Miller GMAW 101 Basics tips

Joe Dillard · #1 03-19-2008, 10:44 AM

I'm on Millers email list and got this today so I thought I'd share.

My welds look like all of them except figure 1.

http://www.millerwelds.com/education...rticle135.html

Matt Pascoe · #2 03-19-2008, 06:30 PM

Cool article. I liked the tip about amperage "each 0.001 inch of material thickness requires 1 amp: 0.125 in. = 125 amps". So, for 1/4" you would need 250 amp? If so, then they recommend .045 wire. I thought I was on the heavy side with .035 wire

Another thing that confused me was the comments on wire speed -

"4. Set the wire feed speed. Wire speed controls amperage, as well as the amount of weld penetration. A speed that's too high can lead to burn-through. "

I thought that lowering the wire speed increased the "heat" which would increase the chance of burn-through.

Just when I start to think I'm getting it...

On another note, I'm learning tig and it seems much more intuitive than mig. With the foot pedal you control the heat (amperage) as needed to control the pool, then add filler to control the bead size. So far I am thoroughly enjoying it