From: Duncan Wood on
On Sat, 31 Jul 2010 07:31:09 +0100, T i m <news(a)spaced.me.uk> wrote:

> On Sat, 31 Jul 2010 13:15:10 +1000, Rob <mesamine(a)gmail.com> wrote:
>
>
>> I also have a very old stick welder, which was inherited, bought back
>> about 1948, will run about 4 or 5 mm rods or something like 4 gauge, 3
>> phase. was used for fabrication at one time. This has not been used
>> since I bought my MIG.
>>
>
> Out of interest I wonder if stick still prevails in any major way
> anywhere? Many ships, bridges, tanks and skyscrapers were built using
> it over a fair period of time.
>
> And of course whilst it may not be so easy for a n00b as any wire fed
> alternative it was capable of some very good weld in all sorts of
> locations, even when being done by a bloke and not a machine. ;-)
>
> A good mate (died at 52 [1]) was a 'coded' (did they call it?) welder
> and his work was a thing to behold. OK, given the perfect conditions
> even I could put down something reasonable but to do so predictably in
> all the awkward overhead or vertical conditions took something better.
>
> Cheers, T i m
>
> [1] From diagnosis to death was about a month. Some sort of blood /
> bone cancer. A lovely and highly skilled many who is still missed by
> many (and not just by those who need some neat welding done). ;-)

It's still the norm for large site welded stuff, apart from anything else
it's far more portable.
From: Dave Plowman (News) on
In article <xn0gx9b9x1pmtp001(a)news.eternal-september.org>,
steve robinson <steve(a)colevalleyinteriors.co.uk> wrote:
> Dave Plowman (News) wrote:

> > In article <xn0gx7vfa1mbaxq000(a)news.eternal-september.org>,
> > steve robinson <steve(a)colevalleyinteriors.co.uk> wrote:
> > > The problem with no gas mig welding is the weld cuts deeper so it
> > > struggles on some of the tissue paper we now call car bodies and
> > > blows through
> >
> > I can do that perfectly well with a gas one. ;-)

> Try argon and co2 mix instead of just co2

I've never used CO2. Just argon or argon/CO2 mix.

--
*Bigamy is having one wife too many - monogamy is the same

Dave Plowman dave(a)davenoise.co.uk London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.
From: steve robinson on
T i m wrote:

> On Sat, 31 Jul 2010 13:15:10 +1000, Rob <mesamine(a)gmail.com> wrote:
>
>
> > I also have a very old stick welder, which was inherited, bought
> > back about 1948, will run about 4 or 5 mm rods or something like
> > 4 gauge, 3 phase. was used for fabrication at one time. This has
> > not been used since I bought my MIG.
> >
>
> Out of interest I wonder if stick still prevails in any major way
> anywhere? Many ships, bridges, tanks and skyscrapers were built
> using it over a fair period of time.

Stick is still very common in the construction and heavy engineering
industry where the use of mig is limited because of the need to hump
gas bottles and deeper penetration of weld is needed
>
> And of course whilst it may not be so easy for a n00b as any wire
> fed alternative it was capable of some very good weld in all sorts
> of locations, even when being done by a bloke and not a machine. ;-)
>
> A good mate (died at 52 [1]) was a 'coded' (did they call it?)
> welder and his work was a thing to behold. OK, given the perfect
> conditions even I could put down something reasonable but to do so
> predictably in all the awkward overhead or vertical conditions took
> something better.
>
> Cheers, T i m
>
> [1] From diagnosis to death was about a month. Some sort of blood /
> bone cancer. A lovely and highly skilled many who is still missed by
> many (and not just by those who need some neat welding done). ;-)

From: T i m on
On Sat, 31 Jul 2010 19:12:02 +0000 (UTC), "steve robinson"
<steve(a)colevalleyinteriors.co.uk> wrote:


>>
>> Out of interest I wonder if stick still prevails in any major way
>> anywhere? Many ships, bridges, tanks and skyscrapers were built
>> using it over a fair period of time.
>
>Stick is still very common in the construction and heavy engineering
>industry where the use of mig is limited because of the need to hump
>gas bottles and deeper penetration of weld is needed
>>

Thanks for the replies guys.

So, 'gassless MIG' (good 'outside') should solve the humping problem
so then it's just the depth_of_weld that's left (as MIG produces a
more reliable weld as seen by scans etc)?

I wonder if they do the range of wire as they do with sticks. A mate
gave me a welding rod the other day that (apparently) allowed you to
rebuild a sprocket or gear tooth (very hard material).

I've got a little job to do that requires welding some nuts on the
back of some angle (tie-down eyebolts to go inside a trailer) and I'm
not sure if I do some very small tacks and cool each with a damp rag I
might do so and be able to use a Nylock nut?

Cheers, T i m


From: T i m on
On Sat, 31 Jul 2010 19:12:02 +0000 (UTC), "steve robinson"
<steve(a)colevalleyinteriors.co.uk> wrote:


>>
>> Out of interest I wonder if stick still prevails in any major way
>> anywhere? Many ships, bridges, tanks and skyscrapers were built
>> using it over a fair period of time.
>
>Stick is still very common in the construction and heavy engineering
>industry where the use of mig is limited because of the need to hump
>gas bottles and deeper penetration of weld is needed
>>

Thanks for the replies guys.

So, 'gassless MIG' (good 'outside') should solve the humping problem
so then it's just the depth_of_weld that's left (as MIG produces a
more reliable weld as seen by scans etc)?

I wonder if they do the range of wire as they do with sticks. A mate
gave me a welding rod the other day that (apparently) allowed you to
rebuild a sprocket or gear tooth (very hard material).

I've got a little job to do that requires welding some nuts on the
back of some angle (tie-down eyebolts to go inside a trailer) and I'm
not sure if I do some very small tacks and cool each with a damp rag I
might do so and be able to use a Nylock nut?

Cheers, T i m