Noob welding iron railing

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First post, and a 100% noob to welding.  Never welded anything in my life.  No time to take a class, but I'm usually a quick "trial and error" study.Bought my Lincoln Power MIG 140 and I'll soon be welding railing with it.  (Haven't started yet.)  I got my CO2/Argon mix, because I wanted to go full mig and have nice, clean welds.  But everything I see indicates going full mig is really for lighter gauge steel, not 1/2" bar with punch channel on one side and top rail on the other.Should I skip the gas and go for flux core, with everything cranked up to "max?"  Should I use the thickest wire rated for the machine?  Seems to be thick material, but everybody I've talked to says the Power MIG 140 is more than enough to weld railing.To anyone who answers, thanks for taking the time to help me with what I'm sure is a very basic question...
Reply:Hope you are not in a hurry and have a good grinder.
Reply:Self shielded wire works great for what it does.  Hell, I built my headache rack with one and the 110 machines are good for square tubing!  They are limited, don't get me wrong, but they have their place!  If I were a hobbiest, it would be a starting point!Last edited by mb_welder; 10-05-2012 at 09:18 AM.
Reply:Most of those railing systems use punch rail top and bottom  channel and then have a railing cover the welds on the top punch channel to hide the ends. Triple S steel shows that style in there catalog. Lots of variety in pickets styles for design elements. Top channel goes on channel up to match the railing piece Bottom piece goes on channel down to not trap water.
Reply:You will figure it out.  I think the 140 will do what you want. Years ago, I built a lot rails with a 110 amp Century machine.  With mine there was a marked difference when using solid vs flux core.  Flux core definitely welded better, just much more cleanup.Most folk around here don't bother with punched channel. Punched channel allows you to confine you welds to nonvisible points.  I have never thought welds, good or bad, should be a visual part of a traditional rail.     Good luck with you project.There are a variety of ways to attach balusters/pickets to cap.  The standard 1.75" cap will accept 1", 3/4" or 1/2" bar underneath the cap.  So you really can attach the baluster directly to the cap.  I find it difficult to build rail like that however, 99.9 % of the time I use a 1" channel  underneath the cap.  I turn my top channel down much of the time, hides the welds.
Reply:Are you thinking about repairing an existing fence or building a new one wholesale?If it's a new fence, then my first thought would be to say you're considering something a little crazy.  But I bought a Hobart 140 and my first project (after a welding table) was a fence for my front yard.  It's a big project.  Mine had a few thousand individual welds in it -- which was good practice... and by that I mean practice with a grinder, at least at first. Are you planning on using 1/2" solid bar stock?  It's not a question of flux core or MIG when welding stock that thick; to make a strong weld you'd need a good 220V machine.  I used 16 gauge square tubing, 5/8" square for the pickets and 1" square for the crossmembers and uprights.  But I'd suggest you look at different fences and work out what size and proportions would look right in your yard (assuming that's what this is for).Off the top of my head, here are some things to think about.  You're going to need to make some kind of fixture to hold the stock in position while you weld it.  You're also going to have to deal with warpage from the heat in the stock you weld.  You're going to need a clean way to cut a lot of stock to consistent lengths.  You're going to need a place to make sections of the fence and a way to get the welder out to where the thing is going to go so you can assemble those sections.  Ideally, you're going to want to get the sections powder coated.  Shy of that, you're going to need to set aside some serious time for prep/priming/painting.And you will need to learn how to weld.  It's not like picking up a hammer and figuring out which is the best part to slam the nail head with.  There are a lot of different steps involve that keep it safe and also make the metal you stick together actually stick.  Especially with MIG and flux core, it's easy to make something that looks like a weld.  But it's also easy to make something that will come apart after a few years of corrosion and some hapless kid tries climbing on the thing.And there's figuring out how you're going to deal with changes in grade and the (suddenly) odd angles you find in your yard.  And there are building codes to consider.  The 4" ball test is just one of the thing you'll have to know about.And there's probably a lot of stuff that I never learned, since I'm a hobbyist who mostly did a lot of reading here (and watched some DVDs) to learn how to do this kind of stuff.Here's my fence:I made that swing set right after the fence.Jack OlsenMy garage website
Reply:Thanks for all the advice so far.Nice looking fence, Jack.Mine is for our wraparound porch (new construction), so I don't have to worry about grade changes or anything like that.  Most sections will be 6' - 10' and will simply bolt into wood columns using pre-made weld tabs.  I'm thinking I'll use punch channel and flux core for the bottom, and mig for the top (1/2" solid bar attached directly to the cap) so it will (with practice) be a cleaner weld up there where it will be slightly more visible.  Punch channel on top sounds good, but attaching directly to the top rail will save me about 400 bucks.I hesitate to use hollow stock, because it just doesn't seem to me that it will last as long.  If I was surrounded by palm trees, Porches, and sunshine I wouldn't worry about it.  But in Virginia snow and rain I'm thinking solid stock.I was planning on making a wood template to hold things in place, something like the one in the pics.And, yes, I know it's more than a little crazy.  That's how I tend to roll...especially when the estimates we've gotten for decent railing are around $14,000.  After all the materials and the equipment itself, I'll save us about 10 grand -- and have some nice tools like the welder and my new Dewalt cuttoff saw waiting in the garage for the next project.
Reply:Originally Posted by goodeknightAnd, yes, I know it's more than a little crazy.  That's how I tend to roll...especially when the estimates we've gotten for decent railing are around $14,000.  After all the materials and the equipment itself, I'll save us about 10 grand -- and have some nice tools like the welder and my new Dewalt cuttoff saw waiting in the garage for the next project.
Reply:I'm happy to read as much advice as I can get.As for the cost, I don't have my calculations on hand, but my new equipment comes in around $1,000.  Remember I'm just starting this, so besides the welder, I needed a good cutoff saw, welding jacket, helmet, gloves, etc.  Adds up quickly.As for the materials, I believe I'm pushing more like 200 feet of straight railing, plus five staircases.  Add in a bunch of collars for the balusters, a dozen basket turn balusters (two per section on a balcony), volutes for all the stair rail, and piles of wire and that all adds up, too.Locally in Virginia the cheapest materials I've found are something like $41 for a 20' section of punch channel, $30 for 20' of top rail, and $20 or so for 20' of solid 1/2" stock.  It'll be a little cheaper if I go with hollow 1/2", and at every 4" I will be using lots of that.My plan is start on sections you won't see or lean on too much....
Reply:What are they charging per hole on the punching what size channel.  Might check with some folk who do railing and you take them the metal.  Do spacing at near 4.5 inches centers for 1/2" baluster.  Also, calculate spacing for the pitch on steps to keep spacing at 4 Inch horizontal not on pitch.  That mean on pitch spacing will be near 5" to 5.5 ctrs, thus saving material and giving consistent spacing. If you use punched channel, then you really don't need to miter the balusters.  Thus,  You might be able to order balusters cut to length to save time.  Now, I punch my own channel,  my hole is only 1/32" over size hole.  I once ordered from king It was 1/8" oversized a larger hole and annoying to look through and see the ground or see that the baluster is not centered with 1/16" on all the way around.  At least the contractor, I was working for thought that and asked me to caulk all holes-- I did not...for various  reasons.     Make your own terminal ends, volutes, lambstongues, miters,  to make nice smooth matching transitions and cut down on grinding.  Cast iron volute and lambstongues never match.  Even cap rail for different suppliers or different batches doesn't always look the same.  A few years ago I did a thread on making a lambstongue.  Similarly volutes can be formed.  I think that thread was more about how I solved a problem by using my harbor freight bender without  a base.
Reply:Originally Posted by goodeknightAs for the materials, I believe I'm pushing more like 200 feet of straight railing, plus five staircases.  Add in a bunch of collars for the balusters, a dozen basket turn balusters (two per section on a balcony), volutes for all the stair rail, and piles of wire and that all adds up, too.