MIG welding Tips and tricks - part 1

While operating a MIG welder may seem to be fairly straight forward for anyone with basic welding experience, there are a few tips and tricks that can be used to help improve MIG welding results. One of the first things that people often don’t know is that MIG welding appearance can be improved with just a slight bit of oscillation. Straight ahead movement of the torch is fine, but often times a slightly oscillation will give you a more defined look to your weld, with slight C’s appearing in the weld. This oscillation will help control heat as well, directing it evenly onto both parts and will improve wet in at the toes. Of course, over using this welding technique or poorly performing this technique will result in a bead that is too wide and that is likely to have cold lap at the toes of the weld. Keeping it modest will result in improved appearance and better fusion. Lately a lot of discussion has been going on at several sites and forums about “whipping” MIG. Although whipping will produce a nice appearance, it can lead to possible inclusions and air pockets trapped in the weld. For non-critical welds, this is ok, but if it is exaggerated or used similarly to the technique while stick welding with E6010 welding rods, it can create poor fusion. If this is being done to control burn through or the weld seems to be getting too hot, reduce the arc voltage to cool things down preventing the need to whip.