bugging mig weld..

[God mode restorations]

Morning all...i have posted this picture up of bracket that's been mig welded...now I have studied this technique before..and have asked about how this is achieved..some say its pulsed mig..some say its done with a normal mig...i have seen the techniques used alot in the race car industry...i no we all developed our own techniques but its really bugging me how this is done....

 

[piman]

Hello Spencer,

are you sure that is not TIG welded? Personally I wouldn't worry overmuch in copying that as long as you get a decent weld, that's all that matters. I understand that you may only want to find out how though?

Alec

 

[weldgauge]

i would imagine the welder is doing overlapping "c" or "e". defo mig though, on dipped transfer i would say.

 

[harryb94]

I'm sure owas (think that's his name) on here got something like this the other day by jumping to the front of the puddle and then pausing for a second or two, he put a thread up with photos of it

 

[God mode restorations]

I understand what you mean..at the end off the day as long as its strong and penetration is good that's all that matters..i have tried to do it by starting and pausing for a second and jump in front of the puddle...but not to this standard...

 

[Bill Edwards]

Simply put, it's done by messing around to look 'pretty' like a TIG weld, rather than just getting on with a run that makes a strong joint and probably considerably faster.

Naturally there is skill involved in doing the exact same motion/timing, but it's just a look pretty, show off technique and I wouldn't waste too much effort thinking about it!

 

[fenman]

WOW gifted welder

 

[cumbriasteve]

It was the 'in thing' to get done on the custom bike scene years ago, brackets, frames and oil tanks are more visually exposed obviously and bike owners spent a lot of money paying the few guy's who had the skill to weld with such a finish.

 

[gordon stephenson]

If you check out the "We;ding Web" forum in the USA, one of the members fabricates lots of off road special equipment and his mig weld are just like your example or even better. his user name is ZT fab, the thread is called mig like tig, If you read all the posts he does describe his technique, but I know it is not pulsed or the stop start method for thin material , the man is an artist at this here welding game.

 

[Kent]

Welding is not art unless it is on art. A weld has but one purpose to hold the two bits together in the strongest possible way! MIG like TIG? why not just TIG it! It sounds like makig tea that tastes like coffee to me

 

[God mode restorations]

some intresting comments guys...and yes..a weld that is very strong and strength critical is more important than one that is nice in apperance...its an intresting technique thats puzzled me for some time....i am in the process of learning tig...

 

[PhillipM]

Welding is not art unless it is on art. A weld has but one purpose to hold the two bits together in the strongest possible way! MIG like TIG? why not just TIG it! It sounds like makig tea that tastes like coffee to me

Because being pretty sells, and in most of those parts, the welded joint isn't the weakest part of the design so it doesn't really matter. It does give somewhere for corrosion to take hold mind, but they're race cars that are getting sandblasted every time they turn a wheel.

 

[Tigman]

Have a look on Weldingtipsandtricks.com i think he tryed to do it like ZT Fab , theres a video of his results on there somewhere !

 

[owas]

That was mine, did get rid of thread as i found loads of info around already.
It was moving in front of the puddle and pausing .. i just do a normal mig run over this though

 

[God mode restorations]

Ok cool..thanks for the post..i did some more research this evening..a compay called pro fabrication techniques have information on this method...its like a weave form left to right and timing it right..

 

[Kent]

Because being pretty sells, and in most of those parts, the welded joint isn't the weakest part of the design so it doesn't really matter. It does give somewhere for corrosion to take hold mind, but they're race cars that are getting sandblasted every time they turn a wheel.

But is it ? Personally I am not so sure! MIG is notorious for producing good looking welds that give up is the wire isn't fed into the leading edge of the puddle correctly with a good angle of dangle. Those look like HD parts I should want HD welding to match.
Perhaps they are good and can pass any test I just cant say without experience of those style being tested previously

 

[backpurge]

You can see the lack of fusion on a couple of the photos quite clearly, it's a case of deciding whether you want something that looks OK or would prefer mechanical integrity

 

[Richard.]

Weld it properly until someone is paying for the fancy dancy stuff. Then get em to sign a disclaimer stating it's not your responsibility if the weld fails. They will soon change their minds and want a sound job then. It looks nice and demands good coordination and timing but as Kent says there is welding and there is art. Custom car/bike parts want welding, save the art for the garden sculptures.

 

[PhillipM]

You can see the lack of fusion on a couple of the photos quite clearly, it's a case of deciding whether you want something that looks OK or would prefer mechanical integrity

Whilst I won't say those in the examples are much cop - there's a clear lack of heat/fusion in some runs, and the welds aren't wide enough especially on the outside corners of some of those pieces - I have seen welds done like this from some guys that I would trust my life to. It's not a whole lot different to the thin metal technique to be honest*. Mind, you wouldn't want to use it on anything where the HAZ is a critical area...


*And similarly, I will use it myself where I need to weld and the fitup is somewhat, err, rough, as it's useful to control heat input. Yes, the solution is to make joints fit properly before welding, but that's not always an option, and if the welds outright strength isn't the critical area, it doesn't worry me.

 

[backpurge]

I would tend to say the welds are plenty wide enough, far too much filler wire and all the fancy Hollywood style weaving and wandering about generally leads to lack of fusion at the root, as said you can clearly see lack of root fusion at the weld toes.

If all the component has to do is look pretty, fair enough, but if it has to deal with any amount of stress I would be very sceptical as to it's suitability