mig like tig again

[brokenbiker]

this is in no way going to be used for any structural or load bearing application! i am not interested in anyone that wants to tell me how its not as strong as a properly laid hot bead etc...

my application for this is purely decorative

i made a set of folding gates for my mrs grandparents ages ago, before my first XTI got nicked. on the middle section was a plate, i think it was 6mm thick mild, that i had welded the name of the house on with stainless rods, then masked the stainless up, sprayed the mild down with a mix of vinegar and hydrogen peroxide and let the mild rust, then gave it all a clear coat...

That was fine, until some idiot reversed a van over the gates the other night...it was too dark for CCTV to pick it up so no chance of an isurance claim for the cost...

anyway, new plan is make some more gates with a slightly updated design (the first was flawed but still worked ok) and instead of a plate with the name welded on, i have got hold of some stamped lettering that im going to weld on...same thing aftewards then is rust the bacing plate, cover in clear etc...

They have asked for a border around the name so the first thing that sprung to mind was a stack of dimes all the way around, inset by about an inch from the edge of the plate...

i dont have a tig set up and my tig skills arent good enough for it anyway, so then i thought of mig like tig. had a go earlier but just cant get it. ive tried cold welds with whip and pause technique like a 6010 rod would use, ive tried making circles, 'e' shapes, zig zags etc, hot welds, correct settings etc but the closest i get is some small ripples that just look like a bad mig weld really...

any advice on how to achieve this? even if its just to get me to the point where i know i have got it but it doesnt look good enough at least then i know its not an option.

my set up is: 160amps on tap with .8mm A18 (i think) mig wire, argoshield light, welding on 6-8mm hot rolled plate, looking for a bead maybe 10mm wide and in total maybe 900mm weld length or there abouts.

 

[Chris Stevens]

The easiest way to make MIG look like TIG is with wire feed pulse. Sure there are other ways but never made the effort to look into what they are.

 

[brokenbiker]

The easiest way to make MIG look like TIG is with wire feed pulse. Sure there are other ways but never made the effort to look into what they are.

not really helpfull for my application with a cheap 160 amp mig though is it?

 

[eSCHEn]

Could you literally do a dot - dot - dot set of tacks on a high power? They should melt into each other if you overlap by a third or so?

 

[gaz_moose]

as above, overlap spot/plug welds.

 

[brokenbiker]

Could you literally do a dot - dot - dot set of tacks on a high power? They should melt into each other if you overlap by a third or so?

that is one of the methids i tried and got varying success with it...ok to start with but as the base metal heats up they all seem to merge in a blobby looking slug, if i hold them any longer to melt them in and flatten the weld out they just look like a bad bead

 

[eSCHEn]

Then (and I know this will super suck) could you do as many as look neat then break to let the heat dissipate and repeat until done?

 

[brokenbiker]

Then (and I know this will super suck) could you do as many as look neat then break to let the heat dissipate and repeat until done?

yeah, thats what i thought you would say lol...it crossed my mind but at that point i came here to see what others thought lol

 

[eSCHEn]

Lol sorry buddy I'm used to waiting on stuff cooling with the TIG

As far as the "e" method, is the letter going up or across. So blob... hold... whip tail up... blob... ?

 

[Chris Stevens]

not really helpfull for my application with a cheap 160 amp mig though is it?

I would think the only other way is triggering the torch, which I guess would work if you have extremely good timing? Very easy indeed to make a mistake though, and ruin the effect.

 

[brokenbiker]

Lol sorry buddy I'm used to waiting on stuff cooling with the TIG

As far as the "e" method, is the letter going up or across. So blob... hold... whip tail up... blob... ?

my method that i call an 'e' is push the arc out of the puddle, loop back over the top so im in the puddle and then push forward a bit, then start again...its harder to explain than it should be lol

 

[eSCHEn]

No that makes sense to me.

 

[Gareth J]

Could you prop the plate in a water bath to keep it cool?

 

[Gareth J]

Or you could try running vertically. Gravity might help slump the spots a bit.

 

[brokenbiker]

Or you could try running vertically. Gravity might help slump the spots a bit.

Thats not a bad idea

 

[Richard.]

It's achieved best with a forward backwards motion and to get the desired look your after it requires serious skill in consistency.
The arc remains on throughout there is no tacking or stacking. Push forward, pause, whip back, push forward, pause. The key to it is getting the movements exactly the same distance apart and timing them all at the same speed.
I cannot do it very well simply because I haven't the need to practice it but I have a friend who now works in Australia and there isn't much he can't do with a mig. He can achieve whatever finish his customers want.

 

[brokenbiker]

It's achieved best with a forward backwards motion and to get the desired look your after it requires serious skill in consistency.
The arc remains on throughout there is no tacking or stacking. Push forward, pause, whip back, push forward, pause. The key to it is getting the movements exactly the same distance apart and timing them all at the same speed.
I cannot do it very well simply because I haven't the need to practice it but I have a friend who now works in Australia and there isn't much he can't do with a mig. He can achieve whatever finish his customers want.

thanks for that...i will try tomorrow providing its dry. that is sort of like the whip and pause i was using except i was whiping forwards then pausing, then forwards again so no bringing the torch back.

if after a few different suggestions i still cant get it i will just write it off as being out of my league as i cant see any other reason for it with the stuff i do like brackets and small frames/shelves etc

 

[Richard.]

It doesn't work in spray transfer. Not that a 160 amp mig will get into spray you will find you get better elaborate "dimes" if you weld it colder.
Obviously the ztfab look is where people aim for when trying this out and I've not known anyone do it as neat as his work but like I say I've watched my friend get very nice dimes if you like that sort of thing. Personally I prefer the look of a proper straight blast down in spray but each to there own.

 

[brokenbiker]

For years I thought 'mig like tig' was how welds were supposed to look, I spent ages practicing (one could say 'wasting my bloody time') and I got 'good' at doing it with my SIP.

After seeing this thread earlier I thought I'd see if I could still do it, only now using my Cebora (it's the only mig I have).

What did I end up with?

A tall mig bead.

Oh, and this:

View attachment 89744



I had to cut it to get the tip and shroud off the diffuser


From now on, I think I'll leave that particular finish to the colonials and stick to 'proper' mig runs

sorry 'bout that lol

 

[brokenbiker]

It doesn't work in spray transfer. Not that a 160 amp mig will get into spray you will find you get better elaborate "dimes" if you weld it colder.
Obviously the ztfab look is where people aim for when trying this out and I've not known anyone do it as neat as his work but like I say I've watched my friend get very nice dimes if you like that sort of thing. Personally I prefer the look of a proper straight blast down in spray but each to there own.

id rather a proper straight bead as you do, but its not very decorative and that is the only purpose for me wanting to do it...one other thing i wanted to try was some over exagerated loops but i think i would make too wide a bead that way.