Your thoughts on welding?

[USMC71]

My career has been in the pipe trades, first as a grunt in a plumbing
shop, then through a Refrigeration Mechanic apprenticeship. During my
apprenticeship, I took a semester of arc and a semester of gas
welding. I am not a certified welder, by any means. My gas welding
abilities are not that great because I never really had much need to
use them. Now, I can braze or silver solder with the best of 'em.
Doesn't look like there is alot of requirement for that in restoring
a truck. It looks like MIG welding is the way to go with most of the
things I will do to this truck. I have never done any MIG, but it
looks like MIG won't have the overheat problem that arc would. Any of
you done MIG on your ride? If you use shielding gas, you can use
wire. If not, you must use fluxed rod. So, it looks like the gas
or the flux makes the weld flow. No problem there. But which do you
use for what? I am lucky enough to have a MIG welder at work which
no one uses. I can melt some metal there to get the feel of MIG.

 

[cowboy]

I've used a mig to replace teh cab corners on a truck it works good you have to go slow and just spot weld adn spot weld inbetween the spot welds to not heat the metal and warp it.move around too.
cowboy

 

[trustyrusty65]

From what I'm told, the gas shield or flux in the wire is there to keep the weld from oxidizing as soon as it's put down. With flux core mig welding, the flux produces slag which coats the weld bead to keep it from oxidizing. Gas shield mig welding uses an inert gas(usually carbon dioxide) to shield and protect the weld as it is made. I haven't done either yet, but I'm taking a welding course at my local college so I'll get to test out both methods. I've heard that flux core mig welding takes longer because of all the slag, and accordingly, it's also much more messy. Just go have a good time playing around!
--TrustyRusty :7

 

[USMC71]

Thanks for the ideas, guys. Appreciate it. Looks like I will be able
to borrow the MIG from work and take it home. Kewl. All I have to do
is supply the gas(if I use some)and my own wire. New question: Looks
like .030 is about standard size. Think it is okay for what I want to
do(rockers, pans, corners, etc.)? How about temp on the welder? I
have no idea what temp to use. I will melt some metal at different
temps to see what works for what, so maybe that is the best way to
learn. Jump in with both feet and see how much trouble you get into.
See ya around.