So i can mig and Tuck showed how to tig a bit when i was up there picking up my merc but i have yet to see much post on gas welding. seems a lost art. I can not afford a tig any time soon. and im damn sick of grinding hard *** mig welds down. My new Chevy coupe is getting a chop, and i wanted to gas weld this as much as possible. But i have never tried. Hell i could use some pointers on the mig even. heat settings and wire speed is where i fall short i guess. I would like to keep this thread more pointed at sheet metal work or a lighter guage material cause that seems to be where most fall short. Game on!
OK, I'll jump in. I have been welding for 20 years in on/off professional work, mixed with fairly routine hobby work. I learned to stick weld in highschool and gas weld shortly there-after. I was mig welding sheet metal professionally through my college years and later learned a little tig on ch***is work. The one constant that I can not escape is PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE. If you put it down fow more than a few weeks, practice before you work on anything important. I also learned (yesterday) that if you keep fighting to dial in the machine, you need to take a deep breath and step back. Refer to the handy dandy reference chart inside the cover of your welder for the recommended settings to weld the material you are working with and start over. Get back to a known reference, especially when you change from one material or another. Those guys that make the welders really do know what they are talking about.
Gas welding is beginning to be a lost art. When we first started drag racing the bikes, we could not afford a welder of any type to take to the track and we used to gas weld. This is more like tig welding than anything else. You need a small tip and some good wire. We used to use coat hangers, but they have changed the metal used in these and they are not worth a **** anymore. Get the flame as small as you can with a good oxygen flame in the center. Start heating the metal and add a small amout of filler as you go. Weld the three metals together. If it gets too hot you can pull away and let it cool before procceding. Like was said in the above post, practice, practice and more practice.
I wrote this a few years back on welding: http://metalshapers.org/101/jkelly/index.html I love gas welding. Once you get used to it, you can weld fairly long sections, set the torch down, hammer and dolly to stretch the weld back out, and start welding again. With the confidence to do slightly longer gas welds and fix the shrinkage as you go, the technique becomes as fast as mig welding, without the grinding, and the metal stays workable. Don't let the metal movement during gas welding scare you. It will come back if you use the proper techniques. John www.ghiaspecialties.com
ESAB makes what they call "easy grinding" or something wire for your mig...just in case you wanted to check it out.
great article, John; thanks for posting the link to it! Very helpful. I'm new to mig welding, but my dad had me brazing when i was a kid. I'd love to put some practice into gas welding, as i'm already pretty comfortable with the torch. You guys are inspiring me to do just that! I have a question; when doing the hammer and dolly thing: are there torch brackets that somebody makes, or is there a good way i can make myself a safe one? Sounds like a much better idea than just setting my torch down on the floor, or wedging it against my vice....not that I'd do that kinda thing
Think of the flame as a flashlight beam while you do this. The light (heat) is very intense next to the bulb, but it gets weaker more quickly the farther you go. I forget the exact equation, but it's pretty easy to pick up with a little experimentation. With a little practice, you can vary the heat almost like TIG welding. Not quite the same control, obviously, but more than most people expect.
I've got a Lincoln 155 and the nylon nut tightens as the spool unwinds. If you loosen it too much the spool will unwind a mess so I have to keep fiddling with it. The threads on this nut were a little ******ed when I got the welder 10 years ago. Anyone else have this problem and what's the answer?
I chopped the top and put patch panels in my deuce tudor using a oxy-acetylene torch. I didn't have any problems. I used a very small tip - 0000 I think - and 1/16" mild steel rods. I had never gas welded anything before I started the project. I've never TIG welded anything, but my guess is that if you have, the technique for gas, though not the same might come easily. Make sure your joints are ****ed well and it won't take much filler rod. Take it slow and easy, keep the heat affected area small and keep your hammer, dolly and a wet rag or sponge handy. If you're not as adventurous (or crazy) as I was, practice on something that you can spare if it takes a while to get the hang of it.
Replace the nut with a metal one of the right spec and add a couple of washers, a large one inside and a smaller one between it and the nut. This will allow slipping without turning the nut.
gas welding is the easiest of all. as long as you have a flange to weld down. Its nice and slow, you can control the heat better.
I tend to pick up the torch instead of grabbing the MIG gun. I learned to MIG when I was 12 ........... picked up gas welding in high school shop cl***.........learned to TIG about 4 years ago. If you're used to gas welding, TIG is fairly easy to get the hang of. Don't know how it translates the other way around. Some tips I would like to p*** along: When gas welding sheetmetal (in particular), you really shouldn't "hear" the torch. A soft flame works better for me. I've seen a lot of guys gas welding with the torch hissing away. I run my pressures as low as possible, and equal - 4 psi gas and oxy when I use my Henrob, 5-7 psi each with the Victor. 0 or .5 tip on the Henrob and 000 on the Victor. Controlling the heat can be accomplished by moving the torch away a bit, "flipping" the flame to the side and back or by using the filler rod as a heat sink. Each technique has its appropriate place, I feel. Also, practice, practice, practice! When you think you have the hang of it, practice some more! HTH, Tim D.
Miller 140 machines, 110 volt, .023 or .030 wire, Hoo Raw! Anyone can weld with this after about 20 minutes practice. practice makes perfect!!!
Check out the Henrob http://www.cut-like-plasma.com/info_video_library.htm, weld like TIG cut like plasma at a lot less cost.
If yours is like mine it's really a plastic "bolt" (male threads) and not a nut. If thats the case, replace with a piece of all-thread and use two jam nuts: loc-***e the all-thread(3/8 co**** as I recall) and set the tension with 1 j/nut and lock down with the other.
brian do you have a torch set-up? if so i can come up some weekend and show you the basics of gas welding...its really fun when you learn, i like it alot better than mig...preference in order of fun in my opinion 1-tig 2-gas 3-mig 4-stick
Brian, Gas welding is great. i am in the same boat as you in terms of cash to afford a nice TIG, so I went gas. It is a lot easier than you think, but it all comes down to practice. I burned thru a ton of s**** before I laid flame on any good tin. One trick I learned was not looking at the gauges to setup a soft flame. If I remember right Ken the Tinman explains this on his site. Start by closing your regs and fully opening both handle valves. Holding the tip near your ear, start openning one of the regs till you hear steady flow, then close that handle valve. Do the same on the other gas. Then open the actyl valve light the flame then slowly open the oxy valve. With both valves open adjust the flame by slowly adjusting the regs. Weld away...
Hi Marx, There is a torch cradle called a gas saver that shuts the flame down to a pilot light when you set your torch down. I have never used one, but plenty of folks swear by them. I have an old mic stand that I converted to a torch holder. This is very dangerous if there is any chance of someone walking into your shop while you are working. It easy to walk right into the flame, especially if there is sunlight streaming in. If you do this, please be careful! Picture attached. Thanks for the kind words about my article guys! John www.ghiaspecialties.com
I think learning gas would be great. I've used the mig for years but when you get into some thin tin the mig doesn't work so good. The wire wants to push through the metal and makes it a real ***** to control. Anyone have any pictures and stuff on gas that is similiar to the Sellers threads? That would be great tech stuff. FLAME ON!
gas welding is old technology and is being forgotten for a reason. is like throwing out your electric grinder and using a hand file to grind welds.
Hey DirtyT.. Maybe this can help,,No one ver taught me how to weld, never had the patients to read anything about welding. Over time I figured how the metal melts welding rotted metal to new metal and soo on.. though I know nothing about gas welding.. I'll try to keep it short,, You mentioned mig welding and grinding the welds down.. I use to mig weld all my sheet metal/ Roof chops and soo on, My style of mig welding roofs/ sheet metal,, I like to weld hot, fuse the 2 half s together when but welding seem, when you look under and see the weld coming through you know you fused the 2 together,, but when mig welding yer welding hot,, and it takes that split second longer to burn the 2 together,, this you must use a hotter weld,, some mig welders you can adjust the ARCH soft or hard you could say,, this is when the 1st strick hits the metal,, doing a roof with a crown takes time,, and over time I noticed the metal would want to dip in,, I made adjustment in my welding style, to prevent this with a mig welder, and other technique's of ****ing metal and holding a crown together. or compound radius's.. Its alote of time & patients, though when fully welded you know have to grind,, those welds,, each weld sits sit purrty high, each little bead,, so when grinding yer creating heat,, which we don't want.. causes damage to what you jus put yer heart in.. Though at times in grinding we may benefit from the heat by hammering the shape in some area's ,, some guys like to quench each weld,, though i my opinion its worse.. you weld,, you add heat,, metal grows,, by the time you grab a rag ,, squirt water what evs the meta moved it grew,, expanded,, you LOCK the metal in,, not only your harding the metal.. metal has a memory, it will go back by letting cool on its own.. TIG welding,, I like to tig all roofs,, sure it takes fer days ,, but for me I noticed it takes a split sec to burn the 2 together ,, FUSE the metal, you can control,, and focus the heat better, to where you need the weld,, plus your beads are a 3rd the size,, less grinding less heat added to the roof,, i feel a stronger weld,, the 36 Ford truck on my other page,, the space that roof chop was all Tig welded,, yeah took fer days,, but I don't feel i could have achieved the same with a mig,, Gas welding couldn't tell you nothing,, but if not experienced you might do more damage by distorting the metal than good,, and especially on a roof crown,, you can lose the shap of it in seconds if not experienced, oil canning and dipping,, I would hate to see you hurt your roof,, but the cool thing is it sounds like your willing to try,, Sure I have done some damage years ago,, I will say this,, as you know its just getting hands on and trying,, seeing how metal reacts to heat,, MIg , TIG , or GAS Welding. heres a good tip on mig welding,, To get a SiCk!! finish weld,,/ appearance/ structural I (look) to see where I want the liquid puddle to go,, I do a (C) shape at time depending on what I'm welding, flat or 90 degree weld, I stop for a split sec between beads,, some guys say it's wrong,, Then I (listen) to the sound of the wire being burned,, like a heart beat,, this tells me how much wire I'm burning, this will create the same (size) bead ,, dime over dime effect, When I Built Reeps 34 Truck TRJ cover,, all the welding on there guys thought it was all TIG welded,, it was all MIG welded,, theres little tweeks that seemed to help me over the years.. I hope this can help you all,, on mig welding ,, I look for the piece of metal I taught a buddies girlfriend how to weld ,, she picked it up in 10 minutes, how to hold the gun,, look, and listen,, you'll trip ,, I'll try toi find it and post a pic,,
I just saw this after adding a post,, Maybe this will help.. When i come across metal I know is rotted,, or thin,, I wont try to weld the seem or **** weld, I'll weld right off the side of it,, say back side of where the seem is,, This allows you to create good metal,, the add a weld from the good to the seem,, look add it like your adding a bridge to get to the other side. And this is the same whether I'm Mig welding or Tig welding, and always when welding new metal to old,, start from the new and drag to the old, by the time you drag to the old you have a liquid puddle already formed..
my first job was at a muffler shop.they wouldnt let you weld on a car until you could **** weld 2 pieces of pipe together and bend it 90 degrees...one of the old guys would weld them without filler rod....
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