When someone says they can weld with a MIG welder, do you hear the word “really” resonating in your head? We all have a friend of a friend who says he can weld, but often times, the two pieces are held together with a hodgepodge of melted wire and metal. It might be holding, but for how long?
The folks at Miller is adamant about helping enthusiasts become better welders, and the Miller website even has cool tips, tricks, and articles to help accomplish that feat. For instance, we found out about MIG Welding Tips and Techniques for Beginners, and thought you guys might be interested in some good reading.
The article covers basics like setting up the MIG welder before you even start cooking steel, best practices for MIG welding, and also has a link to a great video to help you understand the basics of MIG welding. For instance, did you know that before you even make a weld, two essential settings must be made on the welder: attaining proper voltage and the wire-feed speed.
Miller is enthusiast-friendly, and its MIG welders typically have a chart just inside a hinged access cover, which gives you suggested settings for various metal thicknesses. These suggestions are based on the material type and thickness, and the diameter of the wire being used. These values are used to adjust the settings on the face of the machine.
When the welder is ready to fuse metal, cleanliness is paramount to getting good results. While MIG welding is more tolerant of minor surface contaminants than TIG welding, the cleaner the metal, the fewer problems you will have to overcome. Any quality weld begins with a clean, prepped surface, so surface preparation and cleaning the base metal is a good habit to get into.
Finally, the article gets in-depth about how to properly hold the gun. You know, the part that spits out the wire. This is a critical process when MIG welding, so reading this part twice could be beneficial.
Since we all like to fix-up old cars, welding is sure to be part of the process. Miller has various welders designed to suit everyone from the novice wanting to learn, all the way up to the professional. Getting a unit that suits your needs and then learning how to properly use this wonderful melter of metal can be gratifying, and a time and money saving proposition.