Welding with a 130 amp Mig

[Spanthefestaman]

This will be a really simple question for many.

Using 0.8 wire what is the maximum material thickness you can hope to weld? Looking to do a little fabrication project but i am not sure if the welder is up to the job!

 

[MoreWellie]

Seek and ye shall find https://www.mig-welding.co.uk/buying.htm

 

[eddie49]

Rough rule-of-thumb is 40 Amps per millimetre, or 1 Amp per thousandth of an inch.

 

[a111r]

As above, 3 mm to 4 mm.
'Pre-loved' DIY machines can always find ways to reduce that ball park range.
What's the project?

 

[Spanthefestaman]

I work in an engineering shop (im actually a mechanic by trade) and we use little trollies to work on the machines with. So they are used for machine set up and checking parts as they are run. As a mechanic i find them brilliant as the cheapy versions you can buy on ebay are all too low so you are always bending down. The ones we use stand as tall as a kitchen worktop so no bending required. Would like to make one and get my mate to trail it in a workshop and see how it does and then just make one at a time and sell them. Would like to make a little profit but also as a little hobby.

By chance does anyone know what type of tip a snapon 130 machine uses? I see there are two types but the machine is at my old workshop currently.

 

[morph]

Bloke I do a lot of work for bought in a new Clark 135 he got cheap last week to see if anything that small would be useful in a very large farm workshop.

To be fair I turned it to flat out, got some scrap out of the metalworker bin and had a play. It actually got half decent penetration joining 15mm to 6mm!!! I thought it would smash apart with a hammer but I had to get the joint it the press to break the weld!

I was incredibly surprised how well it did as I’ve only ever used industrial migs running big wire. For the odd joint in 6mm plate I’m sure a 130 would just about manage....

 

[Spanthefestaman]

Im looking at a simple 3mm angle iron frame and 1.2 or 1.5 for the shelves. I used to do a lot of fabrication with a larger welder and enjoy it. Now the most fab i do is grind some rods to the correct length. Need a little challenge in life to fuel the mind. Just tried to get gas but they only have CO2, dont really want smokey welds.

 

[123hotchef]

co2 will do at a push