I just got into a little welding, I have the opportunity to work with tig/mig machines and just wondering what gas to use on metals, the more common, cheaper metals ie: mild steel/aluminum - or any metals for that fact.
so far ive been using argon for both machines.

Also what do you set the pressure to on the gauges for gas?
maybe get a information list going

 

Argon will take care of ALL your needs on tig. Mig sometimes requires different gasses, depending on what material and wire you're using.

 

Argon is great for pretty much everything on a TIG welder, however C10 (10% CO2, 90% argon) is a little better for stainless steel welding, the small amount of CO2 helps bite into the stainless more.

As for MIG, Pure Argon is used for aluminum MIG welding, C25 (25% CO2, 75% Argon) for Mild Steel, and Tri-Mix (dont remember the %s) for stainless steel.

 

also, i usually have my flow rates around 16cf/min

 

I used 100% argon for everything on my mig, no problems with stainless or mild steel, aluminum welds were horrible, but I'm not all that sure if it was the gas.