Searching for videos of flux core welding on homemade car panels makes sense — watching someone actually run a bead on thin sheet metal teaches technique faster than any written description. But not every video out there reflects good practice, and that gap can cost you hours of rework. Flux core welding (FCAW) can be … Read more
A worn contact tip, the wrong tip size, or a shroud packed with spatter can ruin an otherwise sound weld. If your wire keeps burning back, your arc feels unstable, or spatter is flying in every direction, the front end of your MIG gun is often the first place to investigate. Setting up a MIG … Read more
Welding thin metal with a stick welder is one of the more demanding tasks in the shop. The margin between a clean bead and a hole melted straight through the base metal is narrow, and the rod you choose plays a major role in whether that gap works in your favor. For electric arc welding … Read more
Reading a fabrication drawing and spotting a weld symbol with two numbers separated by a dash can stop a first-time builder cold. That symbol is telling you exactly where to weld, how long each bead should be, and how far apart each weld should be placed. Those two numbers represent the length-and-pitch notation for an … Read more
Choosing the wrong drill size before tapping a 1/8 NPT thread is one of the most common mistakes in metalworking and fabrication shops. Go too large and the threads strip under pressure. Go too small and the tap binds, breaks, or produces incomplete threads that leak. The correct drill size for a 1/8 NPT (National … Read more
You’ve got a piece of 1/8″ mild steel in front of you and an Aimco 130 on the bench. Getting the voltage and wire speed dialed in correctly makes the difference between a solid, clean bead and a frustrating session full of burn-through or cold laps. For welding 1/8″ (approximately 3.2 mm) mild steel with … Read more
Picking up a welder for the first time — or switching to a new process — and realizing you’re not sure about polarity or current type is more common than most welders admit. Getting it wrong won’t always produce an obvious failure, but it will affect penetration, arc stability, and overall weld quality. Mild steel … Read more
304 stainless steel shows up constantly in fabrication work — exhaust components, food-grade equipment, handrails, brackets, and kitchen fixtures. MIG welding it is entirely doable, but it punishes the same habits that work perfectly on mild steel. MIG welding 304 stainless steel requires a tri-mix shielding gas (typically 90% helium / 7.5% argon / 2.5% … Read more
When you’re buying stick electrodes in bulk or trying to estimate how many rods you’ll need for a job, knowing the count per pound saves you from running short or ordering too much. A 1-pound box of 3/32-inch (2.4 mm) stick electrodes typically contains between 35 and 45 rods, depending on the electrode classification. Heavier … Read more
A drawing lands on your bench showing a fillet weld symbol, but instead of one size, there are two different numbers separated by an “x.” If you’re not sure what that means or how to lay down that weld correctly, this article breaks it down clearly. When a fillet weld symbol shows two different leg … Read more