New Welder, What Else Do I Need??

[Rickster]

I've been looking for a MIG welder for use in restoring my 65 Mustang. Today at a Moving Sale I picked up a Lincoln Pro-MIG 135 for $225. I got a helmet, chipper, pair of leather gloves, a regulator with hose along with the unit and cart in the pic below. OK, so what else do I need? What kind of mix and size of gas bottle should I get. Can you guys recommend anything else? Thanks

 

[WVU Tuba Dale]

CO2/Argon welding mix is what we use. You might need new wire that does not have a flux-core. Make sure for shield gas welding you have the terminals inside the welder hooked up the correct way. It is opposite of flux-core welding if I recall correctly. You should also look into some 100% cotton long sleeve shirts if you don't have a welding jacket.

 

[Merkava_4]

Lincoln Electric has an excellent website that will tell you which gas goes with which hard wire and which hard wire goes with the base metal you're welding on. As far as the bottle goes, get the biggest one that will fit on your cart; and while I'm thinking about it, most MIG machines run a gas flow of 35 cubic feet per hour.

 

[r6_cannibal]

Get some practice
That flux core wire will get you familiar with the unit's trigger pull. Like WVU said, pick up a bottle of argon/co2 mix (commonly called c25) and some solid wire. The bottle size depends on how much you'll be welding. I have a 40cf bottle on my 90amp mig at home and for the occasional project has been enough for me. If you're doing a restoration and you'll be doing a good amount of welding a little bit bigger bottle would be good, how much welding are you going to do?
I also have an auto-darkening helmet and is nice to have and they are rather inexpensive.
But definitely practice. I keep my old brake rotors around for when i want to practice a bead before i go at my work.
That welder you picked up is a good find!

 

[Merkava_4]

Your voltage and wire speed settings are dependent on the material thickness and your travel speed. Increased wire speed will cause an increase in amperage and therefore an increase in heat. An increase in voltage will push the arc deeper into the base metal and therefor increase penetration.

The wire speed and voltage have to be matched to each other. Alot of it is by sound; you're looking for a smooth constant sizzle. If you hear crackles and pops, your settings will need further adjustment. Wire speed and voltage are interdependent on each other; always remember that.

 

[Axis11]

Nice rig, i have the same one and need to get a better cart like yours. once you get it dialed in it's great for doing panels and other light work. I need to weld new leaf spring pads on a 9" I'm putting in my project and will have to switch over to flux core for that.
I second the argon mix; I got a short tank from my local welding supply and told him what type of work I was using it for and he suggested the same thing.
Make sure that you run it by itself on a 20A circuit to get the best results.

 

[nissan_crawler]

welding pliers

tip paste

pam/bbq spray works well for keeping occasional spatters off things you don't want it on.

Ear plugs, both for weird welding positions (slag sizzling in ear wax is a horrible feeling) and for covering threaded holes.

respirator

 

[r6_cannibal]

Ear plugs, both for weird welding positions (slag sizzling in ear wax is a horrible feeling) and for covering threaded holes.

Wow that sounds horrid. Good tip

 

[toadjammer]

If you are doing body work you will want some .023 or .024 wire and contact tips. And 75/25 Argon/co2 mix gas will do most thaqt you will run into for steel.

 

[chad s]

and while I'm thinking about it, most MIG machines run a gas flow of 35 cubic feet per hour.

that a lot of tas flow for a small welder. I think about 15-20 cfh is all that's necessary for a low amperage machine. I keep my mig gas aroung 15 cfh.

 

[Spookrider]

Helmet wise and Auto darking help me when I was in class. I got an Optrel Satt. and it was night and day for my welding. I was more accurate and more better welding.

 

[Merkava_4]

that a lot of tas flow for a small welder. I think about 15-20 cfh is all that's necessary for a low amperage machine. I keep my mig gas aroung 15 cfh.

I pulled that out of my head. I remember it was 35 cf/h for MIG and 25 cf/h for TIG at city college; but we we're welding 3/16" plate vertical up (3F position) with the MIG. Wire size was .035" IIRC.

 

[Vicegrip]

Don't need a chipper for mig.

Clamps, 2 or 3 grinders, good gloves wire wheels. grinding wheels and blending wheels for the grinders. A good work place with a fire bottle nearby.

I never go over 15 CFH for the little mig.

Get the largest bottle you can purchase. The local welding suply sells the smaller nes but rents the larger bottles. Around here is is 80 CF. The gas gets cheaper per CF the larger the bottle is.

 

[kartracer55]

Dont go overboard. Its mig-welding, not tig-welding for the space station. Practice will be far more valuable than the fancy auto-darks.

But as a side note, welding pliers are definitely handy

 

[Lookin4'67Galaxieconv]

Anybody mention a good sweatshirt?

Something that will keep those stray sparks from giving you a nasty wakeup call. Somehow they always seem to find bare skin

 

[Rickster]

GREAT! Thanks guys! I've been wanting a MIG welder for a long time now for general use on restoring my old Mustang and around the house stuff. I'll get things together and start practicing as soon as the temp warms up. I used to weld some "back in the day" but it was a looong time ago and I did oxy-acetylene and arc welding. With the gas set-up I would create a puddle with a circular motion of the torch and then push the puddle while adding rod. With arc welding I was taught to do a half moon motion with the stick so the weld would come out looking like a row of dimes. With the MIG I'm assuming it’s more of an arc weld half moon motion, correct?

 

[toadjammer]

Some of the best MIG welds I have seen the guy moves the gun along just like a caulk gun. As long as the temp and wire feed is set right you get good penetration and a good looking bead. It isn't like TIG or gas welding where you heatand add filler you don''t have to put heat into to start. But if you don't have enough heat it will look just like a turd.

 

[mikeatrpi]

I think the proper term around these parts is "you ****". You got a good deal!

I bought a 40cu ft bottle on ebay from indiana oxygen co, and exchanged it locally. I recently got upgraded to a 60 since they were out of 40's... the price difference for the fill was minimal. I also run 20cfh, so that's 3 hours of trigger time per 60 cu ft bottle.

I recommend a harbor freight auto dark helmet; they often have it on sale for $50.

Wear long sleeves and gloves, don't be like those guys on TV and shut your eyes to tack either. You can get a sunburn from welding easily.

As far as technique - follow the chart under the lid for your settings. Clip a fresh end on the wire. Make sure your ground is good and the part is clean. Then let it rip, I keep about 3/8" or less stick out. Wait till you have a puddle, then move the gun. I like to use both hands to stay steady. Watch the puddle, not the arc, and don't be surprised if you find you have to go slowly. That's nice and all for running beads, but on body work you generally want to zap-zap-zap a bunch of tacks so you don't warp the panel with too much heat. For the subframe or floor boards, you might want to run a bunch of 1" or so beads that back up to each other.

 

[nismomans13]

Dont go overboard. Its mig-welding, not tig-welding for the space station. Practice will be far more valuable than the fancy auto-darks.

But as a side note, welding pliers are definitely handy

yeah, umm i would still reccommend a auto dark. I've been welding for years, and my starts are ALWAYS off when I have to flip down my helmet. You can pick up a cheap auto dark from HF and its actually pretty good. I use mine on a regular basis.

 

[JakeD]

Don't need a chipper for mig.

If you use flux core wire you do. Just to be clear for the OP, the "IG" in "MIG" stands for inert gas. The inert gas shields the hot metal from getting oxidized by the oxygen in the atmosphere. This gas can come from either a bottle of shielding gas (C25 for mild steel, used with solid core wire) or it can be generated when the flux in flux-core wire heats up during the welding process. The flux makes slag that needs to be chipped off.

Outdoors if it's windy, the wind blows away bottled gas and it's not effective, flux core MIG might be useful. In your garage, welding with bottled gas and solid wire you don't need a chipper.

 

[mkdive]

C25 gas, Some welding vise grips, +3 on the auto dark shield, HFs isnt all that bad. Look through your local CL for free scrap metal..(bedframes are great). the mig plier pictures above are handy as heck...can even be bought on the cheap at HF. practice practice practice! hobarts site has a good forum, also weldingweb.com lots of good info,

 

[george4]

Your voltage and wire speed settings are dependent on the material thickness and your travel speed. Increased wire speed will cause an increase in amperage and therefore an increase in heat. An increase in voltage will push the arc deeper into the base metal and therefor increase penetration.

The wire speed and voltage have to be matched to each other. Alot of it is by sound; you're looking for a smooth constant sizzle. If you hear crackles and pops, your settings will need further adjustment. Wire speed and voltage are interdependent on each other; always remember that.

That is a very true and thoughtful comment. I have spent quite a bit of time in night classes working on that. It is just too easy to lay a bead with a Mig that is not structurally sound even if it looks ok.

 

[mjb]

Get an auto darkening helmet. It makes tacking parts much easier. Get as many clamps as you can. You will be surprised at how many you will use on some jobs.

Enjoy it!

 

[nissan_crawler]

You didn't say if you've welded before or not, but a great thing to do (even if you know how to weld really, just to get used to that welder) Is to take lots of varying thickness scraps and weld them together in different positions, then cut them apart to check for voids, penetration, etc.

I still like to run a 1" bead on a scrap before whatever I want to weld. If you forgot to turn your gas on, you'll find out (plus purge the hose). If the wire got a little rust, you'll know. If your settings are off, you'll know. If there's a ground issue, you'll know.

If something does go wrong, it's easy to toss a 2" square scrap. If you screw up your piece, then you have to grind it all out to start over.

 

[dxdexter]

Ear plugs, both for weird welding positions (slag sizzling in ear wax is a horrible feeling) and for covering threaded holes.

respirator

Good advice. I wear a respirator and earplugs whenever I weld. The sparks can find their way into the ear easily. I have been saved quite a few times.

In addition to the above , my list would include: Auto Darkening Shield, Good Welding Gloves, MIG Dip, assorted clamps and Vise-Grip type pliers, welding pliers or needlle nose, a long sleeve non flammable jacket (I use an old Jean Jacket). Never GMAW or FCAW with bare arms, at least for any duration. The UV light will sunburn you quickly.

I use to rent the bottle for many years and then just bought a small bottle for $175. It is cheaper in the long run.I use a tri-mix gas (O2,CO2,Ar) for all my steel welding, only because that is the only gas available in the customer owned bottle. The CO2/Ar mix or straight CO2 will suffice for most home welding needs.