[tarawa]

When a company states that the welder can weld "up to" 3/16" steel, does this mean that is the thickest metal that you could weld or does that mean that 3/16" is the maximum penetration of the weld? I have been tack welding (edge welding) several pieces of 1 1 /4" cold rolled steel together . I know that I am only scratching the surface with my little wire feed welder, but it seems to hold.

 

[yosuthnmasa]

gtbehary, I am still new to the whole welding game, but I was under the impression that it meant you could weld up to 3/16'' steel. I also had some similar rating on my MIG welder. To get to that higher thickness of steel you would probably want to use a thicker wire. Mine could be adjusted to use 2 different sizes by flipping a roller that the wire fed over to a bigger channel. I'm sure the thicker the tack you put on the metal the more it can hold. It just requires staying in one spot a little longer or increaseing the wire speed and moving slower.

 

[7.62x39]

I just bought a 140 amp Hobart mig a couple of months ago.
It is rated at 1/4" stating that it is "able to weld up to 1/4" material in one pass, thicker materials may require more than one pass".

 

[tarawa]

Thanks!

 

[hotbarrel]

gouge out to a "V" and fill in. you could weld a 2" plate this way , remove all slag between each pass and it should be a good weld. I am not shure about additional passes without gouging out. it seems to me the arc will only penitrate to the same depth the second pass, but on the second pass you would be trying to penitrate through the first bead of weld. rite... If you can not get full penitration form each side that gouge out and do multipal passes. by full penitration from both sides I mean at least half way so they meet in the middel.
rember Heat is the enimey of metal so gouging and dooing three passes with lower amps will be better than one HEAVY pass for the metal.
As for MIG welding 1 1/4" ........ HMMMM ware do I start. if it is not going to take a lot of stress, maby something like a spacer in compression. but if you are going to load it up with stress I can tell you ware it will let go. I would gouge out 1 1/4" from both sides even if I was useing a stick welder. you can get it plenty strong but honestly it should be welded all the way through or it is a significant weak spot. rember to remove slag betweel passes if you use a flux core.
oh yes,, you should gouge out leaveing enough in the center not removed that will be approximetly the amount you can get full penitraton from both sides. so if you are going to get 1/4 inch penitration you shoudl leave about 1/2 inch. if it needs to stay flat tack a spot or two and cool. repeat till well tacked on both sides, then run short beads and cool repeat till full. yes it would take a lot of time on a thick plate.
hope I did not confuse thinges even more and this is just my opinion after 20+ years of welding.

 

[hotbarrel]

GTBEHARY
If you are getting getting an honset 1/4" penitration of GOOD weld on both sides of your 1 1/4" plate it will be pretty strong. but not at all like a fully penitrated 1 1/4". if this is something that requires a full plate than your weld will streach and fail when you need it most. if you just want them to lay flat with a load on top of them they should be fine. happy welding ,,, rember each time you smell the smoke from welding your tumor growes a littel more.

 

[hotbarrel]

sorry to keep going on BUT this is important life and death important !!!!!! DO NOT EVER FOR ANY REASON WELD GALIVNISED NEVER NEVER EVER!!!!!!!! If you have a part that is galvy and it has to be done grind back a few inches on each side to remove all traces of the galvy weld it outside and think about the wind to blow fumes away from you if you do not have a force vented booth. If you do accidently weld galvy you will see white smoke and or white floaties in the air. YES ONE BREATH OF THIS STUFF HAS THE POTENTIAL TO KILL YOU !!!!!! As in dead !!!!! anytime you inhale even tiny amounts it will be in your casket after you are dust.. I just thought this was critical info for new welders, you do not want to find out the hard way. AGAIN happy welding

 

[yosuthnmasa]

sorry to keep going on BUT this is important life and death important !!!!!! DO NOT EVER FOR ANY REASON WELD GALIVNISED NEVER NEVER EVER!!!!!!!! If you have a part that is galvy and it has to be done grind back a few inches on each side to remove all traces of the galvy weld it outside and think about the wind to blow fumes away from you if you do not have a force vented booth. If you do accidently weld galvy you will see white smoke and or white floaties in the air. YES ONE BREATH OF THIS STUFF HAS THE POTENTIAL TO KILL YOU !!!!!! As in dead !!!!! anytime you inhale even tiny amounts it will be in your casket after you are dust.. I just thought this was critical info for new welders, you do not want to find out the hard way. AGAIN happy welding

I hope not, cause the piece I used to practice my rivet heads on was galvanized. I'm pretty sure it was. I will double check the sticker when I get home. It was a very small piece of angle iron looking stuff that I drilled holes in and filled and then did my rivet head. It was a chalky white type of metal??

Ohhh, and I DO REMEMBER SEEING A BIG WHITE SPOT WHILE I WAS WELDING!! But, it was from accidentally looking at the spark just before my helmet fell over my eyes. :lol: I sure hope that stuff wasn't galvanized.

 

[sks_hunter]

If it made whispy little cotton balls on and around the weld, and smoked like the dickens, it was probably galvie...

 

[justashooter]

some wires, like NR 211-MP, are not made for multi-pass welding. the weld made in multi-pass with these will be more likely to fail.

you ask a complicated question. i think you should take a welding class at your local vo-tech, and collect a few experienced metal fabricators for friends.