little MIG for big jobs

Texasmark · Mar 25, 2018

I haven't had my HF 151 MIG with gas welder for all that many years nor usages, but the more I use it the more I like it.

Currently I am building a 3 pt hay spear out of junk parts and have had to "identify, Improvise, and Overcome" (Clint Eastwood comment, USMC involvement movie concerning the rescue of medical students on the island of Granada) due to some miscalculations in my design.

On my first approach I couldn't find my 7018 sticks that have come to replace my old standby 6011s. 6011s are so messy and really, being a deep penetrating rod, penetrated deeper than I wanted. On the rework I decided to get out my MIG. I was working with a 1" square implement axle and a ｽ" plate to which I was to attach it.

The little 0.030 MIG wire just kept building puddles of molten steel and filling the voids, nice and smooth (and strong) and no splattering, and no mess to clean up. I've read where people say that they aren't for heavier work......well so much for that idea. They work very well and do a beautiful (for an amateur) job.

Shield Arc · Mar 25, 2018

In the 1970s I worked in a fab shop. Our number one contract was building nuclear waste tanks. The NRC required we test every 3-months. We ran 1/16-inch wire on 1-inch thick V-butt plates.
Remember when Mig welding, you want to run as hot as you can, and still control the puddle.

flingwing1969 · Mar 25, 2018

Shield Arc said:
In the 1970s I worked in a fab shop. Our number one contract was building nuclear waste tanks. The NRC required we test every 3-months. We ran 1/16-inch wire on 1-inch thick V-butt plates.
Remember when Mig welding, you want to run as hot as you can, and still control the puddle.

Perfect advice - control the feed and keep your heat up and keep your stick-out to a minimum and you really can't go wrong.

Texasmark · Mar 26, 2018

Shield Arc said:
Remember when Mig welding, you want to run as hot as you can, and still control the puddle.

I found it interesting that when I pulled off a section I was welding and removed my hood, the whole area was glowing red-orange.....no doubt I was getting the penetration and adhesion I wanted. Being an amateur, I do have to diddle the knobs to get the right temp and speed of wire feed for the job, but when I hit the sweet spot.........:cool2:

Shield Arc · Mar 26, 2018

In the late 1980s, when we built the Alaska ferry terminal in Bellingham Washington. When welding the pre-cast concrete deck panels to the steel beams. We used Hobart's 21B self shielded flux core wire. I was running 425-amps, I burned up 70-pounds of wire a day for months.