[TheForge] welds on ironwork

[Jerry Frost]

I have one GMAW welder, a Hobart 110 Handler, running .023 wire and 70/30. 
If your beads are too large try turning the wire feed down a bit at a time 
but leave the heat the same. With 30% CO2, 70/30 makes a hotter puddle and a 
little deeper penetration so you don't need as much current and the filler 
flows more evenly. Any, ANY crud in the join will cause spatter so Rule #1 
is in force, clean, Clean, CLEAN. The real down side to GMAW is trying to do 
overhead, especially with a low power welder like mine, if your's is capable 
of spray welding the results will be better but it takes more practice.

Jer
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Cindy and James" <jallcorn at suddenlink.net>
To: <theforge at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Wednesday, May 16, 2012 4:27 AM
Subject: [TheForge] welds on ironwork


> What size wire do you guys do most of your welds on your ironwork?  I
> mean things like staircases where you are welding balusters to bottom &
> top rails, scrolls to scrolls, etc. etc.
>
> I have always used .035 w/ 92/8 mix gas and found it to be a good all
> purpose wire.  But for finer welds on high-end ironwork ("finer" being
> defined as joins that will be visible or touched by the client and have
> to be ground smooth) I find the .035 puts out a little too much metal.
> This may be compounded by my training years ago which was in structural
> welding and those concepts are completely different from artistic or
> ornamental work.
>
> I have tried a few rolls of .030 in the past but only found it about
> like .035.
>
> I tried .023 in my welder once and could not get it to feed.  It kept
> balling up after the rollers.  My main shop welder is a Lincoln 215.  I
> changed the liner for the .023 wire, perhaps I should just have left the
> .035 liner in place and only changed the tip for the .023.   The Lincoln
> has a 15' wire cable/stinger.
>
> I have a TIG setup and use it a lot, but much of this welding is in 1/2"
> segments and NEVER is easy to get to once I get off the ground level.
> Many times I wind up holding the workpiece in place with one hand and
> sticking it with the other - that doesn't work well w/ TIG, esp. if
> there happens to be a very large gap to fill.  Also, as you know, much
> of this work is done out of position, usually on a ladder, and at least
> 1/2 of all welding is overhead.
>
> I seem to run in to this problem of too much metal on the piece that has
> to be removed all the time.  However, when I get finished it looks
> great, but the grinding/finishing is a real pain.  I'd like to simplify
> my life.
>
> Any ideas?
>
> James
> Paris, TX