eurospeed951

What is the difference between mig and tig welders and welds?

Andrew

TIG is for aluminum I believe

bs

TIG:
tungsten inert gas
uses a tungsten electrode to generate an arc. the arc jumps from the electrode to the metal being welded, melting it. if more metal is needed, a fill rod can be used. the whole process is sheilded by argon (hence the inert gas) so that all the hot metal doesn't oxidize away.

MIG:
metal intert gas
in mig welding, the electrode is a peice of metal which is consumed as the arc jumps from it to the work peice. this metal fill rod/electrode is automatically fed through the handle as you weld. MIG welding is faster, easier to do poorly and harder to do well. it doesn't require two hands because your fill rod is your electrode. it is generally considered inferior for most applications.

either method can be used on steel and aluminum, you just have to use a different kind of filler.

explosion welding is the cool kind.

Tabor

Tig welds are stronger and nicer to look at.

keith

MIG has come a long way, in its defense... I used to sculpt on a mchine that would handle 1/4 plate, single-pass - that's good penetration.

And I find it easier to do well (than Arc welding)

TIG is commonly supposed better on aluminum, SS, etc... Especially without filler rod...

(but this is just a sculptor's point of view)

Danno

MiG has come a long way, but still doesn't approach the qualit of TiG yet. The advantages of TiG are:

That said, TiG takes longer to master, whereas you can get up to 80% of the quality of TiG using MiG in much less time.

John.

MIG feeds wire as the electrode, while TIG uses a tungston torch shielded by an inert gas, then you add filler metal with a seperate rod.

MIG is best for high volume work where you are not concerned about appearances that much (if there was no concern, you would use stick) MIG is a good method of joining two metals with medium accuracy and high production volumes.

TIG is best for precision work, where you are concerned with the accuracy of the weld and the integrity of the weld.....take for example a steam pipe. TIG has a much smaller hear affected zone, and the beauty is that you can strike tha arc, and then dial up the heat slowly, until you are good and sure you are ready for filler rod.

I prefer the TIG, but it is slower and requires more skill to operate. It is also more dangerous (in terms of flashing your eyes). The arc struck by a TIG torch will blind you in seconds without proper protection.

You can weld aluminum with a MIG, you just need it to be set up to do so. Aluminum work is usually done with a TIG, and is an art!

Brian Wilson

Just because I felt like talking...

I will have to say that I prefer MIG welding. Anything that requires three hands to do something such as welding is right out.

Also, I know a few people who do restoration work and can make a MIG weld that is unnoticable. Of course, I have only seen it on body work... how strong is it?

keith

I am in agreement - TIG is the best way to go, quality-wise.

I was intending to defend MIG as a way better alternative to stick welding, better control, better accuracy, comparable penetration, EASIER mastery...

TIG is also much more peaceful...

garrity928

In all fairness we should list the proper AWS names for these processes.

TIG is GTAW
MIG is GMAW

and the forgotten SMAW

Time to move on. SMAW or stick provides the hottest and most fully fused welds in steel ands steel alloy, even more that GTAW (TIG).

GTAW is nice when fine control is needs, but also pales compared to Electron Beam welding. It is often used on Aluminum but in terms of volume MIG is still the most heavily used in the aluminum industry by 3 fold.

If you plan on welding thin or different sized materials or exotic alloys, GTAW is the way to go, otherwise take a close look at MIG or even stick and possible torch if you want real art from the old world.

Garrity

keith

I have an mentor in her 80's, and she can torch-weld circles around anyone on the planet (after all, she learned it the middle ages)

We don't call her GMAW, though - don't kno where you got that.


Also - Garrity, you are Encyclopedia Brown.

garrity928

GMAW--Gas Metal Arc Welding
GTAW--Gas Tungsten Arc Welding
SMAW--Shielded Metal Arc Welding

It is amazing to see those people still able to use a torch to weld. It is very difficult to do on Alumium and almost impossible on some exotic alloys.

Garrity