Great advice. I'm a big fan of thin-wall square tube to make brackets and carts out of, usually 14-16 gauge. The only other tip I would give others for this kind of work is always tack EVERYTHING first before fully welding a joint. So long as you can get the MIG gun in position to make the weld, tack EVERYTHING, as in the whole structure together. It will pull/distort a lot less when there is "no where to go". Obviously when things are clamped tight to a fixture table it helps, but something high off the table might not be able to get properly secured like a part down close to the table. So even then, tacking every single corner will really help things. Simply avoid wanting to just get-in-there and start welding overboard; it will kick your butt in the end when things pull and you have all sorts of gaps in other places you didn't anticipate.
@@dennisyoung4631 Tacking everything together, as in the whole structure of whatever you are building will also let you see where your cuts ended up too short OR too long. Too long, just cut off the tack, take it to a belt sander, and shim off whatever you need to make it fit. Too short, well, if it's not by too much, say 1/16" or 3/32" too short, then you will be able to see this and what I do is split the difference, so if I'm overall short 3/32" (0.093") , then I shift the tube or whatever it is in the middle so I only have 3/64" (0.047") of gap on each side. This makes managing gaps wayyyy more easier, and will result in less distortion because you are adding less weld metal into the joint.
If you don't have a table, don't hesitate to add some bracing, i.e. between the bottom legs, even a 2x4 would have worked to keep the legs from pulling in. Just made some grizzly bars and was blown away by the distortion, all tacked together first: 3' by .25x1×1" angle iron bowed welding 9 other piece to it. (Too much weld, too large of electrode) 5' by .125x1.5x1.5" Sq tube curled in 1/4" just from welding two other Sq tube cross pieces 4 and 5' up. (Temporary brace between bottom feet would have stopped that). And stitch welded a piece of .25x1.5" flat bar on edge to a 1.5" Sq tube, between welding that and the two little .0625x.75x1.5 braces to keep the legs from getting knocked in, it pulled the legs in 1/8" each. (Another brace and less weld). My two cents would be bracing for any dangly bits, use smallest filler metal to keep weld and heat imput down, and as much fun as it is to practice welding. No unnecessary welds. If I had 1" stitches instead of 2" it still would have been overkill with half the heat. 3/32 6011 between 60-70amps worked good for me. Should have done the small bracing with tig or mig, but that was the first ive welded with stick and got carried away. Best of luck and most importantly have fun!
There’s no such thing as gasless mig. Mig stands for metal inert GAS welding. I believe what you are talking about is fcaw or flux cored arc welding. They are two very different things. Just because it is wire fed doesn’t mean it is mig. Welding requires some type of shield whether that be gas or a type of flux. Taking away the shielding gas and switching the wire makes it no longer Mig welding. Hopefully I don’t sound like I’m being rude, just trying to help with the learning. But take this information with a grain of salt because I am a high school student.
Thank you so much for these videos. I'm rewatching this one after welding a piece like this for a job and was just offered it. I haven't worked with tubing before and can't wait learn to do these better.
Really good information. My son and I are just getting started in welding, and have never really MIG welded, but just purchased one. I did some Stick welding in High school over 40 years ago. Now my son is fixing to take a class also. Thanks so much, really appreciated! 👍👍⚡️
Great info as always Tim, I use heavier tubing for my smokers and forget how easy thin wall stuff blows out lol. But that's where the practice welds come in like you mentioned, no shame in laying down some practice welds if you haven't welded a certain metal, joint, thickness, etc. It's actually silly not to in my opinion. 👍
I actually built a new grill rack for my brother in law’s smoker the other day with that 1” 1/16th square tubing. It turned out good but it wasn’t easy with the titanium flux 125…😅 Those gap welds were not fun… lol But overall I was proud of myself considering I’m a rookie. It burned in good I had to turn it down a little bit though… Thanks for the tips luckily I did it the right way I saved the inside welds for last and moved from one side to the other so I didn’t put to much heat in it…
Tim, as always, l love these instructional videos of yours. I'm a diy welder, actually a diesel mechanic by trade, but love to work with steel. I have a cheapo MIG welder, that really do a great job for my kind of projects. Especially for thin gauge steel tubing like you have shown here. Great tips that I definitely will use in future. That said, my welder can do scratch start TIG welding that I really would like to try out. Can't you do some videos on that for us? Thanks in advance.
Thanks! I can definitely do some more of those types of videos. I do have several TIG tutorials, including a couple with scratch start and lift arc, but it has been a while since I did one. The hard part with scratch start is usually finishing your weld. You have to speed up near the end as heat builds, then snap out and try to get gas back on the hot weld.
I really appreciate the guidance on how to minimize distortion. Up until now, I had been doing multiple tack welds and then doing short welds moving from spot to spot on what I am making.
Something i noticed about the welds @3:45 is that you are faster in the middle of the weld then at the ends, which while the metal is still molten looks concave and not even. Does that mean the welds are stronger/have more penetration at the ends than the middle?
Beginner here. I have seen some videos that recommend chamfering the tubing at the joint to create space for filler metal, especially if you intend to grind things flush. Is that correct, or unnecessary?
@@TimWelds Thanks. I'll be purchasing your full set of courses in September. I recently replaced my flux core welder with a small multi-process one. Can't afford the gas cylinder just yet, so will be practicing SMAW. Don't much care for flux core (smoke). TW is the best welding channel I have found on UA-cam.
Hi Tim, an excellent and TIMELY video. I have just started your course, and once I get proficient, my first project will be a welding table/cart made out of square tubing. I notice that your tubing is very shiny all over, not just at the joint. Did you get it that way, or did you clean it? My stock is almost black in color. Any tips on how to clean it? I assume that to eventually paint it, I'll need it very clean. So, I should probably clean it completely BEFORE any welding? Thanks.
Hey appreciate ALL the videos, Thank you! One quick question on a project I am working on. We have a steel, metal screen door, 8 feet tall and 50" wide, weighs about 150 lbs., 1 3/8" square tubing frame around it. I am looking to mount on our backyard entry with a 2" square tube, 1/4" thick wall, and 13 feet long. So I can burry 5 feet of tube in cement and 8 feet to weld the door on. Will it work, or is 5 feet in the ground over doing it? Thank you !
That's a serious door! I'm probably not the person to answer about how far to go into the ground, but I wouldn't think it's going anywhere with that setup.
What about shrinkage!? The parent metal you weld the butt to is going to shrink into a banana. How does one combat shrinkage? Clamping it down, prebending it? or I just watched a sweet video on flame straightenin. I'm sure a tig torch could be used just to heat metal with some practice
If everything is tacked well and if you weld in the sequence shown it’s usually not too bad on this thinner mild steel. Clamping and precambering can help, but aren’t usually necessary with this material. Stainless steel, on the other hand, distorts like crazy and all those things become very important. One of the best videos on this is actually from somewhere around the 1950’s from Lincoln Electric. Search for Mr Shrink on UA-cam and you’ll probably find it. It’s good for some laughs as well.
What size wire are you using for thin wall projects? I find that 0.030 flux core is very difficult to keep from melting through, but I don't know if it is my settings or maybe worth trying smaller wire?
I am using .030 solid wire with 75/25 Argon CO2 mix gas. Flux cored is a little more challenging, but definitely possible with .030 wire. It could be settings (usually wire speed too high) or technique (usually slow travel speed). I haven’t personally seen smaller flux cored wire than .030.
@@TimWelds Thanks for the reply! Yeah, flux core smaller than 0.030 doesn't exist. I may have to get a gas bottle and try smaller wire, but I will keep working with my settings for now...
I am new to welding. Only took me 74 years to get it around to it.
Bucket list.
You are a great teacher.
Thanks
I am 58 and haven't welded since FFA in the 11th grade. I want to learn MIG.
Great advice. I'm a big fan of thin-wall square tube to make brackets and carts out of, usually 14-16 gauge. The only other tip I would give others for this kind of work is always tack EVERYTHING first before fully welding a joint. So long as you can get the MIG gun in position to make the weld, tack EVERYTHING, as in the whole structure together. It will pull/distort a lot less when there is "no where to go". Obviously when things are clamped tight to a fixture table it helps, but something high off the table might not be able to get properly secured like a part down close to the table. So even then, tacking every single corner will really help things. Simply avoid wanting to just get-in-there and start welding overboard; it will kick your butt in the end when things pull and you have all sorts of gaps in other places you didn't anticipate.
Thanks. I’ve suspected something like this to be the case.
Have a project coming up, and will try this technique that you spoke of.
@@dennisyoung4631 Tacking everything together, as in the whole structure of whatever you are building will also let you see where your cuts ended up too short OR too long. Too long, just cut off the tack, take it to a belt sander, and shim off whatever you need to make it fit. Too short, well, if it's not by too much, say 1/16" or 3/32" too short, then you will be able to see this and what I do is split the difference, so if I'm overall short 3/32" (0.093") , then I shift the tube or whatever it is in the middle so I only have 3/64" (0.047") of gap on each side. This makes managing gaps wayyyy more easier, and will result in less distortion because you are adding less weld metal into the joint.
If you don't have a table, don't hesitate to add some bracing, i.e. between the bottom legs, even a 2x4 would have worked to keep the legs from pulling in. Just made some grizzly bars and was blown away by the distortion, all tacked together first: 3' by .25x1×1" angle iron bowed welding 9 other piece to it. (Too much weld, too large of electrode) 5' by .125x1.5x1.5" Sq tube curled in 1/4" just from welding two other Sq tube cross pieces 4 and 5' up. (Temporary brace between bottom feet would have stopped that). And stitch welded a piece of .25x1.5" flat bar on edge to a 1.5" Sq tube, between welding that and the two little .0625x.75x1.5 braces to keep the legs from getting knocked in, it pulled the legs in 1/8" each. (Another brace and less weld). My two cents would be bracing for any dangly bits, use smallest filler metal to keep weld and heat imput down, and as much fun as it is to practice welding. No unnecessary welds. If I had 1" stitches instead of 2" it still would have been overkill with half the heat. 3/32 6011 between 60-70amps worked good for me. Should have done the small bracing with tig or mig, but that was the first ive welded with stick and got carried away. Best of luck and most importantly have fun!
Beginner gasless MIG welder here. Great channel, thank you.
There’s no such thing as gasless mig. Mig stands for metal inert GAS welding. I believe what you are talking about is fcaw or flux cored arc welding. They are two very different things. Just because it is wire fed doesn’t mean it is mig. Welding requires some type of shield whether that be gas or a type of flux. Taking away the shielding gas and switching the wire makes it no longer Mig welding. Hopefully I don’t sound like I’m being rude, just trying to help with the learning. But take this information with a grain of salt because I am a high school student.
@DeerDemolisher you knew full well what I mean, and it's known colloquially as "gasless MIG" by thousands of welders. Try not to be a dick.
As a beginner Tim is my go-to guy to get me started. Gets right to the point and makes it clear and easy to understand.
Thank you so much for these videos. I'm rewatching this one after welding a piece like this for a job and was just offered it. I haven't worked with tubing before and can't wait learn to do these better.
Clear, concise, thorough. Another great video. Thank you, Tim!
Bro! this channel is one of the best for us beginner welders
Really good information. My son and I are just getting started in welding, and have never really MIG welded, but just purchased one. I did some Stick welding in High school over 40 years ago. Now my son is fixing to take a class also. Thanks so much, really appreciated! 👍👍⚡️
I’m new to welding. Building a few side gates out of 16g square tubing. Thank you for putting these most informative videos on your channel.
Nicely shown. You make it look easy. People simply refuse to practice, I find.
Thanks Tim for another excellent video. I'm still learning and slowly getting better with your help.
Great info as always Tim, I use heavier tubing for my smokers and forget how easy thin wall stuff blows out lol. But that's where the practice welds come in like you mentioned, no shame in laying down some practice welds if you haven't welded a certain metal, joint, thickness, etc. It's actually silly not to in my opinion. 👍
I actually built a new grill rack for my brother in law’s smoker the other day with that 1” 1/16th square tubing. It turned out good but it wasn’t easy with the titanium flux 125…😅 Those gap welds were not fun… lol But overall I was proud of myself considering I’m a rookie. It burned in good I had to turn it down a little bit though… Thanks for the tips luckily I did it the right way I saved the inside welds for last and moved from one side to the other so I didn’t put to much heat in it…
Thank you Tim very helpful for me as I’m a novist
Thank you very much, all your points have been helping me to understand lot more, all the best to you and your loved ones
Great video, as always!
I'd love a detailed video on distortion.
Simple and to the point I love it
Tim, as always, l love these instructional videos of yours. I'm a diy welder, actually a diesel mechanic by trade, but love to work with steel. I have a cheapo MIG welder, that really do a great job for my kind of projects. Especially for thin gauge steel tubing like you have shown here. Great tips that I definitely will use in future.
That said, my welder can do scratch start TIG welding that I really would like to try out.
Can't you do some videos on that for us?
Thanks in advance.
Thanks! I can definitely do some more of those types of videos. I do have several TIG tutorials, including a couple with scratch start and lift arc, but it has been a while since I did one. The hard part with scratch start is usually finishing your weld. You have to speed up near the end as heat builds, then snap out and try to get gas back on the hot weld.
Thanks for the video.i prefer pushing instead of dragging with mig.
Another fantastic video all ways look forward to seeing them you all ways explain things so clearly 👍👍👍
Thanks for the sequencing tips! 👍
I would love to know more about figuring out the best welding sequence Tim!
great video! lots of information in only 6 minutes
Great video,So when it’s thin metal just weld across and not do the cursive e?
I notch the places where tubing goes flat on the sides. Makes the joint self-fixturing.
Fanstastic work 👏👌 thanks my friend👍👍👍👍
I really appreciate the guidance on how to minimize distortion. Up until now, I had been doing multiple tack welds and then doing short welds moving from spot to spot on what I am making.
What would be good settings to mig weld thin square pipes
Something i noticed about the welds @3:45 is that you are faster in the middle of the weld then at the ends, which while the metal is still molten looks concave and not even. Does that mean the welds are stronger/have more penetration at the ends than the middle?
Great advice thanks again👍👍
Wonderfully clear!
Beyond thank you for this!
I want to convert a utility trailer into a small camper trailer. Would 1x1 tubing be ok to build the framework?
Tks for your tips and videos
Beginner here. I have seen some videos that recommend chamfering the tubing at the joint to create space for filler metal, especially if you intend to grind things flush. Is that correct, or unnecessary?
Great question! It’s not necessary on this thin 16 gauge material, but on thicker material, it’s a good practice.
@@TimWelds Thanks. I'll be purchasing your full set of courses in September. I recently replaced my flux core welder with a small multi-process one. Can't afford the gas cylinder just yet, so will be practicing SMAW. Don't much care for flux core (smoke). TW is the best welding channel I have found on UA-cam.
Some great tips in this video
What's your voltage and wire speed?
Hi Tim, an excellent and TIMELY video. I have just started your course, and once I get proficient, my first project will be a welding table/cart made out of square tubing. I notice that your tubing is very shiny all over, not just at the joint. Did you get it that way, or did you clean it? My stock is almost black in color. Any tips on how to clean it? I assume that to eventually paint it, I'll need it very clean. So, I should probably clean it completely BEFORE any welding? Thanks.
Thanks again for a great video!
What is the best way to measure and cut a 45 angle on square tubing?
Ask little john
Great stuff thank you. One question, why do you have to 'go ahead and weld' rather than just ... you know ... 'weld'? :)
Good job
Hey appreciate ALL the videos, Thank you! One quick question on a project I am working on. We have a steel, metal screen door, 8 feet tall and 50" wide, weighs about 150 lbs., 1 3/8" square tubing frame around it. I am looking to mount on our backyard entry with a 2" square tube, 1/4" thick wall, and 13 feet long. So I can burry 5 feet of tube in cement and 8 feet to weld the door on. Will it work, or is 5 feet in the ground over doing it? Thank you !
That's a serious door! I'm probably not the person to answer about how far to go into the ground, but I wouldn't think it's going anywhere with that setup.
@@TimWelds OK, GOOD, Thanx appreciate the reply. I am talking with an engineer, waiting to see what he says. Thank You, GOD Bless !!
What about shrinkage!? The parent metal you weld the butt to is going to shrink into a banana. How does one combat shrinkage? Clamping it down, prebending it? or I just watched a sweet video on flame straightenin. I'm sure a tig torch could be used just to heat metal with some practice
If everything is tacked well and if you weld in the sequence shown it’s usually not too bad on this thinner mild steel. Clamping and precambering can help, but aren’t usually necessary with this material. Stainless steel, on the other hand, distorts like crazy and all those things become very important. One of the best videos on this is actually from somewhere around the 1950’s from Lincoln Electric. Search for Mr Shrink on UA-cam and you’ll probably find it. It’s good for some laughs as well.
Fantastic
“You wanna talk about practice?”…
Allen Iverson 😂
cool as, cheers
0.6mm .023" wire makes it easier to weld thin wall stuff
What size wire are you using for thin wall projects? I find that 0.030 flux core is very difficult to keep from melting through, but I don't know if it is my settings or maybe worth trying smaller wire?
I am using .030 solid wire with 75/25 Argon CO2 mix gas. Flux cored is a little more challenging, but definitely possible with .030 wire. It could be settings (usually wire speed too high) or technique (usually slow travel speed). I haven’t personally seen smaller flux cored wire than .030.
@@TimWelds Thanks for the reply! Yeah, flux core smaller than 0.030 doesn't exist. I may have to get a gas bottle and try smaller wire, but I will keep working with my settings for now...
I love your videos but your comment about the butt joint at 2:50 was super confusing.
👍👍👍
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