Having a few issues learning proper MIG welding and would love an hour of someone's time to show me basics do's and don'ts of it.

I taught myself on scrap bits of steel.  I am sure there will be some good videos on YouTube.

 

It is just matter of doing it. I learned to arc and gas weld when I was younger 9 weeks 3 nights a week burning rod. Mig is a bit easier but you still need the tech.

wire flow  amperage and melt bath  keep wire in melt bath and move slowley backwards or forwards

dont weld galvanised steel poison gasses

you van also buy rolls of flux wire easier than gas cylinders but need to use a spray for splutter

 

keep torch clean  And use a good helmet with flash shutter no need constant to put open close 

good luck 

i live in Phrae to far to give u a lesson  

also use gloves and no flipflops and close arms as the ir will make your arms burn like the sun .

best way is to play with wire speed and amps and make sure u use the right wheel for the wire pressure .

Thanks @mikecha, very useful information.  I'll try out different wire speeds and voltage on some scrap metal to try and get something resembling a weld.

On 9/14/2023 at 7:27 PM, Kiniyeow said:

Thanks @mikecha, very useful information.  I'll try out different wire speeds and voltage on some scrap metal to try and get something resembling a weld.

Have you had any luck? I am in Chiang Mai (San Sai) and have done pretty much mig welding in my life but am not an expert or certified or anything. If you haven't figured it out maybe I can help. P/M me if needed.

 Ted

There is also, practice, practice, practice.

 

one tip do a right angle weld

then fill up the angle with multiple passes like this.

this is before cleaning and while not pretty I am producing strong enough welds on 1.2mm tube to make useable hanging racks.

 

Once I have finished it I’ll be cutting it to see how well or badly I’ve done.

yea, I'm sure I can use a lot more practice, I just need to be able to dial in the settings better using Flux core to get a better weld pool I think.

DIY learning is the best option, given the skill level exhibited by the shower that my wife hired to weld gate hinges. The gate fell off the next day as the clown hadn't cleaned the surface first.

I welded it on myself.

As cheap as they are in Thailand, I'd suggest starting out with a stick welder and a kg of forgiving rod.  I forgot the Thai nomenclature for the equivalent of 6013 rod, but it was easy to learn with.  Make surre you get a rod that's compatible with the AC or DC coming from your machine.  Start with a smaller diameter rod 1.6mm to 2.0mm to learn how to lay down a pass.

 

The OP didn't mention whether his MIG is true MIG or flux core.  I'm not going to pretend to be an expert, but too many variables to start (wire speed, amps, gas flowrate) can make learning tough.  That's why I taught myself with a stick.  Just one machine variable- amps.  The rest is feel.

 

If you're in Bangkok between Nov 22-25, you may want to traipse on by BITEC (BTS BangNa) to visit Metalex trade show, where they've always had a great selection of welding goodies.  Obviously, I haven't been to one since Covid, but they were always great in the past.

 

https://www.metalex.co.th

5 hours ago, impulse said:

As cheap as they are in Thailand, I'd suggest starting out with a stick welder and a kg of forgiving rod. 

I totally disagree with that. I tried it for weeks/ months and until I started using 3mm+ steel I had managed to create more holes than welds, even then I found it very easy to make warped frames. The long and short was that the welder got put away as it wasn’t easy or pleasant to use.

 

5 hours ago, impulse said:

I forgot the Thai nomenclature for the equivalent of 6013 rod,

The Thai name is 6013!! It is printed on every box.

5 hours ago, impulse said:

Make surre you get a rod that's compatible with the AC or DC coming from your machine. 

6013 is compatible.

5 hours ago, impulse said:

Start with a smaller diameter rod 1.6mm to 2.0mm to learn how to lay down a pass.

With Thai I completely agree.

5 hours ago, impulse said:

The OP didn't mention whether his MIG is true MIG or flux core.

If is a very cheap machine it can’t use gas shielding.

 

5 hours ago, impulse said:

I'm not going to pretend to be an expert, but too many variables to start (wire speed, amps, gas flowrate) can make learning tough.

You have missed the travel speed from that list, however none of those are anything close to the difficulty of Sick 

 

Wire speed: if the a weld stutters badly you are using way too little, if the gun gets pushed back to you you are way to fast

 

Amps(on my machine it’s Volts no setting for amps): if the weld metal is humped up increase the voltage, if the weld is glowing for a long time after you have finished decrease the voltage.

 

Gas flow rate: keep the ball in the centre of the gage, you may be using more than you need but it’s certainly enough.

 

All of the settings are easily adjusted while you weld, or stop adjust and start again.

 

The learning to make something usable was in hours and I have only burned one hole and that was on 1.2mm tube.
 

I have also successfully welded some 0.9mm steel packing strips. Is it beautiful? No, but then it’s just a practice test proof of concept and with a use for the metal (it was free) I know I am easily capable of using it in a project.

 

So in short MIG is easier to learn and, for me, fun to use. Stick was never easy and, for me, not fun to use.

 

It's a Flux core MIG, TIG, stick welder.  the one part you mentioned @sometimewoodworker about sputtering and pushback was interesting.  What was bugging me the most while practicing was all the pushback the wire was doing while welding.  Never occurred to me I might be dragging it too fast.  I'll give that more attention the next time I get in a practice session.

1 hour ago, Kiniyeow said:

It's a Flux core MIG, TIG, stick welder.  the one part you mentioned @sometimewoodworker about sputtering and pushback was interesting.  What was bugging me the most while practicing was all the pushback the wire was doing while welding.  Never occurred to me I might be dragging it too fast.  I'll give that more attention the next time I get in a practice session.

Pushback is a symptom of too fast wire speed for the voltage rather than too fast travel speed. Little to do but drop the wire feed or increase the voltage, you could change your travel speed as well, but don’t be tempted. Once you have the weld sounding good (so the correct setting for the job) then you can play with travel speed.

I had the money for a gas MIG and finally found the place to get the gas for it.

A useful video is under, basically ignore all the numbers and listen to the way the weld sounds, then fiddle with the settings until it sounds about right (do not change your travel speed), in 20 minutes you should be getting close to the correct settings.

 

On 11/2/2023 at 2:06 PM, sometimewoodworker said:

The Thai name is 6013!! It is printed on every box.

 

When I first looked for rod in Thailand, I went to the mom and pop stores on Rama4.  They had no 6013.  They did have 4313, which is the metric equivalent spec (Japanese nomenclature, as I recall), and they did have J421, which is a Chinese equivalent of 6013.  Later, I did find some welding specialty shops and Lazada where 6013 is available.

1 hour ago, impulse said:

 

When I first looked for rod in Thailand, I went to the mom and pop stores on Rama4.  They had no 6013.  They did have 4313, which is the metric equivalent spec (Japanese nomenclature, as I recall), and they did have J421, which is a Chinese equivalent of 6013.  Later, I did find some welding specialty shops and Lazada where 6013 is available.

You really didn’t look very hard then, as you can go into any of the big stores and find that every maker has 6013 and it is the single most common rod available in Thailand and often the only one, some specialty stores may have 7018 and 7016 others will have more exotic ones

 

I only have 2 boxes as I have virtually stopped using stick