Tig or Mig

[T0rnado69]

making a headlight bracket and need to weld this together.

il clean it all up first and take all the edges off.

this is 30mm x 6mm steel.







i really dont want loads of weld, and i know il have to pre heat it first.

as my mig is only a 155t.

but i do have a 200amp DC tig...

though i dont think i can run that full wack as it has a 13amp plug on it ?

maybe @Screwdriver can remember what the max he had it going at. ?

so il need to get a 32amp plug....

also i only have 1.6mm filler rods...

and the other important thing is....

im a newbie to tig and not had much practice LOL


what to do.......

 

[Paul.]

You wont need many amps to tig a small bracket like that, 110 or so will get the job done easy, even your little mig will do that without problems just turn it up. practice on an offcut if you need too.

 

[123hotchef]

i would mig it 150amps is more than enough for that no need to pre heat it

 

[eSCHEn]

Tig it up Stuart. Nice wee job to start on

 

[waddycall]

Might be better to mig it if you're new to tig as you might end up with it undercut quite badly with tig on the outside fillets.

 

[Richard.]

Tig/mig/mma all will happily weld that without issue.
I'd tig it personally simply because................................. I like tig better.

 

[eSCHEn]

Tig/mig/mma all will happily weld that without issue.
I'd tig it personally simply because................................. I like tig better.tig is way cooler.

FTFY

 

[Richard.]

Tig/mig/mma all will happily weld that without issue.
I'd tig it personally simply because...............................Tig is waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay cooler and all the cool people do it !! .

 

[Richard.]

Too much to the point perhaps?

 

[123hotchef]

i would stick weld it because i like that better than mig, I must try tig sometime

 

[Mr shiney]

I would MIG it unless you have specific need for visual welds. It's would take me a few minutes to do that.

 

[Bill Edwards]

I'd say 150a MIG is capable of doing that, just.
I'd prefer one of the other methods but it should be alright.
I don't suppose stick is something you're alright with as that'd be the fail-safe method if you're OK with that but not TIG.

 

[T0rnado69]

thanks for all the reply's guys....

i do have an offcut left over ,so i think tomorrow

il clean the bracket parts up and de edge them ready.
and il cut a few bits off and try mig...

i could also try the tig, but only have 1.6 filler currently.

i used to do MMA before i had the mig welder and got good at it too.

it was only a 140amp buzz box but it got used alot, even wore out the turbo fan in it lol

still have it stored away, not used it since buying the mig.
but i do plan on getting the stick holder to use on the tig set.

but that was a long time ago, since then ive got arthritis in both hands and carpal tunnel in both wrists.

so a 2.5mm or 3.2mm rod might wave around like a thin 1.6mm rod LOL

 

[Richard.]

i could also try the tig, but only have 1.6 filler currently

As Paul said your only gonna want 100 amps on that. 1.6mm filler is ideal.

 

[langy]

If you can tig then that is the obvious choice as I see it, better and neater job

 

[T0rnado69]

ok so i took the plunge and tried TIG.

set up the panel as below.



tried on some scrap first



wow couldn't see the puddle or much TBH..

started again and upped the base current to 70 and peak current to 120



still couldn't see puddle. so stopped.

looked up at the lights on ceiling and my mask wasn't going dark..
yet it was turned on.

twice its done that now, last time i took the protective clear lens out and cleaned the unit.
so i think the old speedglas is on its last legs...

so i got the new cheap ebay jobbie out the box and set it up.

looked up at the lights and BAMM it goes dark..... great..
so i carried on, the part after the hole.....

hmmm more practising required........

so got the mig torch and tried this 6mm plate ..

put it on max 2 with 6.5 wire speed.



hmm not bad but torch angle a little off.

tried again.



better so, decided to MIG the outside ones.

 

[T0rnado69]

so i left it like that to go cold.
then i decided to TIG the inside.
because i can apply the heat and melt the parts together without adding filler, something you cant do with MIG.

but had to leave the chromed bracket between the two pieces to keep the spacing right. wasn't much space to get torch in there.

so here come's the mess



well they are well stuck together now...
as there will be a third fixing into the headlight between the supports its time for a clean up.



that will do me, going to leave the outside welds as they are.

overall size of the headlight is 8", and inner size of bracket is 8 1/2"

so i had to make some spacers for the sides.



and a trickier one for the middle as it was tapered..



should look sweet once done and back on the bike..



now im at this stage, i need to fix the spacers to the bracket.



hmmmm i wonder....
two tacks with the TIG should hold em....

 

[T0rnado69]

well didn't get down there today... knee is in pain..

what sort of amps will i need to tack these 3mm thick spacers to the 6mm thick bracket.

cheers chaps..