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View Full Version : Cheapo horrible fate MIG welder to the rescue yet AGAIN


beatupjeep
03-12-2015, 05:09 PM
Im trying to make some brackets for a winch mount on my XJ, the situation at hand ended up being needing to somehow hold a 3/8" steel piece to a 1/4" thick piece, so I could bring it over to my bigger 250A TIG welder on the other side of the house. Yes, the welder is not in the garage, it gets used quite heavily back in the shop, although now I think I may put in a breaker and get a second tank of argon so I can have garage use too.

Anyways, I cant get the jeep back to the shop. And I cant "freeze" the relationship between the two pieces without making them non-removable from the jeep. Unless I drilled and tapped a threaded hole just to clamp them together with a bolt. Or maybe tried some kind of epoxy. Just needs to hold together long enough to walk from one side of the house to the other. They need to be VERY precisely located together because of how things are arranged..scribing lines wouldnt be good enough.

I have my 8 year old hardly freight MIG welder..lists its max thickness as I think 1/8" (the one they sell now is a bit beefier at 3/16" I think). So I though it would be a stretch that it could tack weld the 3/8" and 1/4" pieces together, but worth a shot since its just a matter of plugging it in and pulling the trigger. Moving the TIG welder would be a huge pain and require me to put in a circuit breaker for it.

It worked! Im not sure how strong the welds are but good enough to hold together until I can finish the job on the bigger welder.

I swear this welder has been the perfect tool for the job a dozen times. Its also been the wrong tool for the job a million times and I almost never use it, but when I have some little glitch problem like this its perfect. Totally worth the $90 or whatever.

I was able to clean up one of the MIG welds with the tig, but the other one just seemed like a pain, plus I think I put down enough bead to make things plenty solid. The first two weld pics are the HF mig welds, quite blobby. The other pics show after I went at it with the TIG.


http://i242.photobucket.com/albums/ff197/acannell/20150312_140225_zpsrao8f5qe.jpg (http://s242.photobucket.com/user/acannell/media/20150312_140225_zpsrao8f5qe.jpg.html)

http://i242.photobucket.com/albums/ff197/acannell/20150312_140218_zpscsd9b1rf.jpg (http://s242.photobucket.com/user/acannell/media/20150312_140218_zpscsd9b1rf.jpg.html)

http://i242.photobucket.com/albums/ff197/acannell/20150312_140230_zpsclfe7usy.jpg (http://s242.photobucket.com/user/acannell/media/20150312_140230_zpsclfe7usy.jpg.html)

http://i242.photobucket.com/albums/ff197/acannell/20150312_140234_zpsve1bsrb7.jpg (http://s242.photobucket.com/user/acannell/media/20150312_140234_zpsve1bsrb7.jpg.html)

http://i242.photobucket.com/albums/ff197/acannell/20150312_150523_zps8f4luwsw.jpg (http://s242.photobucket.com/user/acannell/media/20150312_150523_zps8f4luwsw.jpg.html)

http://i242.photobucket.com/albums/ff197/acannell/20150312_150544_zpsmxodmdui.jpg (http://s242.photobucket.com/user/acannell/media/20150312_150544_zpsmxodmdui.jpg.html)
NW99XJ
03-12-2015, 05:23 PM
I cant comment on the penetration, but those DO look like some nice welds.
beatupjeep
03-12-2015, 05:35 PM
I cant comment on the penetration, but those DO look like some nice welds.

to clarify, only the first two weld pics are the little HF mig..the rest are the TIG
denverd1
03-12-2015, 06:51 PM
I think I'm gonna pull the trigger on the little HF welder. Sure, I could get a bigger one but my only use for it would welding stuff to the jeep. Stiffeners, sliders maybe the winch plate to the bumper. From what I've seen and for the price, I don't think one can go wrong for little stuff
beatupjeep
03-12-2015, 07:03 PM
I think I'm gonna pull the trigger on the little HF welder. Sure, I could get a bigger one but my only use for it would welding stuff to the jeep. Stiffeners, sliders maybe the winch plate to the bumper. From what I've seen and for the price, I don't think one can go wrong for little stuff

its definitely handy, but im not so sure how it would do with 1/4". they say on the site the 90a one is 3/16". Its $109, so with a 20% off coupon youre getting it for 89$ lol..hard to go wrong. Just keep in mind it probably wont be up to anything thicker than 3/16" if you want any serious penetration. The weld I just did on 3/8" probably just barely made it as a tack weld...I think...I should probably do some tests on 1/4" and see just how good of a weld it makes

they also have the 170A for $189..definitely worth the extra bucks, thats only $149 with a coupon. maybe you could check on craigslist and get a used one for even less..one that hasnt been used much

something else you can do to increase its capability is possible pre-heat things with a torch...might work out on steel if you are doing short beads
4.3LXJ
03-12-2015, 08:47 PM
If you guys get the small welder and need to weld heavier stuff, you just take three passes. First pass is in the joint. Second pass the weld goes from the base to 2/3 the distance up the first weld. last pass is on top of the first weld and connects the top of the second weld to the plate. I have seen this method done by some really skilled Germans who made twenty passes on 2" plate
OldFaurt
03-12-2015, 09:00 PM
its definitely handy, but im not so sure how it would do with 1/4". they say on the site the 90a one is 3/16". Its $109, so with a 20% off coupon youre getting it for 89$ lol..hard to go wrong. Just keep in mind it probably wont be up to anything thicker than 3/16" if you want any serious penetration. The weld I just did on 3/8" probably just barely made it as a tack weld...I think...I should probably do some tests on 1/4" and see just how good of a weld it makes

they also have the 170A for $189..definitely worth the extra bucks, thats only $149 with a coupon. maybe you could check on craigslist and get a used one for even less..one that hasnt been used much

something else you can do to increase its capability is possible pre-heat things with a torch...might work out on steel if you are doing short beads

I have one, I use it for light tasks like cracked inner door sheet metal panels.
It works very well for that and I have had good luck with heavier multi-pass welds up to 1/4" but to be honest, I would like a 200A AC/DC Tig for day to day use. Cleaner and a lot more control!
beatupjeep
03-12-2015, 09:13 PM
If you guys get the small welder and need to weld heavier stuff, you just take three passes. First pass is in the joint. Second pass the weld goes from the base to 2/3 the distance up the first weld. last pass is on top of the first weld and connects the top of the second weld to the plate. I have seen this method done by some really skilled Germans who made twenty passes on 2" plate

im going to try this and see just what the little 90A guy can do..that would be extremely handy
4.3LXJ
03-12-2015, 11:50 PM
Works with stick welders too
denverd1
03-13-2015, 10:31 AM
its definitely handy, but im not so sure how it would do with 1/4". they say on the site the 90a one is 3/16". Its $109, so with a 20% off coupon youre getting it for 89$ lol..hard to go wrong. Just keep in mind it probably wont be up to anything thicker than 3/16" if you want any serious penetration. The weld I just did on 3/8" probably just barely made it as a tack weld...I think...I should probably do some tests on 1/4" and see just how good of a weld it makes

they also have the 170A for $189..definitely worth the extra bucks, thats only $149 with a coupon. maybe you could check on craigslist and get a used one for even less..one that hasnt been used much

something else you can do to increase its capability is possible pre-heat things with a torch...might work out on steel if you are doing short beads

I forgot which show it was, but a brit said that 1" of weld should hold 1000. They tested it with 1/4" steel and it held the weight. you should test it out on thicker stuff
4.3LXJ
03-13-2015, 11:18 AM
What they are saying is that the weld should be as strong as the material that is welded. That figure is about the tensile strength of mild steel. However, if you are welding alloys, that figure can go up considerably
abebehrmann
03-13-2015, 12:00 PM
If anyone is interested in welding tutorial videos, I follow a kid with the username ChuckE2009 on Youtube. He has a TON of videos and does a really good job of explaining all the techniques as he goes. Anyway, he explains in his videos that a proper weld should be stronger than the metal it is joining so that if bent the point of failure would be in the metal not the weld.