Outer Limits 4x4 Board

Who uses an arc welder for barwork? ive been welding with arcs for about 5 years now and i can weld pretty well, but all of the barwork ive seen on 4wd sites is mig'd. I can get strong welds laid down, especially with low hydrogen rods, anyone got any pics of arc welding work on 4by's? whats the pros and cons, Mig's vs. Arc's.

Migs are a lot easier for an obvious reason, but if you like arc's then they can lay just as good a weld if not better than a mig with good penetration.

There are not really any pro's and con's between arc and mig> if you have an Arc welder, low hydrogen rods and have a reasonable idea what you are doing, i would say go for your life.
I mainly use MIG and Tig. Due to lack of gas I have been using Arc for most jobs on the truck for awhile.

from the few things i'v tacked up, mig is just ALOT quicker than arc

theres not alot between migs and stick same idea,

migs are generally stronger due to slight small % of high tensile in the mig wire from what im told , just much more forward to weld with respects to vertical downs, v ups , over head, welding thin stuff to thickest stuff

using right rods can also give just as good beads, really small thin stuff is just really hard to weld up i find

these days arc are only really used on-site and in average joe garage,

done Quote me im only a 2-3yr boilermaker apprentice

Migs,When using standard wire tend to leave porosity in the welds,but you can get different types of mig wire for different jobs. Utechtic make mig wire which eliminates the small pourous air holes that are left during mig welding,also using different gas mixes also. Mig welding say a sump or fuel tank once filled with fuel generally have small pin holes. This is where tig welding comes in and fiills the void. I used a stick welder for all my structual welds on my car,I just find better peno with stick and less weld build up,less or no grinding to clean up. Also when welding drivetrain components,especially hardened steel,stick performs better,as well as tig,Cheers Paul.

Just my opinion.
For most jobs the mig is quicker and cleaner, no chipping and changing rods. I find that generally you need better preparation for mig than stick if there is paint or other coatings (rust scale etc). Stick likes welding gal better than mig (gases given off interfere with the shield gas). I much prefer using stick if I need good penetration in a difficult spot, you can drive a rod in and get good feel and know where the weld root is even if you can't see it. Bit more technique required with stick for positional welds and its valuable to know the different rod characteristics for specific work. A good dc stick welder is still a pleasure to use and gives almost splatter-free smooth welds.

If you are doing your bar work outside the stick is better if breezy/windy unless you are using gasless wire. If not doing a lot of welding stay with the stick. If doing tube work, positional welding, the mig will be quicker and easier. See if you can borrow a friends mig and you will probably buy one.

Again, just my opinions, I see there are some very experienced welders/fabricators here.

Mart. I think you will find fuel tanks etc can be welded with a mig. just a matter of doing it correctly. feathering tacks, cleaning of all grease before welding etc.

boilermaker by trade...... 'an ounce of prep is better than a cure' all forms of metal fusion needs preparing in diff degrees. just take your time, if your comfortable with all positional welding than use those skills. just a small tip if using flux cored migs(gasless) plenty of ventilation, more than usual, like all welding though.

have fun practice makes perfect

MART wrote:Migs,When using standard wire tend to leave porosity in the welds,but you can get different types of mig wire for different jobs. Utechtic make mig wire which eliminates the small pourous air holes that are left during mig welding,also using different gas mixes also. Mig welding say a sump or fuel tank once filled with fuel generally have small pin holes. This is where tig welding comes in and fiills the void. I used a stick welder for all my structual welds on my car,I just find better peno with stick and less weld build up,less or no grinding to clean up. Also when welding drivetrain components,especially hardened steel,stick performs better,as well as tig,Cheers Paul.

even using standard wire you should not get porosity in a good weld,
just as eliteforce said 'an ounce of prep is better than a cure'

as long as you got good gass flow in the gun and all surfaces have been prepared welll you wont have a problem,

another thing 2 consider is age of steel and if it is (or has) been painted as mig will give u a nice presentable weld with nice new cleaned material were as stick likes just about watever you can throw at it exept thick paint or gal but still likes clean steel as well

but if u know stick go with that but use some good sticks and take ur time

there is no reason you cant do bar work with a stick genaraly with a stick if a weld looks ok it will be sound but with a mig you can have a good looking weld that dose no more than sit on top of the parent metal.
Also for people useing migs if you are getting perosity dont think turning the gas up will help as too much gas will cause perosity you should only need about 14-16lpm.