Mig Welding Diamond Plate

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Can you weld diamond plate with a mig welder without a spool gun i am making a welding table out of angle iron and i wanted to make a top for it but can you mig weld diamond plate
Reply:Alum or steel?I know a few people who have managed to make alum mig without a spoolgun work, well sort of. Usually you have to make sure you are using a teflon liner and you keep the gun absolutely straight. That said, it's usually an effort in frustration. To do alum mig you really need a push pull system or a spoolgun.. If you have a small machine, you need to use very thin mig wire, and at the high feed rates required to do alum mig almost any hangup at all will birdsnest wire in a standard gun..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:Yes, you can MIG weld steel diamond plate without a spoolgun, but I wouldn't even consider MIG welding ANY aluminum without a spoolgun. The potential for problems W/O the spoolgun is too high.
Reply:Hey Bistineau,I will challenge your first sentence as it's not true. I MIG weld a lot of production aluminum jobs & use my MIG w/6' cable without any issues whatsoever. I would agree that an 8' or 10' cable would lend issues, especially with 4043, although an 8' could do 5356. Since my cable is 6' I can feed both 4043 & 5356 easily. I have not had any birdnesting issues since I have set the drive rolls for a slight slippage in case of flashback. Don't make statements that you project as pure fact. A fellow who came to my shop to see my setup did as I suggested to him to pick up a spare cable on E-Bay for his Miller 200, & have it shortened to 6' specifically for alum.. He had a total of $70 for the cable & shortening. He owns an aluminum awning company & needed to be able for heavy production runs & this worked superbly for his application. He bought me a steak dinner.....DennyComplete Welding/Machine/Fab. ShopMobile UnitFinally retired*Moderator*"A man's word is his honor...without honor there is nothing.""Words are like bullets.... Once they leave your muzzle, you cannot get them back."
Reply:Originally Posted by Bistineau;1956121, but I wouldn't even consider MIG welding ANY aluminum without a spoolgun. [QUOTE=yorkiepap;1956941Hey Bistineau,I will challenge your first sentence as it's not true. I MIG weld a lot of production aluminum jobs & use my MIG w/6' cable without any issues whatsoever. I would agree that an 8' or 10' cable would lend issues, especially with 4043, although an 8' could do 5356. Since my cable is 6' I can feed both 4043 & 5356 easily. I have not had any birdnesting issues since I have set the drive rolls for a slight slippage in case of flashback. Don't make statements that you project as pure fact. A fellow who came to my shop to see my setup did as I suggested to him to pick up a spare cable on E-Bay for his Miller 200, & have it shortened to 6' specifically for alum.. He had a total of $70 for the cable & shortening. He owns an aluminum awning company & needed to be able for heavy production runs & this worked superbly for his application. He bought me a steak dinner.....Denny
Reply:You can try it with teflon liner, oversized tip and nozzle, pure argon gas and U-grooved rollers, but results will not be good with any hobby machines. For good results you need pulse sinergetic welder. Also mig aluminium is good proces for thicker alu. pieces, where you can use thick alu wire and spray/pulse transfer. So if you have only few cm/inchs of weld to make, I would let someone with tig to weld it.
Reply:So which is it, steel or aluminum diamond plate.? You never mentioned what it is you are wanting welded up.
Reply:The OP may come back and let us know what metal he is using or we may never knowwww.georgesplasmacuttershop.comPlasma Cutter and Welder Sales and Repairs--Ebay storeTec.Mo. Dealer Consumables for the PT and IPT torch's