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Today out of boredom or the mid-winter blahs, I decided to hook up the big honkin 300 cubic foot cylinder of 98/2 to my MM210 and give spray arc a try. I must say that me and what is left of my canvass backed leather gloves are impressed.
I am running .030 solid wire since I was too lazy to change back to the .035. The first thing I noticed was there was an initial pop sound, then the arc settled down to a very smooth spraying (hissing?) sound. I was practicing on 1/8 and 3/16 mild steel. I initially had the machine set at 7/60, then backed down to 6/50 or 55 (forgot in all the excitement) because the arc was literally eating the 3/16 away.
Besides getting a very smooth bead appearance, I observed that weld spatter was almost non-existant. Tomorrow I am going to try spraying some 1/2" square stock that I use for railing pickets to some 1/8" channel that I use for the top and bottom rails. If I am assuming correctly, being able to spray arc my railings will be beneficial because of the very decreased amount of spatter that will not have to be removed.
The only draw back I am thinking I may ecounter is that the heat created by spraying may cause me to have to rethink the way I weld the railings together to prevent warpage. I was doing ok once I learned how to tack the railings together using 75/25, but using the 98/2 may be a different story.
I also noticed that there appears to be quite a bit of a rusty colored soot (oxidation?) while using the 98/2. Is this normal, or may it be due to the fact the metal was approx 34 degrees and I should have done a little pre-heat to drive the moisture out. The other things that I might have to do is play around with the taps and wire speed. From what I observed on the 3/16, I believe I may be able to use lower settings, but unsure what to use on the 1/2" pickets and 1/8" channel. Any suggestions for using the spray mode for my railings would be greatly appreciated. I like the spray so much I would get rid of the 75/25 if I was sure that I would not need it for thinner materials.........thanks.
I am running .030 solid wire since I was too lazy to change back to the .035. The first thing I noticed was there was an initial pop sound, then the arc settled down to a very smooth spraying (hissing?) sound. I was practicing on 1/8 and 3/16 mild steel. I initially had the machine set at 7/60, then backed down to 6/50 or 55 (forgot in all the excitement) because the arc was literally eating the 3/16 away.
Besides getting a very smooth bead appearance, I observed that weld spatter was almost non-existant. Tomorrow I am going to try spraying some 1/2" square stock that I use for railing pickets to some 1/8" channel that I use for the top and bottom rails. If I am assuming correctly, being able to spray arc my railings will be beneficial because of the very decreased amount of spatter that will not have to be removed.
The only draw back I am thinking I may ecounter is that the heat created by spraying may cause me to have to rethink the way I weld the railings together to prevent warpage. I was doing ok once I learned how to tack the railings together using 75/25, but using the 98/2 may be a different story.
I also noticed that there appears to be quite a bit of a rusty colored soot (oxidation?) while using the 98/2. Is this normal, or may it be due to the fact the metal was approx 34 degrees and I should have done a little pre-heat to drive the moisture out. The other things that I might have to do is play around with the taps and wire speed. From what I observed on the 3/16, I believe I may be able to use lower settings, but unsure what to use on the 1/2" pickets and 1/8" channel. Any suggestions for using the spray mode for my railings would be greatly appreciated. I like the spray so much I would get rid of the 75/25 if I was sure that I would not need it for thinner materials.........thanks.
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