Calling all welders!! Need some advice.

[MiniSimp]

Ok, I just got my roll cage and need to weld it together.

I have a stick welder, and a wire feed welder.

If I use stick, what stick?
I have a pile of 6011 but thats about it.

If I use the wire feed welder will that be strong enough?

[Hyena]

Depend on what kind the wire feed it.  I would say use that, less slag.  I think mig is easier to use anyways.

[MiniSimp]

My wire feed is not mig, just flux core wire.

[Willy Mammoth]

Use the MIG. The stick would work ok if that's all you had, but you will have better control of the fill and heat with the MIG. Make sure you have a consistant gap the same as the thickness of the metal you are welding. That way you can make sure you weld it all the way through. Start your weld on the side of the main tube and carry it to the edge of the other this way you get good penetration without burning out the edge of the other tube. Practice on some scrap before you start on the real thing.

[Willy Mammoth]

My wire feed is not mig, just flux core wire.

Can you add the gas bottle to it? That makes for a much better weld.

[MiniSimp]

Argon or CO2?
I'm pretty sure I can add a bottle to it, but I dont have any of the hook ups, or gas.

[Hyena]

mig is a wire feed, it is the same as flux core and gas.  Flux core has gas in the wire.  but with gas you have a better looking and penetrating weld.  Like willy said, easier to control.  Flux core will work.

[MiniSimp]

Right on.
I welded my 3/16 sliders with the wire feed and they seem to be holding up fine, I'm just not sure about a roll though.

[brainlessfool]

If you don't have gas ( ) and some good wire for the mig. I'd go with the ....oh wait, is it a AC/DC  stick box?

If not forget it. If it is I'd go with it and some 7018 rod. use it on DC.

[MiniSimp]

Yes, AC/DC
I'm so confused.

[Willy Mammoth]

If you are happy with the weld you got on your sliders and you didn't wind up with gaps in the welds, go with that. Bottom line is make sure you weld all the way through and build it up so you have a bead on the outside. The Gap between the two pieces is a must.

[Weldo]

Wire feed will probably be easier to use whether you have gas or not.  MIG (Solid wire with shielding gas) gives you a cleaner weld, but not necessarily any better than fluxcore.  Also MIG is easier because there's not smoke and not as much spatter.  Usually the fluxcore wires that don't require shielding gases (Usually referred to as self shielding wire) penetrate deeply and work well on dirty metal, kinda like a 6010.  If you had thin wall tube, I'd shy away from fluxcore as you may blow through a lot, but since it's a roll cage, I'd imagine the pipes are fairly heavy wall, 16 gauge at the very least.  If the pipe walls are about 1/16" thick (16 gage) or thicker I'd go with the flux core.  And like all the other guys said, leaving a small gap will help give you some much needed penetration.  I'd leave a gap about half the wall thickness of the pipe, otherwise, if you made it equal, i.e. 1/8" wall thickness and 1/8" gap, it will most certainly melt away and blow through with flux core or any stick electrode.

[MiniSimp]

Thanks!

[Weldo]

how thick are them walls anyhow?

[MiniSimp]

1.5"x.120"

[Weldo]

sweet, you should have no problem using the fluxcore then.  leave gaps of like 1/16" plus or minus a smidgen.

[MiniSimp]

Will do.
Thanks again for everyone's help!

[84runner]

We need to know what kind of mib are you working with, a little 110 ?  What size wire are you running ? .035 .030 all this will determine alot. I run .035 in my little miller 135, 110. Works great for thicker stuff, but not thin cause the wire is to thick. what do you feel comfortable welding with stick or mig?  What is your experience ? You need to wel it with what you can weld the best with that way you feel comfortable.  6011 6010 will hold better than the little 110 flux core welder if you can lay a good bead with the stick. The first 2 # on a stick stand for the tinsel strenght of the bead. So 6011 has a tensil strenth of 60 thousand pounds. The 7018 is even stronger but if your not to good with a stick it's hard to weld out of position with this rod.  So my conclusion would be to weld it with what ever you think you can lay a bead with better.  But if it's done right and your only using a 110 wire feed , the stick welder would be stronger. But the wire feed is strong enough to do the job if the welds are done right.  When using the wire feed do half moons, or lay dimes is what I call. Weave your bead from one piece of the still to the next, this will give you the most penetrtation with the little 110 wire feed.
Good luck and always start with a piece of scrap.

[MiniSimp]

I am more comfortable with a wire feed, my uncle is more comfortable with a stick.
I'll check on the flux core size. It is 110V
The stick welder is 220 AC/DC

[MiniSimp]

I have .035 in it now.

[Weldo]

.035 fluxcore should be all you need.  A 110V welder should do a good job, afterall, the wall thickness of that pipe was only .120", no problem for fluxcore, and the weld should be just as strong as a 7018, as most (if not all) fluxcore wires are in the 70,000 psi tensile strength range. (E70T-3, or something like that).  Practice on scrap til you can run a decent weld going uphill, experiment with different weave or oscillation patterns til you find what works.

[MiniSimp]

Where can I pick up some scrap?
I checked at the welding shop next to my work and they dont carry tubing...

[Brandon]

.035 is a bit thick for that welder, and you actually get a deeper penetration WITHOUT gas. Your golden, burn it!

[Weldo]

Is your rollcage cut EXACTLY to size?  Maybe you could fit the cage and use some cut off pieces to practice before you weld.  Or even better, go to Lowe's or Home Depot and get some 1 1/2" black pipe, ya know the stuff you would use for low pressure natural gas lines, has threads on either end.  That stuff (get the black, not the galvanized pipe) should be pretty close to the same size and wall thickness as you cage.  Make for good practice and that stuff is cheap as hell.

[MiniSimp]

I've got welding experiance (not knowlege), just didn't know if welding DOM tubing is any different.
I can pull a clean bead on 3/16" square tubing, did that on my rock sliders.

[scheid6996]

no thers no idiff from wut iv been told

[MiniSimp]

Is your rollcage cut EXACTLY to size?  Maybe you could fit the cage and use some cut off pieces to practice before you weld.

I beleive it is cut a little large, not much though, maybe only 1/2"

[Willy Mammoth]

Dom is drawn over mandrel. It has no seam. SCH 40 pipe is rolled and welded so it has a seam. Both are the same material, but the sizes are a little differant.

[MiniSimp]

Cool, I'll pick up some black pipe for round practice.

[kyle_22r]

i'm better with a stick welder than most guy are with mig.  i'd recommend 7018 for anything structural, it's a good out of position rod.  6011 and 6010 are better for tacking things together and welding dirty stuff/things that need a lot of penetration.