Welding Tips and Tricks

This little tractor here needs a new rim.
The old one is rotting away.

So we got another rim from the scrap yard.

We'll need to cut those brackets off the old rim and weld them inside the new rim.

First let's tear the old rim off the tire.












So it's off.

What a mess.

So, the new rim had some rust holes in it, so we patched it with some sheetmetal....















Now we'll take and cut those little pieces of tubing off the old rim, and get them cleaned up.














And the new rim is ready for the new tabs...





































And it's all back together.

Seems to drive pretty smooth.
Not much wobble.

Have a nice day.

~John

John,
It's different to see you use the squirt gun, I expected you would stick those. Nice repair though, saved the day.

Len

P.S. Down here you can still buy Carnation milk in a can as condensed milk.

Braehill wrote:John,
It's different to see you use the squirt gun, I expected you would stick those. Nice repair though, saved the day.

Len

P.S. Down here you can still buy Carnation milk in a can as condensed milk.

I'm smarter now.

I use mig.

Thanks.

That must make me dumber because I seldom ever do. Don't really know why though, I'm half decent at it. Might have to make it a point to use it more.

Len

Braehill wrote:That must make me dumber because I seldom ever do. Don't really know why though, I'm half decent at it. Might have to make it a point to use it more.

Len

Ok,
Iv'e got to rant here.

I'm always seeing threads, (here and other places) where the people who use tig are always saying how much better they are then everyone else.
They say mig is quantity over quality.

Mig is for dummy's who think they know how to weld.
Be a real welder, buy a tig.

I call them tig snobs.
They take 3 hours to do a weld, and brag about their stack of dimes.

They are always bragging, "Whenever I am worried about needing a good strong weld, I tig it, so I can see it go in.


What about us repair men, fabricators?

I Think way to many ppl get swindled into a tig when they should really have a mig.



I just had to get that off my chest.

Bash away.

~John

John,
I have no problem using whatever they pay me to use, if they wanted me to Mig weld everything, I would. My job usually calls out that it be tig welded so that's what I use. My last job used stick welding almost exclusively and that's what I used. I personally have never had a job that used Mig or that 's what would have been in my hand. I'm not a "welder" by trade, it's just always been part of my job by choice, meaning they know I can weld and are willing to pay me overtime most days to do it.

In all honesty, most days would be a lot easier on me if I was allowed to stick or Mig most of the stuff I weld. Are my Tig welds better than my stick welds?, at this point yes, because of practice. At my old job, no for the same reason. Why don't I Mig more often?, because of the same reason, I'm not practiced at it.

You have the luxury of choice when it comes to process, some of us don't.

There's my story and if that makes me a Tig snob, I've been called worse for a lot less money.

Len

Nice repair, John!

I have to agree about the "TIG snobs" I encounter. One of the new-hires at work was like that, but as his MIG skills come along, he's beginning to appreciate it more.

I'll use whatever is appropriate for the task at hand. Stick, MIG, and TIG will all produce a quality result, but each is better suited for some tasks than the others. Give me a rust-bucket that has to be fixed yesterday, and I'll get out the 6010/7018 and save on the prep time. Give me some easily prepped structure, I'll MIG it. Thin tubing or small-bore heavy wall pipe, I'll TIG so I can control the root better. Just a few examples.

Of course, sometimes the process is dictated by the customer, and sometimes simply by what's available.

I don't think a welder should be considered a professional unless he can take whatever machine is available and get the job done. I suppose I should qualify that remark, though... There's nothing wrong with being a specialist in one process, as long as you apply it where it belongs and strive to be the best, but you're not "well rounded" if that's the only process you know how to apply.

Steve S

Otto Nobedder wrote:Nice repair, John!

I have to agree about the "TIG snobs" I encounter. One of the new-hires at work was like that, but as his MIG skills come along, he's beginning to appreciate it more.

I'll use whatever is appropriate for the task at hand. Stick, MIG, and TIG will all produce a quality result, but each is better suited for some tasks than the others. Give me a rust-bucket that has to be fixed yesterday, and I'll get out the 6010/7018 and save on the prep time. Give me some easily prepped structure, I'll MIG it. Thin tubing or small-bore heavy wall pipe, I'll TIG so I can control the root better. Just a few examples.

Of course, sometimes the process is dictated by the customer, and sometimes simply by what's available.

I don't think a welder should be considered a professional unless he can take whatever machine is available and get the job done. I suppose I should qualify that remark, though... There's nothing wrong with being a specialist in one process, as long as you apply it where it belongs and strive to be the best, but you're not "well rounded" if that's the only process you know how to apply.

Steve S

I totally agree on the different process's that are better suited for certain things.
And I'm not saying tig is not a very good process. We all know it is.
Just check out these links.

https://instagram.com/jonathangore/

https://instagram.com/walkwithmeinhell225/

I just get annoyed by the ppl that say "once you get good at tig, you may never use mig or stick" again. Laughable.

Braehill wrote:John,
I have no problem using whatever they pay me to use, if they wanted me to Mig weld everything, I would. My job usually calls out that it be tig welded so that's what I use. My last job used stick welding almost exclusively and that's what I used. I personally have never had a job that used Mig or that 's what would have been in my hand. I'm not a "welder" by trade, it's just always been part of my job by choice, meaning they know I can weld and are willing to pay me overtime most days to do it.

In all honesty, most days would be a lot easier on me if I was allowed to stick or Mig most of the stuff I weld. Are my Tig welds better than my stick welds?, at this point yes, because of practice. At my old job, no for the same reason. Why don't I Mig more often?, because of the same reason, I'm not practiced at it.

You have the luxury of choice when it comes to process, some of us don't.

There's my story and if that makes me a Tig snob, I've been called worse for a lot less money.

Len

Honestly man, I don't know if I've ever seen pictures of any of your welds.
I'm not dissing tig, as a process, just the ppl who abuse the process.

~John

Now that is a repair/fabrication.
Job well done.
A tire buster too!!
No end to your talent,nice.
Great to see capabilities like this.

AKweldshop wrote:

Braehill wrote:That must make me dumber because I seldom ever do. Don't really know why though, I'm half decent at it. Might have to make it a point to use it more.

Len

Ok,
Iv'e got to rant here.

I'm always seeing threads, (here and other places) where the people who use tig are always saying how much better they are then everyone else.
They say mig is quantity over quality.

Mig is for dummy's who think they know how to weld.
Be a real welder, buy a tig.

I call them tig snobs.
They take 3 hours to do a weld, and brag about their stack of dimes.

They are always bragging, "Whenever I am worried about needing a good strong weld, I tig it, so I can see it go in.


What about us repair men, fabricators?

I Think way to many ppl get swindled into a tig when they should really have a mig.



I just had to get that off my chest.

Bash away.

~John

First off, good job!

Tig snobs will always be there to tell the rest of the world that "you're doing it wrong"!

Relax and take solace that most of them graduate from Dumbwoody Tech.

I know some tig snobs. I also know guys who know how to get shit done too. I like to tig when I really want something to look nice but I bust out the miggerator for most things. Nice work John...I look at the work you do as survival compared to us 49ers who mostly throw stuff away rather than have it repaired. It seems that where you live people have to live on their wits and be resourceful rather than the rest of the spoiled ass brats who have too much money and rather chuck it and buy a new one.

rick9345 wrote:Now that is a repair/fabrication.
Job well done.
A tire buster too!!
No end to your talent,nice.
Great to see capabilities like this.

Thanks.
I appreciate it.

exnailpounder wrote:I know some tig snobs. I also know guys who know how to get shit done too. I like to tig when I really want something to look nice but I bust out the miggerator for most things. Nice work John...I look at the work you do as survival compared to us 49ers who mostly throw stuff away rather than have it repaired. It seems that where you live people have to live on their wits and be resourceful rather than the rest of the spoiled ass brats who have too much money and rather chuck it and buy a new one.

Yup.
Us farmers are resourceful.

Thanks Jeff.

rake wrote:

AKweldshop wrote:

Braehill wrote:That must make me dumber because I seldom ever do. Don't really know why though, I'm half decent at it. Might have to make it a point to use it more.

Len

Ok,
Iv'e got to rant here.

I'm always seeing threads, (here and other places) where the people who use tig are always saying how much better they are then everyone else.
They say mig is quantity over quality.

Mig is for dummy's who think they know how to weld.
Be a real welder, buy a tig.

I call them tig snobs.
They take 3 hours to do a weld, and brag about their stack of dimes.

They are always bragging, "Whenever I am worried about needing a good strong weld, I tig it, so I can see it go in.


What about us repair men, fabricators?

I Think way to many ppl get swindled into a tig when they should really have a mig.



I just had to get that off my chest.

Bash away.

~John

First off, good job!

Tig snobs will always be there to tell the rest of the world that "you're doing it wrong"!

Relax and take solace that most of them graduate from Dumbwoody Tech.

Thanks rake.

Man you guys are harsh. Like my dad, I don't make money as a welder for a living, I do side work. I do know that if it is something critical that I'm welding, I'll TIG it every time, solely because I KNOW that I can TIG weld it. I'm not confident in my MIG, mainly because I don't own one and don't do it enough, and forget about SMAW, haven't lit up a stick rod since I was about 12.

More importantly, the act of TIG welding, rather, putting the work in to produce a quality TIG weld is what gets me going man. I truly believe that any monkey can make metal stick with any process, but you have to put the work in to get good.

I could honestly care less if I ever stick weld something, because I have never once while welding something said "Man, I better hook up my stinger, this is going to need some 7018." I don't put myself in a situation to weld something like that. I've MIG welded a time or two, and I can make sound welds, they're just not pretty.

I give all of you guys props because you're more than a one trick pony, but with what I do, it's the guys that can lay down a silky smooth titanium weld and then drop a stack of coins on aluminum that get the business. People pay for what looks good on street cars, and TIG welding is more aesthetically pleasing than the other two major processes in 90% of situations.

Its horses for courses. Every process has its use in terms of quality, applicability and cost. If you ignore these principles you are in the real of art and hobby. Not knocking art and hobby. Just saying they choose process for other reasons. If you are in the trade ignore them at your peril.

I don't have any idea how this post turned into a Tig bashing contest. I ask why our biggest proponent of SMAW chose to Mig weld this rim and we turn into welding web.




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I don't get this bashing or snobbery. Surely it's primarily the most suitable process for the job that we should be using, or the one that's available? I work with a couple of lads who grab the Tig for everything, suitable or not, and they think I"m a dinosaur for using smaw as much as I do. Thing is, once you get too reliant on one process, you don't appreciate the flexibility of the others. I've patched car bodywork with stick, I've done 1/2" plate with o/a. Not ideal, but what was available. If I want pretty it's TIG, if I want speed it's mig, if it's rusty old c##p it's stick. There's always the angle grinder if it doesn't look too good.

I wonder if they would have never invented any sort of grinder...if we would all be better welders? I hate grinding welds but sometimes Murphy shows up and well...

Very well done. Nice job.
Cheers
Eldon

Braehill wrote:I don't have any idea how this post turned into a Tig bashing contest. I ask why our biggest proponent of SMAW chose to Mig weld this rim and we turn into welding web.




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Maybe I see things different but it looked to me more like tig snob bashing.

I had a tig snob once try and convince everyone on another forum that there are no mig machines in real
fab shops and that mig welding on motorcycle frames is dangerous and will kill you. He also didn't have anything
nice to say about SMAW either. I tried to explain to him that much of the pressure hull of a nuclear submarine
is either stick or spray mig welded and if those processes could withstand the pressures exerted on a hull then
my chopper frame would be just fine.

Remember, if you saw it on the internet, it must be true!

You can't fix stupid.

rake wrote:
Maybe I see things different but it looked to me more like tig snob bashing.



You can't fix stupid.

Exactly.
I'm not bashing the tig process in itself, just the tig snobs who think they are better then everyone else.

I agree, you can only kill it.

Nice repair, you get some interesting projects that's for sure.

I admit, my name is Rick and I am a reformed TIG snob

I learned on a tig so its what I knew and understood, a mig gun was like a metal glue gun to me, and stick was just old and not precise. Now as I grew up and realized the benefit of each process I use them all, some times dictated, some by choice.

I tig 90% of the time due to my skill and job function in the food industry, BUT I am happy to say I am getting better with a Mig and use is a lot. Just finished some structurally supports using A500 3/8" wall steel, called out Er70 so I cranked up the Might in spray transfer and burned them in nice, it would have taken multiple passes and a lot more time to tig. I also have become a fan on laying sweet beads of 308L with a stick.

Each process has its place, IMO you should know and use them all. Sometimes, time is money....

Mig,tig,stick

Each process has its ego experts.
Said before each has its place, and sometimes no choice or what is available is the only choice or the world stops turning.

Thrifty people, you Alaskans, John. I think y'all got just about all the miles you could out of that old tractor rim.

I didn't really read the preceding posts as "TIG bashing", but rather a distaste for process snobs of any ilk. I'll be learning how to TIG very shortly, so if I start turning into a TIG snob, somebody slap my paws. Actually, my favorite process (so far) is stick, but I'm better at MIG because that's what I've done more of recently. Sorta out of practice on stick.

Nice job on that rim, John. Beautiful work.

ldb