DIY MIG Welding > Tutorial

MIG Welding Tutorial

The MIG welding tutorial (below) covers the steps you'll need to take to learn how to MIG weld. It's the sort of thing you'd find in a welding for dummies or welding secrets book, but this one is free and includes videos.

More seriously, I've been learning MIG welding for more than 15 years so in some ways the tutorial is how to avoid all my mistakes and to help you learn all I've learned only much faster. More experienced welders have helped with the tutorial so hopefully there won't be too many mistakes. If you get stuck we have a very friendly forum that can help.

Installing the wire Wire feed is the most common cause of MIG welding problems. A few tips on how to install the wire and tension the wire feed.

Power and wire speed calculator A tool to help you estimate initial power settings for your welder. Further pages in the tutorial will help fine tune the settings for that perfect weld.

Torch position and laying welds Prepping for welding, positioning the torch, and making some practice welds.

Setting the wire speed MIG welders are sensitive to wire speed. There is a very narrow wire speed range where the welder welds nicely between burn back and stuttering. This page should help you fine tune the wire speed for your welder.

Finding the right power setting The choice of power setting will vary from welder to welder, and can be influenced by technique. The best way to find the appropriate power setting for your welder is to experiment on scrap metal then examine the welds

Butt welding It's best to develop neatness and technique before attempting to join two pieces of metal together. It's a tricky first weld, so easier overlap welds are touched upon too.

MIG Welding Techniques
Thin Metal Blowing holes in thin metal? But don't want to buy a TIG? Here's a technique that should be good for 0.6mm sheet.

Gasless MIG Welding You can use it in the wind. A page with pros, cons and techniques.

Plug weld Plug welding is a DIY alternative to spot welding. It's a useful technique in automotive repairs where the panels were originally spot welded.

Finishing Welds There's only one way to end up with the invisible welded repair and it doesn't involve your ordinary angle grinding disc. This one is a real welding secret.

Welding thick metal Manufacturers claims of welder capability often seem exaggerated. The Clarke 90EN claims to be capable of welding 4mm steel sheet, but the calculator says 2mm. The page looks into the techniques required to achieve the claimed thickness.

Tips and tricks A few random thoughts and techniques that haven't found a home elsewhere in the tutorial.

Welding other metals with a MIG welder
Setting Up for Alu Welding Aluminium welding can be frustrating until you de-bug your welder. The wire is much less stiff than steel wire so is prone to crumple after the roller. An oversized tip and plastic wire liner are required together with other tweaks to your welder.

Aluminium Welding How to weld aluminium (turns out it's not so bad). Aluminium very quickly forms an oxide layer which needs to be removed before welding. From there the welding process is tricky because of the rather narrow window between melting the aluminium and blowing holes.

MIG Brazing MIG brazing is a relatively new technique that tends to be used by automotive manufacturers on modern steels that can't really be welded using conventional techniques. The material is intended to be used with specially developed MIG welders, though it can be carried out with a standard MIG with some loss of benefit. The page suggests a technique and includes a strength test.

Cast Iron MIG Welding A very useful application of MIG brazing wire is in the repair of cast iron. Braze is much softer than steel filler wire so reduces problems with cracking of the cast iron. This page describes a traditional studding technique as well as the use of braze to join a cast iron gear casing, and discusses alternative methods that could have been used to join the casting.