Welding art-how can I make my welds better?

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The slug was done with an oxyacetylene torch, the dinosaur with a mig welder (a Hobart 135, 110 V) with 0.030 flux core wire.As you can see,  I'm having problems attaching the sheet metal to the metal armature, as the fit up is not exact.I've switched to using plain wire with argon/C02 with my mig welder, so I'm expecting less slag and spatter, but the fit up is still going to be a problem.I also have purchased a tig welder. Will this do better, once I learn how to use it? I've taken a short community college intro course, but the instructor thought that welding the thicker 1/8-3/32" metal rod to the 22 gauge sheet metal I'm using wont be easy and he thought the best I could do is by using mig.I appreciate any advice anyone has.Thanks! Attached Images
Reply:It's going to take practice but you can do it with tig and get better results....just have to puddle the thicker material first and flow that into the thinner ......and make sure to hold your mouth at a precise 32.5 deg angle
Reply:For me tig was like learning to ride a bike frustratingly tuff to learn but once everything snapped into place it was simple
Reply:Originally Posted by texasrednek......and make sure to hold your mouth at a precise 32.5 deg angle
Reply:Lol 32.5 degrees.  I like the little dino.  Cleaned up really nice.-AaronJet 17.5" Drill Press1942 South Bend 16x84 Lathe1980s Miller 320A / BP --- 2013 Power Mig 2562012 Jet 7x12 Horizontal BandsawVictor O/A Setup
Reply:tig should give you good low amp control//try some silicon bronze filler..
Reply:Tig will give you a lot more control over your heat with material that small and thin. Since this is all sculpture work, the welds just have to support the material weight and hold it together, so you really don't need structural welds. Usually the rule of thumb is that the weld doesn't need to be any larger than the thickness of the thinner material. It gets tough to keep welds on really thin material that small however, so often as long as the welds aren't more than 2-3X the thinner thickness you are good. Down side to thick to thin is that you often don't get enough heat into the thicker material to give you good penetration for a structural weld, but as mentioned in this case it really doesn't matter. Tig will also allow you to minimize the weld size to keep finish work down and minimize the joints.I've worked with a number of art students to learn welding. Each process has it's own strengths and weaknesses. Stick and mig are good for heavy sculptures. Many times with these the welds become a part of the sculpture, so they want them to show as "industrial" art.  OA is good for lighter stuff and brazing work. Usually the students who wanted to move on to jewelry or brazed sculpture would tend to go the OA route. Tig is good for stainless, alum, bronze etc as well as giving the sculptor better control and the ability to work on tiny projects. Mig tended to be the easiest for most to learn and get started and works well on material from 18 ga up to 1/4" with a relatively modest investment.Last edited by DSW; 03-09-2013 at 07:49 AM..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