I have been making an exhaust manifold to fit a turbo to my S2000 and due to my lack of tig skills i have opted to make it using my MIG. Its has quite a few tight spaces to weld up and using your tip i managed to get the welds in perfectly. I was able to push the weld perfectly into the gaps. I know its an old video but its still helping people 👍👍 . I half expect the manifold to crack based on it being my first try but you have to start somewhere
Yes, that is a tricky one. One thing I learned ( maybe not so good for around the corner like that ) but whenever you need to try and reach a bit farther and have the wire stick way out is remember to turn the speed up a bit. I have had to do some crazy things with MIG over the years.
Great tips. I wish I had seen this before I built the cage for my track car. Not only did I screw up a lot of welds in places like you demonstrate, the tight confines made grinding them out for a re-do an absolute nightmare.
Here in the State's, where I'm from, we call that long arcing. Nice video. I have over 20 years of Fab experience, am 6G certified and have an industrial and engineering welding certificate, (because paper helps get jobs now days) however, I also am always looking for better ways to do my job. I have yet to watch one of your videos and feel the need to call bullshit. Great job.
arc length is controlled by voltage in a wire fed cv (constant voltage) process. what he is doing as he goes into the corner is increasing the stick out, not long arcing. increasing the eso (electrical stick out) adds resistance to the weld circuit and actually decreases the heat input. makes me wonder if it would be necessary to bump up wfs and volts a bit when welding into an area that requires more stick out?
@@Bobbobness When comparing a 3/8 stick out to a 3/4 stick out using 0.035" wire the difference in resistance is 3 mOhm compared to 6 mOhm for the longer stick out (assuming the wire is made of mild steel - MIG wire is only copper clad). With the longer stick out at 125 amps you are losing 750 mV (instead of 375 mV with a 3/8" stick out) and consuming 94 Watts in the wire (instead of 47 W with a 3/8" stick out), so I doubt it is enough to really make a difference. Maybe you could bump up the voltage by 0.4 V to compensate. The power lost is small compared to the welding power of 2500 Watts or so, about 2% more with the longer stick out (3.76% with the longer stick out vs. 1.88% with the shorter stick out). Maybe a bit more wire speed, but just a bit - 2% or so.
@@Fix_It_Again_Tony that sounds like something i want to practice. getting to know how much to bump v and was for a longer stickout while still keeping the weld hot would be nice to know. before now, i have used more stickout without changing settings for areas that are thin and might blow thru. also, flux core wire would remove the gas issue. if you were using gas, packing the opposite side with rock wool would trap more gas in the area you are working and might help
A couple of ways I dealt with this back in the 70's building stock cars was Tom Thompson suggested was stick welding, stick was and still is a good way to weld roll cages, MIG is popular not because it's better but supposedly quicker and easier taking less skill than stick, in most cases this is true but as you demonstrated not always able to do the job. In the scenario depicted here an alternative method may have been to use a slipper plate, that is a base plate welded to the foot of the bar, the wire feed could run the back joint of the slipper plate to the cage pad on the frame because you're not trying to manipulate the nozzle behind the bar but rather welding opposite of the already welded slipper plate. Yet another maybe easier although it takes planning is to bend the cage bar so it goes out to contact the vertical surface to minimal or no gap then weld both sides of the vertical along with as much base weld as possible, it would then be solidly anchored.
Thanks for the tip! Been welding and working in a fab shop for about 9 years now where i mostly weld. Ive dealt with tight spaces but engineers never leave a spot where i cant fit a mig or tig lead. So automotive fabrication has been tricky for me lol.
Nice, I never tried turning the gas up, I have always unscrewed the tip a couple of turns to reduce the voltage drop with a longer stick out for tight places. this helps a lot.
a stick electrode would reach there. another alternative is to cut a tombstone window in the front of the pipe, weld the back from the inside, recap the tombstone.
This position weld reminds me of welding course, where on the first week a lot of the lads wanted to know the 'how to' of mirror welding in corners 'eg where there is a steel downpipe to a floor on a steel boat or whatever... the instructor soon brought them all back to earth... a trick I learned with the MIG in them tight spots is to 'dam up' around the tight inner top n back - just before you gets 'too tight' - take off the shroud, ramp up the gas n lay the bead round the corner from the tip...
Use a stick welding rod. I appreciate this guy's ingenuity but we never gave up on OLD TECH we use both OLD TECH and NEW TECH together in order to complement each other. In the Russian military sector we use both OLD TECH and NEW TECH together in order to complement each other and at the same time redesign our tools and equipments and devices and gadgets and instruments as we go along on a project and as time passes by we had the NEW TECH to be able to have the same ability of the OLD TECH but wisdom taught us never to abandon the OLD TECH NO MATTER WHAT! By the way, in Russia, we still use the atomic hydrogen welding technology using hafnium nitride rods and argon and a modified atomic hydrogen welding technology using the same hafnium nitride rods and argon in a very narrow and curving nozzle of various degree of angle of curves and diameter sizes. Not yet available for civilian use but one day these mass produced customized military engineering technologies will be made available for the civilian sector.
You should probably also raise your voltage or amps up a little as well. The more stock out you have the less penetration and amps you get on the metal.
Might look pretty on the outside. But long arching will decrease the penetration of the weld and increase heat from voltage and splatter. Cool trick but might not be structurally sound for cage work.
I've had to do this a couple times on various parts. Also too much gas flow will cause turbulence and cause porosity, you can move up in travel speed to keep up with gas flow to help prevent this
Not enough gas... explains a lot of why I have had issues in the past on starts on edges of things ( where the gas cant gather up easily ), thanks for the info
Can u please do a video welding around 6inch or 4inch. Tube..and do 12mm.weld around tubing?? I'm using 045 wire..then has to be tig dressed when it's done..I'm just trying to make it look good..settings wise..where the beads.looks awesome. .I fix robot screw ups at unfinished welds the robot can't reach..so it's alot of out of position welds.shorts ones long welds..going around the corners mostly 12mm. 16mm..in circles..an auditor comes to look at it..but they don't put a scope on it..so it's all about presentation...it's all mig 045 wire on carbon frames. Would really help bro..thanks for sharing your tips..
Good advice bro, but as a professional welder where I am, stick and Tig are the more respected processes. Mig welders are viewed as people who want the easy route. Why learn the actual skill when there's a process anyone can pickup and run their first try, without years of school and practice perfecting their profession and technique? And why have restrikes and short runs running mig? The whole benefit of mig is being able to run one continuous pass...
I have been making an exhaust manifold to fit a turbo to my S2000 and due to my lack of tig skills i have opted to make it using my MIG. Its has quite a few tight spaces to weld up and using your tip i managed to get the welds in perfectly. I was able to push the weld perfectly into the gaps. I know its an old video but its still helping people 👍👍 . I half expect the manifold to crack based on it being my first try but you have to start somewhere
Yes, that is a tricky one. One thing I learned ( maybe not so good for around the corner like that ) but whenever you need to try and reach a bit farther and have the wire stick way out is remember to turn the speed up a bit. I have had to do some crazy things with MIG over the years.
Great tips. I wish I had seen this before I built the cage for my track car. Not only did I screw up a lot of welds in places like you demonstrate, the tight confines made grinding them out for a re-do an absolute nightmare.
haha sorry man
I just read nhra doesnt allow mig welding on cages. Is this true?
@@gsrhatch14 NHRA allows mig, on mild steel cages, over a certain ETA and MPH
Here in the State's, where I'm from, we call that long arcing. Nice video. I have over 20 years of Fab experience, am 6G certified and have an industrial and engineering welding certificate, (because paper helps get jobs now days) however, I also am always looking for better ways to do my job. I have yet to watch one of your videos and feel the need to call bullshit. Great job.
That's good to hear. Cheers
Wow yeah u just got him a sub from me.
arc length is controlled by voltage in a wire fed cv (constant voltage) process. what he is doing as he goes into the corner is increasing the stick out, not long arcing. increasing the eso (electrical stick out) adds resistance to the weld circuit and actually decreases the heat input. makes me wonder if it would be necessary to bump up wfs and volts a bit when welding into an area that requires more stick out?
@@Bobbobness When comparing a 3/8 stick out to a 3/4 stick out using 0.035" wire the difference in resistance is 3 mOhm compared to 6 mOhm for the longer stick out (assuming the wire is made of mild steel - MIG wire is only copper clad). With the longer stick out at 125 amps you are losing 750 mV (instead of 375 mV with a 3/8" stick out) and consuming 94 Watts in the wire (instead of 47 W with a 3/8" stick out), so I doubt it is enough to really make a difference. Maybe you could bump up the voltage by 0.4 V to compensate. The power lost is small compared to the welding power of 2500 Watts or so, about 2% more with the longer stick out (3.76% with the longer stick out vs. 1.88% with the shorter stick out). Maybe a bit more wire speed, but just a bit - 2% or so.
@@Fix_It_Again_Tony that sounds like something i want to practice. getting to know how much to bump v and was for a longer stickout while still keeping the weld hot would be nice to know. before now, i have used more stickout without changing settings for areas that are thin and might blow thru. also, flux core wire would remove the gas issue. if you were using gas, packing the opposite side with rock wool would trap more gas in the area you are working and might help
Spot on. Great to see a skilled person share their knowledge and experience. Thank you.
Cheers
A couple of ways I dealt with this back in the 70's building stock cars was Tom Thompson suggested was stick welding, stick was and still is a good way to weld roll cages, MIG is popular not because it's better but supposedly quicker and easier taking less skill than stick, in most cases this is true but as you demonstrated not always able to do the job. In the scenario depicted here an alternative method may have been to use a slipper plate, that is a base plate welded to the foot of the bar, the wire feed could run the back joint of the slipper plate to the cage pad on the frame because you're not trying to manipulate the nozzle behind the bar but rather welding opposite of the already welded slipper plate. Yet another maybe easier although it takes planning is to bend the cage bar so it goes out to contact the vertical surface to minimal or no gap then weld both sides of the vertical along with as much base weld as possible, it would then be solidly anchored.
Thanks Matt!! Video from 2018 is still going strong helping and guiding new/novice/home welders get the job done!
Thanks for the tip! Been welding and working in a fab shop for about 9 years now where i mostly weld. Ive dealt with tight spaces but engineers never leave a spot where i cant fit a mig or tig lead. So automotive fabrication has been tricky for me lol.
Nice, I never tried turning the gas up, I have always unscrewed the tip a couple of turns to reduce the voltage drop with a longer stick out for tight places. this helps a lot.
I grind down my shrouds so the tip is level with the end anyway but il give that a try. Cheers
Good job, Matt. Thank you for the lesson.
No problem, Cheers
Thanks Matt. Always open learning a simpler technique to challenging welds. Cheers, Matt P
Great video. Thanks for sharing you knowledge!
Ran into this problem today at work and my weld looked like dog shit. Hopefully this solves the problem. Thanks brother. Cheers
Awesome videos... Been very helpful for pointing out some key items as I progress with my cage build...
This will definitely help me on my cage. Thanks bro
Thank you for tip and trick.
Thank you, very good demonstration.
Nice work but add another vote for firing up a stick electrode.
a stick electrode would reach there. another alternative is to cut a tombstone window in the front of the pipe, weld the back from the inside, recap the tombstone.
ive learnt so much from these vids, my welds have gotten so much better just following some of these tips and tricks, Thanks Matt :)
You sir are a magician!
This position weld reminds me of welding course, where on the first week a lot of the lads wanted to know the 'how to' of mirror welding in corners 'eg where there is a steel downpipe to a floor on a steel boat or whatever... the instructor soon brought them all back to earth... a trick I learned with the MIG in them tight spots is to 'dam up' around the tight inner top n back - just before you gets 'too tight' - take off the shroud, ramp up the gas n lay the bead round the corner from the tip...
Use a stick welding rod. I appreciate this guy's ingenuity but we never gave up on OLD TECH we use both OLD TECH and NEW TECH together in order to complement each other. In the Russian military sector we use both OLD TECH and NEW TECH together in order to complement each other and at the same time redesign our tools and equipments and devices and gadgets and instruments as we go along on a project and as time passes by we had the NEW TECH to be able to have the same ability of the OLD TECH but wisdom taught us never to abandon the OLD TECH NO MATTER WHAT! By the way, in Russia, we still use the atomic hydrogen welding technology using hafnium nitride rods and argon and a modified atomic hydrogen welding technology using the same hafnium nitride rods and argon in a very narrow and curving nozzle of various degree of angle of curves and diameter sizes. Not yet available for civilian use but one day these mass produced customized military engineering technologies will be made available for the civilian sector.
Hey Matt, enjoy your vids man, thanks for spending the time making them. Always good tips and tricks. Top notch work too. Cheers from Canada.
Thanks bud, its good to know.
You should probably also raise your voltage or amps up a little as well. The more stock out you have the less penetration and amps you get on the metal.
Might look pretty on the outside. But long arching will decrease the penetration of the weld and increase heat from voltage and splatter. Cool trick but might not be structurally sound for cage work.
agree. be nice to turn up voltage and test the weld
I've had to do this a couple times on various parts. Also too much gas flow will cause turbulence and cause porosity, you can move up in travel speed to keep up with gas flow to help prevent this
Great useful, practical tip. Thanks for sharing your solutions for real situations.
No problem, Cheers
Way to help out. I need a new mig welder, I'm running shielded right now, and can't get my welds near that nice!
Cheers
Not enough gas... explains a lot of why I have had issues in the past on starts on edges of things ( where the gas cant gather up easily ), thanks for the info
Hello Matt. Thank you for another GREAT video. Could a tight spot like this be a use for FLUX CORE wire ? Just curious.
Nice, I'll have to try this!
Great stuff here not the usual youtube BS you really know your stuff.
Cheers
Thanks again Matt
Can u please do a video welding around 6inch or 4inch. Tube..and do 12mm.weld around tubing?? I'm using 045 wire..then has to be tig dressed when it's done..I'm just trying to make it look good..settings wise..where the beads.looks awesome. .I fix robot screw ups at unfinished welds the robot can't reach..so it's alot of out of position welds.shorts ones long welds..going around the corners mostly 12mm. 16mm..in circles..an auditor comes to look at it..but they don't put a scope on it..so it's all about presentation...it's all mig 045 wire on carbon frames. Would really help bro..thanks for sharing your tips..
There’s tapered nozzles to get that help a little more for situations like that
Good trick. Thanks.
No problem
Big help. Thankyou!!!
Great advice, thanks for the video
Great tip, thanks.
reach for the stick
I like the minion on your working table ;-DDD. I will steal that idea...
Hey can you make a video on how to weld round tubing 90 degrees to a flat plate? I made a worbench en had a hard time on this
Aslong as the welds are strong. Appearance isn't a huge deal as long as they are presentable
No disrespect as you a talented guy, but would it not be better to bore a hole for the pipe and weld on the flat back side of it ?
awesome stuff mate!
Cheers
Great video thanks
Ooh! Great tip!!
Great tip
Is it okay to use stick welder for really tight spots ?
yes
good trick, but i would use stick or tig.
Did you use the same Voltage and wire speed, and only adjusted the gas?
Yes same settings, Cheers
Stick welder?
Stick welding 👌
Good advice bro, but as a professional welder where I am, stick and Tig are the more respected processes. Mig welders are viewed as people who want the easy route. Why learn the actual skill when there's a process anyone can pickup and run their first try, without years of school and practice perfecting their profession and technique? And why have restrikes and short runs running mig? The whole benefit of mig is being able to run one continuous pass...
What do you use to put nice folds in the sheet like that matt?
V block and press, im gonna make a short heavy duty folder for doing 3 mm plate soon though
Urchfab would love to see a folder build.
Nice sentinel hood
I just done a review on it! Cheers
I want to see u do that with a tig welder
Im in a similar situation with a tig
Watching for 5 minutes to finally get to the place where it should be explained and I still don’t know what the trick is.
Awesome
Fablife ftw
When I learnt to weld mig welding didn’t exist so that would of been done with arc or oxygen & acetylene
Muito bom
This video sucks!🤣🤣🤣