How to figure welding speed for tube welding with mig

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I am Mike Burts in Anderson SC. I make and repair drive shafts for auto and industrial applications. They say you can't teach an old dog new tricks but after turning 65 in April and having a knee replacement and am having the other one August 13 Ineed to work smarter instead of harder. I have an old lathe that I build shafts in that has a gear motor to turn the shaft. Welding is with a mig hand held. Of course you all know the vision issues with the added years so need to improve the operation method. I want to position the mig gun in a holder and measure the circumference of the tube and set inch per minute on a speed control. This would make the aluminum shafts a better product.Any charts or formulas would be appreciated. [email protected] Burts
Reply:Welcome to our little world.I would say get a magnifying glass for your hood and "see" if that helps.But I am sure other will have other ideas.  And of course our Aluminum guru Zap will be able to help you
Reply:There are travel rates for a given diameter of wire and size of fillet weld.  For wire feed processes it ranges from slow around five inches per minute to around twenty IPM.   My guess for drive shafting which is relatively thin you will be around 15 inches per minute or higher.  There will be some trial and error.Something I forgot to mention is that you can shape your bead by moving ahead of top center slightly.  Further ahead increases crowning.
Reply:Most of the automated MIG I've done has been pulsed spray transfer, and travel speed is generally around 30 inches per minute (ipm).  This was mostly around 1/8" thick steel assemblies and maybe your application is quite different.To figure the speed setting for your positioner, pick a speed you want to try, say 30 ipm for instance, then use the part diameter, say 3 inch, to calculate the corresponding revolutions per minute (rpm).30 in/min / (3 x 3.14) in/rev = 3.2 rev/minThen invert rpm to give you minutes per revolution and convert to seconds per revolution, so you can check the setting with a stop watch.1 / 3.2 rev/min = 0.31 min/rev0.31 min/rev x 60 sec/min = 19 sec/rev
Reply:Thanks for responce. Drive shaft tube size ranges from  2 inch to 4.5 inch in diameter and .065 to .250 wall thickness for steel. Aluminum mostly is 3 to 4 inches in diameter and .120 wall thickness.Mike Burts