Mig Welding: How It Works

Mig Welding: How It Works

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How do you mig weld? It is not that hard. That is if you know the basics.

First up when you're deciding how to mig weld, is if you're going to use gas-less flux cored wire or a solid wire with a shielding gas. If you're welding at home, more than likely your best bet is going to be to use the gas-less mig welding wire. If you choose to use a solid mig welding wire you will have the extra cost of the gas that comes in the bottle and the cost of renting the bottle itself. In Australia this is what we have to do. If you're lucky and you live in the USA for example, I do believe that you can actually buy your gas bottle out right so you don't have to keep paying a monthly rental fee.

The size of the contact tip and the wire is of great importance. To give an example, if 0.9mm is the diameter of your wire then it should be the size of your contact tip. But if it is a wire of aluminum, flux core, or gasless, then this is not required. In those cases the size of the contact tip should be slightly bigger; in this case 1mm should be okay.

Using the correct feed rolls or drive rolls as per the wire is also necessary. Feed rolls come in three models. The models are "knurled groove", "vee groove" and "u groove". The design of these rolls is based on the type of wire you use.

Vee groove should be used in case of solid wires, for aluminum wires its u groove and for wires of flux core and gasless its knurled groove. Bad welds might be the result if the correct type is not chosen.

Next you'll need to install the welding wire onto the machine. And the trick with the tensioning mechanism is to make sure that you do not tighten it up too much. If it is done up too tight, it will squash the wire out of shape. The copper coating will start to flake off the solid wire and the gas-less and aluminum wire will become difficult to feed through the welding torch.

Next will be usage of appropriate safety wear like gloves, boots, helmet, etc. Use the manual to adjust the wire feed speed and the amperage and ensure that the welding clamp is fixed on the base metal firmly. A user guide is provided with all the new machines.

If your machine does not have this because it is too old for example, start making some practice welds on some scrap metal. Once you have a good setting then you can transfer over to the job you want to work on.

Post welding, you might want to dress the welds using an angle grinder. I use flap discs for they leave a nice and smooth finish.

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