Hi, I’m making a stand for my mill out of 50x50x2.5mm mild steel box section. Have tried to weld together a test piece for the top, using a Mig FL-140 from Static Arc with 0.8mm flux core wire (gasless). One of the welds blew through. I think I slowed down too much there. I welded the outer corner vertically from top to bottom - I wondered if that was asking for trouble. Apart from any thoughts on what I’m doing wrong, I’m curious what you think about the one weld that seems least worst (the one before the shots with the blown out weld). It looks just about okay to me from the outside, but if I look at the other side (inside the box section), should I see the two pieces of section fused together, or is it okay to still have the line between them clearly visible? (See last image) Hope that makes sense. Simple question phrased badly I think! Cheers, Miggy
your going to have to look at that stand for a long time ,, go get some gas . If your machine can handle gas , you will be overwhelmed with the results , your there all but the set up. Failing that , stick it.
Thanks Tom, are you saying the gasless MIG won’t work, or is it that the other options would look better?
mig with gas would look a lot better, your welds have stuck and don't look that bad for gasless, good penetration, too good in a couple of places, looks strong enough provided the design is sound.
Thanks Matchless, if they will hold I’ll be happy for now (with some grinding to clean them up). Have another two benches / stands to make after this one, so good practice.
Not a lot wrong there. Wire cup on grinder if you want to see the best results. You've blown through because you're on a thin line with that much penetration. We've all done it.
I ground a 45 degree angle on the joint thAt got blown out. Do you think I need to do that given the box is 2.5mm thick?
yor welding is spot on the results look like they do because your using gas less wire , its hard to get really pretty results gasless but your prep is great and your joints fit well , It just seems a shame the end result isnt pretty looking , as I said , you will be looking at them for a long time to come.
The way you've blown through at one point suggests that you have the settings in the right area and with no need for any v-prep.
Just want to say thanks to everyone for being so friendly and helpful. Bit different to some other forums on the internet! If the joints are okay then it’s due to a huge dollop of beginners’ luck. Of course, after some more testing, on to the real thing - then it’ll go wrong
A bit of wire brushing (in a grinder or drill!) and they'll look much better. Once you've cleaned off the slag quite often gasless welds doesn't look that different to gas ones. You can use a flap wheel or file to remove the slight spatter if you want too.
Thanks Rich. Wire brush on order. Did another test or two, then just decided to go for it. Too many holes for my liking, but hopefully I’ll get away with it. Full time business, this lark!
You made life hard for yourself doing mitre joints. It'd loads easier and quicker just having a butt joint and capping the open end if you really want to.
i wouldnt agree ,, way easier not to be trying to put caps on thin stuff without gas . count the welds and look at the total weld length ,, I mitre things cos its fast and easy.
Each to his own, I personally wouldn't have bothered capping the ends for what it is. I've built hundreds of box frames building wagons and wouldn't dream of doing a mitre joint
depends on how long you have to look at it ,,, open ends would do , no problem but if the jobs for your self and you have to look at it every day , would butt joints and open ends really please you ?? If you cant do a nice job for your self then who do you do a nice job for , once one make do job sneaks out of the workshop , lots more will follow.
