parallel turbos

[tbowker]

Haven't touched an exotic metal since class.

I'm self taught.... apparently I'm lacking in class.

 

[ISPKI]

Those are all exhaust pieces, none would be galvanized, or I'd have been dead years ago.

Most is aluminized, which is why it can be welded. I use .030 er70 wire with it. I really want to try .023 the next spool, as I've been told by exhaust guys it make a big difference in blow through.

I dabble in tig welding 304 stainless exhaust as well. My welder is a multi-process unit, which is great to have all the capabilities, but it does none of them as well as a dedicated unit. As such it is lift tig, and while it's not impossible to weld with lift tig, I've yet to master starting the arc without contaminating my tungsten to some extent.

Sounds like one of the machines I use in my shop, the one I use most often actually, an Eastwood MP250i. I rarely stick weld with it since I have a dedicated stick machine but it does GMAW and GTAW well enough. Been eyeballing an Arc-Pig to give it HF starting but lift arc isnt bad enough with how infrequently I use GTAW at my home shop.

I feel that it mig welds just as well as any other mig dedicated machine ive used. Burned thru ~400lbs of wire with it over the years and it hasnt skipped a beat yet.

 

[The_Josh_Bear]

For me, mig was the easiest process to learn, then tig, then stick, then all the other processes that I do with fancy equipment.

Which did you learn first? I have only done stick(and Texas tig ) so far, but I've read that generally mig is easiest to learn, then stick and tig. Which is why I started with stick, so that I have that skillset before moving to either of the other two.

Point being if you learned stick first and it was a big learning curve maybe that's why it was the hardest to learn? Just curious.

 

[Booyah45828]

Sounds like one of the machines I use in my shop, the one I use most often actually, an Eastwood MP250i. I rarely stick weld with it since I have a dedicated stick machine but it does GMAW and GTAW well enough. Been eyeballing an Arc-Pig to give it HF starting but lift arc isnt bad enough with how infrequently I use GTAW at my home shop.

I feel that it mig welds just as well as any other mig dedicated machine ive used. Burned thru ~400lbs of wire with it over the years and it hasnt skipped a beat yet.

If it's a 3 in 1 machine like that then I'm sure it is.

Mig works well on mine. The newer machine I used in college was better, but what I have gets the job done.

Tig on mine is just okay. But then again, I'm basing it off a new lincoln precision tig that I learned/played with in college. The type of machine that had more bells and whistles then you could shake a stick at. I feel like I'm an okay welder, and using that machine I could weld mild, stainless, and aluminum and create pro grade stuff. Really was confidence inspiring.

Using my tig machine, it's just not the same. Manual control gas flow, lift tig start, no amp control. IMO it's also down on power then what I'd like. Sure the welds are functional, but they're not art quality imo. Welding stainless I have a lot of heatsoak issues because I can't get it hot enough fast enough, and then back it down enough not to burn. And it can't do AC, so any alloy is out.

 

[Booyah45828]

Which did you learn first? I have only done stick(and Texas tig ) so far, but I've read that generally mig is easiest to learn, then stick and tig. Which is why I started with stick, so that I have that skillset before moving to either of the other two.

Point being if you learned stick first and it was a big learning curve maybe that's why it was the hardest to learn? Just curious.

I know it wasn't addressed to me, but I'll give my opinion.

I "learned" mig first, in the shop as a teenager. Had no idea on anything, except that pulling the trigger made stuff stick together. I then went to college and actually learned mig, then stick, and then tig. I'd rather have learned stick first, because I feel that I had to "unlearn" everything I knew about welding, and then relearn it when stick welding, but it's how we were assigned machines.

I'll preface this by saying this is all my opinion, and I'm very easily wrong on any(or all) of it. With that said, to get a good weld with mig and tig, there's just as much in the machine setup as there is in the operator. With stick, it's just a fixed current, and to get any weld at all, you have to do the work. Stick really requires you to be good at the fundamentals of welding, like arc length, weld speed, heat/penetration, technique, etc. And that's all done while the electrode is consumed, so your hands are constantly moving in relation to the work. Whereas the other two you can be a little off on any of that and still make something functional. With mig, once the machine is set, you just point the gun, pull the trigger, and make the puddles you want. Tig is similar, but you have to be ambidextrous and feed the filler with the other hand. If your non-dominant hand is more like a foot, and isn't up to the task, it can make tig super difficult.

If you're proficient with stick, you can learn the machine and then do the other processes well too. If you don't have the fundamentals down and have used the machine to mask that, you'll struggle with stick.

 

[ISPKI]

I learned Mig first, then Tig and then stick. I think I picked up Tig so easily because I oversee my company's GTAW department and felt I should be at least competent at the process if im going to do all the development and engineering for the GTAW crew and I was able to spend alot of time at work welding scrap to get the hang of it. We dont do stick at work so that I have had to learn in my own shop and to be fair I just dont have alot of need to do it since I have an enclosed shop building. Not really alot of use for stick in my particular environment so I just havent really practiced with it.

 

[KansasIDI]

I learned Mig first, then Tig and then stick. I think I picked up Tig so easily because I oversee my company's GTAW department and felt I should be at least competent at the process if im going to do all the development and engineering for the GTAW crew and I was able to spend alot of time at work welding scrap to get the hang of it. We dont do stick at work so that I have had to learn in my own shop and to be fair I just dont have alot of need to do it since I have an enclosed shop building. Not really alot of use for stick in my particular environment so I just havent really practiced with it.

Whereas I’m the other way around… 98% of the welding I do is outside, on less than ideal metal, as far as cleanliness goes. So I primarily do stick, unless when we are rained out, then I get to do a little mig, since it is more or less a speed system, not really an assembly line but close. And it has to be set up so that anyone can do it, and quickly. I have tried tig, I didn’t do super well, but I did enjoy giving it a try and would love to get better at it.

I learned on stick, which pretty much made mig a breeze, but that’s just been my experience.

On the farm I really just use stick unless it doesn’t work for what I’m welding on, which is almost never the case. I have a flux core mig machine in my shed, but I haven’t used it in years…

 

[hacked89]

When I went to school the order was oxy, stick, mig, tig and you had to pass in that order to move on to the next. Yes what booyah said, your skills and the machine settings are one in the same. After hours of burning metal you start to realize the cause and effects of settings and how to dial it in. I’m no expert, a hobbyist, but I went to night school for welding with union tracked guys. I learned flux mig at 13yo from my grandpa. At 17yo my safety bar welds broke on my demo derby car. On the first day of welding school they ask why you are there.. I said I never want the safety bars to break again..

 

[XOLATEM]

I picked up a Sears Colormatic in the middle 80's and learned to run a bead with it as soon as I got it hooked up to 220VAC. Didn't have any earthly idea what I was doing, but I managed to build a special tool with it and save 700 bucks instead of spending it with the Snap-On guy.

In the middle 90's I attended a class at a welding supply store in the winter...(what else was I going to do..?) and was introduced to oxyfuel, soldering, brazing, mig, and stick....the instuctor was a guy about my age but he had spent all of his time welding at the Shipyard while I was in an auto repair specialty shop.

I wound up buying a Lincoln 125+ mig from that store and proceeded to weld anything that would sit still long enough for me to take a whack at it...
Didn't know what I was doing, but I managed to fix a lot of stuff and wondered why I had waited so long....

I am not using that machine now...but it is tucked away and waiting for me to need it sometime...

Later on, I bought a small torch outfit and burned everything in sight...
Still have it but am not using it at the moment...I leave it 'back home...in case I will need it there...

Another one of those things that made me wonder why I had waited so long...

Then...after I quit working on TPOS'es in an FPB's...I took another welding class at a community college with a state grant for old codgers like me that need to train up to do something else than what they had originally set their heart on in their twenties...

Turns out that the same guy that I had studied under in the 90's was teaching this class in 2016...

I wanted to find out what I had been doing right...but mostly what I had been doing wrong...boy, did I learn.....

That was a good thing....and it got me on a roll...collecting welders...

I bought an Auto-Arc 135 gas (made by Miller) and a Lincoln 100 flux on the same night chasing down craigslist leads in WVA...got a lot of use out of both of them...

I picked up an AC and DC 235 amp Lincoln Tombstone and built a few things with it...that one is the one that built me the most 'house and land improvements' and has served me well...

When I still worked on cars...for someone else....I spotted a Miller 135 gas mig in a corner of the shop....just neglected and forgotten....and I kept an eye on it...and eventually I quit that job and went on to something else...a few years later I came back for a visit...and the durn thing was still there...in the same place...

I asked the owner if he had any use for it...and he said 'no' and that something was wrong with it and did I want it..?

I had to keep my best poker face and say...'sure...I'll take it off your hands...'....I took it home...opened it up...and the only thing I figured it needed was a new stinger...got one, put it in, and away I went and fabbed up some things...love that machine...

'Bout a year or so ago...I saw a craigslist ad for a package deal...

A fairly new Hobart 190 and a Hobart plasma cutter...could not pass that up...I wanted a higher-capacity mig and a 'starter' plasma cutter...

I had used a Hypertherm in class...and a Thermal Dynamics at a job...but something like that will have to wait until I have some 'disposable' income...

As far as what I have also used in the past...the Paving Company that I worked for had a Miller 251 mig that worked real well....I had used a Miller 210 mig that was one of the nicest machines I have ever used...

And the Tractor Dealer I worked at had a Miller 252 Mig that was used, abused, and rode-hard-and-hung-up-wet....but still soldiered on....

When I worked at a sawmill...they had a Miller Bobcat in the bed of an 80's F-150 4x4 and it was fun to fire up and use around the mill...when you have to fix something that everyone else working there is waiting on to get back to work...the only thing missing is the 'drama' music...

I have a Miller Trailblazer on my truck...I have used it occaisionally...

Love to fire that one up...sort of like a little ceremony when I decide to use that one...

And I just got a Miller 161 STL off of craigslist...( I gotta stop this stuff...) for a killer deal because it would not turn on...but it only took 200 bucks to get it functional...real nice machine...

As far as my experience and expertise...? I will always be an advanced beginner when it comes to joining metal...I always had to learn on my own dime...unless I was fixing stuff at a job...I will probably be only a 'grinder'...like @hacked89 said some time ago...

How many pounds of wire and filler material have I gone through...?

Don't know...but I keep a good selection always on hand...

If anyone asks me how good of a weld can I lay...?...I will tell them...

"My welds are as ugly as Home Made Sin...but they will hold."

So...that is my story and I am sticking to it...

P.S. One thing that my Welding Instructor told me..."If you learn Mig before you try Stick...you will have to overcome some bad habits..."

For me...I found that to be true...

Another P.S. I will always be grateful for any job I have had that allowed me to weld anything for the business, or the customer...it gets me excited every time...like a kid in a hobby store...

each task and project is different...with varying challenges...

Keeps life interesting...and that is one of the things that folks need...

 

[tbowker]

Wow, you sir, have an impressive collection of welding machines! After reading this, all I can say is.... you could easily change your username to WELDERHOG. Or maybe GOHREDLEW, if that's more your style. Ya know, anything after 10 welding machines is just showing off. Just sayin.

 

[ISPKI]

Yeah I have all the fancy machinery at work, Miller Dynasty 200s, a massive 600 amp XMT 456 multi process, several intellitigs, CK programmable wire feeders, weldlogic lathes. Thats our small stuff. The bigger machines are all in excess of $500,000, some over a million and can create welds that conventional methods can only dream of.

Meanwhile at home I have a Hobart, the MP250, and a Marrium Graves stick welder. Kinda feels like im clunking rocks together sometimes.

 

[DaveBen]

"My welds are as ugly as Home Made Sin...but they will hold." - XOLATEM

I learned stick welding about 50 years back. I used 6011 and mine were ugly but held. I learned gas welding and MIG years later. I have not touched a welding torch in 20 years now...

 

[tbowker]

Meanwhile at home I have a Hobart, the MP250

I recently picked up a freebie Hobart mvp 210 because the control board is trashed. The new board is 1/3 the cost of the machine brand new, so I figure I'll replace it and keep it for my mig machine. I have a tiny Lincoln 140 that I use for Flux core, so between those two and my Miller, I've got my fill of welding machines.

 

[XOLATEM]

you could easily change your username to WELDERHOG. Or maybe GOHREDLEW, if that's more your style.

I'm busted...you got me fingered out...

anything after 10 welding machines is just showing off. Just sayin.

I am certain that there are others with a much more impressive collection...I am just small potatoes...

Yeah...I wish I could stop...but the farther I go with this stuff...the more capability I want...Inside work, outside work, thin metal, thick metal, good welds, better welds,spend money projects, save money projects...

The only one I bought new was the Lincoln 125+...

"Stop me before I shop on craigslist again....."

 

[tbowker]

The only one I bought new was the Lincoln 125+...

I bought my synchrowave 250 brand new 30+ years ago. That's a humorous story, but more involved than I feel like writing.

"Stop me before I shop on craigslist again....."

And this plays into that humorous story. Hence the ex wife.