I always see beautiful welds from TIG but I cannot afford one. I am getting ready to buy either a Lincoln 135 or a Hobart 140 to build a turbo system.

I would love to see any pics of nice looking welds with MIG.

Thanks!!!

 

Best pic i could find

 

Bailhatch's manifold. Lincoln 135 if i remember correctly

 

well bailhatches looks good. i do recall engloid saying something about lack of penetration when using the overlapped spot weld method for mig. i'l let him chime in though. i'm just a ghetto welder.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by silly4lude &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">well bailhatches looks good. i do recall engloid saying something about lack of penetration when using the overlapped spot weld method for mig. i'l let him chime in though. i'm just a ghetto welder. </TD></TR></TABLE>
Yeah, in trying to make the "dime look", he sacrificed weld quality by letting it cool over and over. WIth a small machine like this, you need to get the area hot and stay welding on it, not let it cool over and over.

You will also notice fisheyes in it. Each of these are likely to begin to crack someday. A small crack leads to a big crack.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by legendboy &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Best pic i could find

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Is that flux cored welding/gasless? i see a little bit of splatter. Overall, it looks good

 

Thouse multiple tack welds are good for bodywork!! Not manifolds. Penetration is horrible.

Just lay short beads if your worried about getting too hot. Or adjust the welder accordingly. On the flanges you should beable to weld all the way around with 2 stops.

 

they do have their place. thats the only time i weld like that

 

the picture is shitty. you cant really see the bead very well. but this was done with a wirefeed, continuous welding.

 

Thanks, for the pics. Sweet. Lookin good. Keep em coming

 

you can make perfectly acceptable beads with a tig machine

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by joeseph &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">you can make perfectly acceptable beads with a tig machine</TD></TR></TABLE>

captain obvious

 

I have the Lincoln and I think it is great, it works better for me than the Miller 135s that I used to rent.

It doesn't matter what pictures you see of MIG welding, you need to practice a bit to make functional. A local welding shop may be able to check up on your progress and give you tips. Your welds will look good the more welding that you do.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by oxSLEEPERxo &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

Is that flux cored welding/gasless? i see a little bit of splatter. Overall, it looks good</TD></TR></TABLE>

millermatic 200. show me a mig weld with no splatter!

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Engloid &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
Yeah, in trying to make the "dime look", he sacrificed weld quality by letting it cool over and over. WIth a small machine like this, you need to get the area hot and stay welding on it, not let it cool over and over.

You will also notice fisheyes in it. Each of these are likely to begin to crack someday. A small crack leads to a big crack.</TD></TR></TABLE>

yup, thats an old manifold I made and it does have less penetration than I get now. Regardless of this fact, I have made about 30 manifolds like this and never had one crack or leak or fail in any manner with no additional supports to take the weight off the turbo. Function is paramount for me, not cosmetics so I dont feel that it makes the manifold any worse since it does its job 100%

After reading some of engloids posts and some stuff on the Hobart forum I can now lay beads that look similar but are done with a sort of continuous "?" shaped pattern. I get 90-100% penetration and am able to do the circumference of the pipe in 3 segments usually. I'll post up some pics soon so you guys can see my progress. They happen to look better too IMO.

 

Bailhatch made mine also. I dont have a picture of it (maybe he does) but its very similar to wantboost's manifold. The welds on mine are MUCH SEXIER though. LOL j/k

 

then i want a new and improved Bailhatch Manifold, lol. jk

oh, btw thats not my manifold.

this is my manifold

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Bailhatch &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote"> After reading some of engloids posts and some stuff on the Hobart forum I can now lay beads that look similar but are done with a sort of continuous "?" shaped pattern. I get 90-100% penetration and am able to do the circumference of the pipe in 3 segments usually. I'll post up some pics soon so you guys can see my progress. They happen to look better too IMO.
</TD></TR></TABLE>
I'm glad you've had good luck out of them, and also glad you've made some improvements. You know how people are....if you have ONE manifold crack, everybody will say that ALL your manifolds suck. That's what I worry about with a lot of the guys here. I don't want to see anybody jump right into selling stuff before they can get the consistency and quality they need to avoid that happening.

I can just see somebody making one manifold for themselves, one they sell...sell 40 more, and then #10 cracks. Well, by this time, they've gotten pretty good and the odds of #40 cracking may be slim...but their reputation will go to **** because they jumped into selling before they got very good at it.

 

Why don't you start selling some. Im sure alot of people would jump on them. With your welding skills you could make some nice manifolds..

 

It is not a wise idea like several of people have said about the mig "dime" stacking, if you want welds like that, do what i did and buy a tig torch for your mig setup, and learn how to tig.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Ckjeepin &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Why don't you start selling some. Im sure alot of people would jump on them. With your welding skills you could make some nice manifolds.. </TD></TR></TABLE>
I've got some things that are slowly comming together.

 

Awesome i look forward to buying your products in the future!

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Engloid &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
I'm glad you've had good luck out of them, and also glad you've made some improvements. </TD></TR></TABLE>

thanks, ya i want you to look at my new welds once I get some real pics of them. Maybe give me some more tips to make them look more consistent. my starts tend to be lumpy for the first 1/4" then the last 1" is nice and flush or slightly proud with the top of the pipe. Is that becasue there is less heat built up when I start?

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Engloid &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
I don't want to see anybody jump right into selling stuff before they can get the consistency and quality they need to avoid that happening.
</TD></TR></TABLE>

I had local victims, err customers to try out my manifolds on first, luckly

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Bailhatch &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

my starts tend to be lumpy for the first 1/4" then the last 1" is nice and flush or slightly proud with the top of the pipe. Is that becasue there is less heat built up when I start?
</TD></TR></TABLE>

possibly .. i can see y u would think that .. get a o/a and preheat the metal were u are going to start your arc .. im shure that will help bring donw the build up from the mig ..

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Bailhatch &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote"> Maybe give me some more tips to make them look more consistent. my starts tend to be lumpy for the first 1/4" then the last 1" is nice and flush or slightly proud with the top of the pipe. Is that becasue there is less heat built up when I start?</TD></TR></TABLE>

Most likely that's the problem. You may want to try to turn the amperage up a little bit on the first quarter to help fight the coldness...then go back down as it warms up. Otherwise, you may have luck with heating it a little ahead of time, as mentioned.

Consistency is something that is nearly impossible to teach. It seems that is one of the things that relies mostly on natural talent. Sure, it can be developed, but everybody has their limit on how good they will get. Practice is about the only way to achieve it. You can do things like draw lines on your metal to give you a guide for the bead width also.