I am primarily a blacksmith. I like to use so-called traditional joinery techniques. But I am also a practical person. Many times I need either electric or gas welds for making fixtures or tools or in certain sculptures. I have welded for many years with an old Lincoln buzz box and stick electrodes. I took a course years ago at an adult education program. Last year I finally realized that I needed to get away from all that chipping and increase productivity and bought a 251. I like it very much. However, I feel that I really don't understand how to set the controls to get the best performance especially with lighter gages.
So much for the intro. Now I would like to ask why it should be so difficult to find information about setting up MIG for various processes. I really don't have the time at the moment to hunt up another adult ed course. Nor do I think I should have to after welding all these years. Remember, I like my Miller 251 very much and am not dinging it. It is a truly well engineered machine. I'm frustrated by an apparent lack of my ability to find information. After purchasing the 251, I read through the instruction manual and couldn't understand how to set the wire speed to get the amperage I was used to in the old buzz box. I had to contact Miller and was sent a sheet relating wire size with feed rate to amperage. It was hard to read as it was a scanned copy of an old paper. Why couldn't good information like that be included in the owner's manual. O.k. After reading one of the latest posts about the difference between globular, spray, and short circuit, I felt I understood the difference but still didn't know how to set things up for the different modes. 17 cups of coffee at 10o'clock doesn't mean a thing to me. I went to Ed Craig's site and quickly got bogged down in his ranting. I understand why he is upset and I'm not putting him down for it. I have been an electronics engineer for around 30 years and the same kind of nonsense goes on in that industry as in welding. But I need specifics on how to set controls to get different modes and effects. If that info is on Ed's site, somebody please tell me how to get to it. If anyone knows a really good, practical guide to MIG, please let me know. I'm tired of playing around to try to find the sweet spot.
Thanks,
Joe
So much for the intro. Now I would like to ask why it should be so difficult to find information about setting up MIG for various processes. I really don't have the time at the moment to hunt up another adult ed course. Nor do I think I should have to after welding all these years. Remember, I like my Miller 251 very much and am not dinging it. It is a truly well engineered machine. I'm frustrated by an apparent lack of my ability to find information. After purchasing the 251, I read through the instruction manual and couldn't understand how to set the wire speed to get the amperage I was used to in the old buzz box. I had to contact Miller and was sent a sheet relating wire size with feed rate to amperage. It was hard to read as it was a scanned copy of an old paper. Why couldn't good information like that be included in the owner's manual. O.k. After reading one of the latest posts about the difference between globular, spray, and short circuit, I felt I understood the difference but still didn't know how to set things up for the different modes. 17 cups of coffee at 10o'clock doesn't mean a thing to me. I went to Ed Craig's site and quickly got bogged down in his ranting. I understand why he is upset and I'm not putting him down for it. I have been an electronics engineer for around 30 years and the same kind of nonsense goes on in that industry as in welding. But I need specifics on how to set controls to get different modes and effects. If that info is on Ed's site, somebody please tell me how to get to it. If anyone knows a really good, practical guide to MIG, please let me know. I'm tired of playing around to try to find the sweet spot.

Thanks,
Joe
Comment