Must've been doing something wrong with MIG, because I'm loving sticks!

tombardier · Jun 18, 2009

I swapped my draper mig weld 100 the other day for a sureweld arc welder. I'd decided that the wind on my hill was having an adverse affect on my mig welding, and that I'd get a small gasless or dual purpose mig to complement my new arc for thinner metal. Anyway, I tried the stick for the first time tonight, and I must say that I managed to dive straight in to making really not too bad looking welds with good penetration, and good looking overlaps. I got the stick stuck a number of times and kept on upping the ampage bit by bit before I started getting a nice arc, but that was just a minute or two, and it was just a quick experiement really. My slag didn't peel itself, but oh well, I'll get there

I don't know what I was doing so wrong with the mig, whether it was just the wind or what, but I really struggled to get the mig to do anything nice, I was either getting thin little sligs with no penetration at all, that I could just knock off, or burning holes through the metal :/

One question really, would anyone think that arc welding is at all suitable for thin metal, or is it just a case of having to be really proficient to do it?

Tino · Jun 19, 2009

It is possible to weld thin stuff with arc, but it's not easy. Be prepared to blow a lot of holes and practice lots. Good luck!

zardoz · Jun 19, 2009

It depends a lot on your welders lowest setting. If its 5 amp like mine then its a lot easier, but the hobby/diy Arcs usually start at 30, 40 or so.

PS: with MIG its better to practice on thicker metal till you have the weld pool sussed out, so you dont have to worry about blowing through. Then go onto the thinner stuff.