dhjunkie wrote:
A welding inspector would fail the weld anyways. MIG welding is NOT structural welding, too much weld inclusion. There is only one form of structural MIG welding and generally we cannot afford that type of machine or have the power requirements. It is called metal arc spraying, the machine is a 480V mig welder, pushing huge diameter flux cored wire, at an extremely high amperage. All you hear is the hiss of electricity and a form of RAPE metal fusion.
But, yes that is a piss poor form of welding on a chassis tube. Tack welding is fine for light guage sheet metal, where you want to keep warpage to a minimum, but definitly not OK where you need 100% penetration of weld and substrate to make a strong joint.
Mig welding is strong enough if done correctly, COOR and SODA accepted mig welding on
the frames but they also did a visual inspection of the welds and if they didnt look right
you didnt pass inspection and didnt race, your right about it being a dirty weld but most
tig welding don't remove the mill scale (stuff that makes steel look gray or black) before
welding they just cut, notch, fit up and weld the joint (bike/car building TV shows omit
this too) I use mig but the weld affected area isis cleaned up with a sanding disc
before welding I also make complete welds by holding the trigger on for the complete
weld not turning it on and off or by depositing a series of tack welds ....
What I find strange is it is faster to make a full weld than to make a row of spot welds
then again you would have to know how to weld first haha
You can spray transfer using a mig if you turn up the heat or slow the wire down enough...