How to hold Mig gun for best control?

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I'm looking for pointers on how to hold the gun to maintain the best control to make smooth welds. I am learning, and some of my welds are uneven and sloppy looking. I assume everyone uses one hand to hold the handle / trigger. How do you hold the front of the gun with the other hand? resting on index finger and holding down with thumb or do some people grip it like you would a pencil?Also do you use your dominant hand for controlling the front of the gun or hold the handle / trigger with it?Thanks for any input.
Reply:Learn to weld one handed. You can use your other hand to steady your other if needed.
Reply:I usually hold the gun in my dominant (right) hand but I can also weld Left handed as sometimes you just have to, also if your welding solid all day you get tired and a changes as good as a holiday.How you use you other hand will all depend the position and what you have to rest on, just do whatever is comfortable for you in any particular situation. Cheers AndrewWIA 270amp Mig Transtig 200 AC/DC Tig/stickHypertherm PM45
Reply:Greed. I also notice a lot of guys learning like to hold the gun way out at arms length. I usually keep my right hand in close to my body and my left hand on the tip to help steady the gun. As said though that changes depending on what position I have to be in.Also it's not just your arms, but your whole body that's important. In the small booths we weld in, many times I'll have my back against the wall and my legs out forming sort of a triangle to support me if I'm welding vertical or horizontal. In some case I'll lean against the pole that supports the weld coupons. Use as much support as there is available, and make more if need be.Our weld "tables" are tiny. Maybe 8x8 at best and they are pretty buggered up from the day kids burning off mig wires on them like porcupine, or all goobered up with weld tacks if they are working out of position. Even grinding the tables down doesn't always leave you with a snag free surface. I'll tell the students to find one of the longer clean plates, and tack it to the edge of the table to give themselves a clean snag free surface to slide their hand on so they can rest on the table. Overhead sometimes we'll clamp on a piece of angle to the column so they can use that as a rest.You just need to find what works for you personally..No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. Government programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this earth! Ronald Reagan
Reply:I hold the torch with my dominant(right) hand and pinch the neck of the porch with my other(left) hand. I usually drag/steady the torch at the back of  left hand that pinches the neck, or I stick out a couple of fingers to drag on.Good gloves are important, perhaps with a good welding glove heat shield and a Tig finger on my left hand.Weld like a "WELDOR", not a wel-"DERR" MillerDynasty700DX,Dynasty350DX4ea,Dynasty200DX,Li  ncolnSW200-2ea.,MillerMatic350P,MillerMatic200w/spoolgun,MKCobraMig260,Lincoln SP-170T,PlasmaCam/Hypertherm1250,HFProTig2ea,MigMax1ea.
Reply:Use your dominate hand to hold the gun and work the trigger.   Keep your other hand off the gun all together.   If you need steading in a certain situation use your off hand to steady the wrist / forearm of your dominate hand.   Often times I find myself holding the gun lead 2 or 3 foot back from the gun in my left hand (I'm right handed).  This takes the pull of the weight of it off the gun and makes it easier to hold steady one handed.   Like Walker has already said, learn to weld one handed as much as possible.   And the way you do that is by not holding the gun in a "death grip".  You need to keep your shoulders and arms relaxed.   If you tense up and try to fight to keep it steady it'll just make it worse (not to mention wearing you out).   Don't get all hunched up and close in over your work.  Learn to stay back from it some.   That will give you greater range of motion and allow you to run longer beads easier while keeping your head out of the worst of the fumes. Relax, clear your mind of all impure thoughts and become one with the puddle young Grasshopper.
Reply:It shouldn't matter. I can hold the gun any way, in either hand. And I control it with the other hand, with my fingers on the tube. I've even held the gun upside down, with the hose up in the air, when welding the floor of that black powder chest. Just learn to control the tip, and the puddle."Where's Stick man????????" - 7A749"SHHHHHH!! I sent him over to snag that MIC-4 while tbone wasn't looking!" - duaneb55"I have bought a few of Tbone's things unlike Stick-Man who helps himself" - TozziWelding"Stick-man"
Reply:Learn to weld with the weak hand.I don't do it often as it might be a bit of a health risk but you can wrap the lead around your arm.Practice your movement with the machine off.Don't put a death grip on the gun on on the trigger. I used to think welding with a big stinger would really suck but its so nice in the sense that you don't even have to hold it. I put a tube of foam pad on my tig torch. I wonder if that might work for mig too.
Reply:While it's good to be able to do steady welds with one hand, it takes a lot of practice. Same with being able to weld equally well with either hand but starting out hold the gun with your dominant hand and use your other hand to steady it. Work on the one hand and opposite hand on less critical stuff or practice plates. I knew a good TIG welder that used to refer to one handed welding as the crash and burn method. Roll welding pipe and vessels is easier with one hand than a lot of other types of welding. Try to use 2 hands whenever possible until you get consistently good looking welds either with MIG or stick. Then work on using one hand. Always get as comfortable as you can and make sure your cable is free to move with you. Nothing is more frustrating than having your cable get hung up on something and you're fighting the cable/gun trying to keep a consistent weld going.
Reply:I like to weld with one hand and the other holding my coffee ! Ha ha No seriously each welder has their own preferred method and i would imagine the type of weld your doing. Also if your a Professional welder or just someone that does it weekends, It all depends. If your welder is equipped with a latch switch, use that and give your trigger finger a break when you can