Technical Do you ever use your stickwelder anymore?

You can see the puddle in MIG welding? Really? I'd pay someone that could show me that. Gas and stick puddles are no problem, MIG never. Bob

 

Did you not gather that I didn't go to welding school? Is pool better for you? If there is no melting how does it fuse together? I must be doing something right. Never had an engine frame mounts twist or rip out. Never had control arm mod's fail. Never had a patch panel fail. Guess I'm just lucky? Look at what's just behind the white orange at the core heat in this video?

 

Tig is my specialty. That was my trade, and it is what I do everything with. I would use Stick over Mig. Never liked Mig . Again Tig is the way to go. I do like to gas weld also.

 

No, mine was just a small buzz box, and not really much anyway. Got a pretty good price for it at the scrap yard. First thing I bought when retiring in 03 was a new Lincoln mig.

 

I'm sure my bride got tired of me arc welding, buzz, dammit,yank the stick back & forth, buzz, Dammit,yank the stick back and forth, buzz, DAMMIT! repeat as often as necessary. HRP

 

What's molten steel and what's flux in this puddle? Oop's, I brought up puddle again.

 

Damn I hate to admit this but I have 180 or 220 stick on back of my Mig cart and I haven't turned it on in at least 8 yrs and sadly I can't tell you the make!! It's name brand and blue!! Hobart? Miller? Don't remember....

Several times I've thought about selling and putting it on a tig welder but figure any more there probably isn't much value in selling it.....

Damn now I'm going to have to see who made it later tonight...

 

I'm rusty but I can still weld with a buzz box.

 

I haven't used my stick welder either, since I got the wire feed welder 20 years ago. Technology just keeps marching on. Every once in a while I jump on and learn something new and better, most times not.

 

My welding really improved after I had cataract surgery. HRP

 

^^^^^ Those are good point's. I get frustrated now because of my I site not allowing to make equally spaced swirls.

 

I think it's my lack of talent that prevents me from making equally spaced swirls

 

Shortly before it became abundantly clear just how bad my vision had deteriorated I had tacked two pieces of metal together making a transmission mount and I proceeded to weld it up and when I flipped the helmet up I realized I had laid down some of my best work ever, the only problem with that was I entirely missed welding the two pieces together and I had a nice weld about a quarter inch away from the intended target. HRP

 

Placing or holding forearm helps a lot. Now's it all in the wrist only.

 

I'm talking about when tig welding...I have my hands well braced, still can't make it look pretty.

 

Nope! Only used it really... On rusted, broken plow frame's(snow) years ago when plowing winter's

 

Take up playing the drums.

 

My MIG is only 110 volt, so when I need to weld something thick, I use the arc welder. But I stick weld so infrequently anymore that it seems my welding rods are always stale. That makes it hard to get a good weld. 40 years ago, I went to secondary votech for welding. All we did was gas and arc. I became very proficient at it. Now, not so much. The MIG has spoiled me.

 

I've got the Lincoln Tombstone under the bench that I bought in the 70's. It was what I used to build the engine/transmission mounts on the 38 plus a couple of trailers. I bought a mig about 15? years ago and now the only time the buzz box is used is when my wife has some cast iron to be welded. If she would have learned to use the buzz box on heavy stuff we wouldn't have a Lincoln 256 as well as a Hobart 140 Handler.

 

Last time I used my stick welder was 2'ish winters ago when a bracket on someone's plow broke. it was an outside job, was pretty windy out so mig wouldn't have been a good option and I don't usually have a roll of flux core to swap in. Might not have been the prettiest, but it got fixed so they could keep plowing, other than that I haven't touched it. I prefer mig but have been trying to work in tig more just to get better at it.

 

All those passes look just like my stick weld work, guess the MIG unit I had access to wasn't set up to do that. Bob

 

Got my Lincoln tombstone in 1975, commenced to wiring an outlet just inside the kitchen door so I could weld just outside, and figured out that the 60-amp service I had would put the entire household wiring service at capacity if I was welding anything of size. Had to learn how to rewire the house for 200-amp service. When I built a new house, I wired an outlet just inside the garage for my tombstone. Five years later, got a Hobart Handler 190 and some shielding gas and haven't used the stick welder since. If I ever need to weld two railroad tracks together, the stick welder is ready.

 

Bob,I'm sure you are well aware that the more you do something the better you get, that includes mig welding, it's actually pretty easy once you get the hang of it. HRP

 

If you can't see it, then adjust for a perfect match to how bacon sounds when frying. It smells different, but that's normal.

 

I use my Miller AC/DC stick welder regularly. Don't have a TIG, and don't see any reason to get one as my MIG will handle anything the stick would burn a hole in. And with all the trick welding products out there these days (stainless stick rod, aluminum 'brazing' rod), why would I need more?

Flux-core wire on a wire feed is a waste of time...

 

I agree. I cut my teeth on stick and gas welding. Makes using migs seem like a child's toy.

 

I went out and bought a newer ac/DC lincoln ideal arc 250 welder because down on the farm mig welders dont work to well on heavy/rusty/gummy/greasy iron.

Try to weld in the wind with a mig welder is like peeing into the wind. I hate the flux core mig wire with a passion.

I use my smaller 220 mig welder for more of the lighter sheet metal or body work.

 

I gave mine away.

 

Still use my Craftsman arc welder, but as it was one of my first big tool purchases, I'm kinda attached to it so it has a place in my shop. My son keeps the 110v MIG+gas welder at his place (flux core sucks). I've also been known to do a blacksmith forge weld or 2. The oxy-acetylene rig is the one at some risk of divestiture....

 

I have a Miller Syncromatic 180 that meets my needs for TIG and stick welding, as well as an old 300 amp Miller Blue 40.
I used the 180 with some 7018 to do some fabricating just this week. I used to hate welding 7018 with my old DC buzz box, but with either of the two machines I have now, and a new adjustable helmet, I enjoy stick welding again.
I also have a Lincoln 255 MIG, and although I know I could easily use it for heavier welding, I prefer to use it for sheet metal.
I still use my Oxy/Acety torch for some types of repairs.
Bob