Mig welders?!

[kmakar]

100% for Tig
75-25 for Mig

Yeah, I know, but I use the same bottle for both.

 

[68Chevele]

Get yourself a bottle of argon & start burning up some metal.

That's the plan this year and I do have a small bottle for testing. I also have a 3 in 1 Arc, plasma cutter and tig welder in one. I mainly bought it for the plasma cutting side and boy it cuts real thick metal. I did test the arc welder and that welded fantastic even at real low amp, just like the other one need to tig weld. It's been except for when I pissed off my buddy in the mid-80's using his tig welder welding my name on some metal like I did in High School. Wow, it's been 50 years ago when I used a tig welder. Hope it's like riding a bike.

 

[JohnC]

Yeah, I know, but I use the same bottle for both.

How does that work out? It would be nice to just have one bottle and be able to weld aluminum too

 

[kmakar]

How does that work out? It would be nice to just have one bottle and be able to weld aluminum too

Every once in a while I'll get a little spatter when I mig, otherwise it's fine.

To be truthful, I've dialed the regulator back because I was changing out my bottle like every week when I was doing alot of welding, but on the bad side I can't weld outside in open air as any breeze blows the shielding gas away. 99.9% of my welding is indoors anyways.

 

[Molly's 70]

Every once in a while I'll get a little spatter when I mig, otherwise it's fine.

I've seen pure Argon used for Mig welding steel. It has a narrow weld bead w/ some lack of fusion on the edges. CO2 mix will give more heat & penetration with a flatter, better appearing weld.

 

[kmakar]

I've seen pure Argon used for Mig welding steel. It has a narrow weld bead w/ some lack of fusion on the edges. CO2 mix will give more heat & penetration with a flatter, better appearing weld.

I'll agree with CO2 giving a flatter cleaner looking weld. I'm mostly doing small stuff now so it's not a big deal, but once I build my new shop, I'll get separate bottles.

 

[Molly's 70]

Speaking of bottles, I have a "T" size bottle for the tig in my garage. I can't own it. I have to lease the bottle, then pay for its contents. I have a 10 year lease. What a rip off.
When this lease runs out I may reevaluate what I'm doing. I don't weld as much at home as I used to.

At work we have Argon in a huge tank outside the building. It is plumbed into a manifold system that supplies all the welding machines.

 

[kmakar]

Speaking of bottles, I have a "T" size bottle for the tig in my garage. I can't own it. I have to lease the bottle, then pay for its contents. I have a 10 year lease. What a rip off.
When this lease runs out I may reevaluate what I'm doing. I don't weld as much at home as I used to.

At work we have Argon in a huge tank outside the building. It is plumbed into a manifold system that supplies all the welding machines.

I have a "S" sized Argon that I paid for years ago (about 30 years ago) and I just swap tanks for fills. I'll buy another "S" size when I get the CO2 mix. Since I don't weld anywhere as much as I used to, they last about 3 to 6 months now.

 

[77cruiser]

Do you pay a lease on your tanks?

 

[Molly's 70]

Do you pay a lease on your tanks?

Yes, They stopped doing 20 year leases around here so I have a 10 year lease. I have a T size bottle. You can buy up to an S size bottle.