How does Miller 211 handle thick materials out of position? Structural H-beams

[clint738]

Anyone on here ever used a Miller 211 mig for welding thick steel like 0.170" thick or 0.230" thick in all positions: flat, vertical, overhead?

I'm still kicking around the idea of buying a Miller 211 and using it for welding 6" x 9lb/ft or 6" x 12lb/ft H-beams to make a loft in my shop for storage.

Can't find a lightly used CST 280 for a good price, so I'm thinking maybe I just need to mig weld this instead.

Anyone got any pictures of out of position mig welding on stuff this thick?

Would you recommend using Flux-core wire for the extra penetration or would argon/co2 and bare wire be just fine?

Thanks!

[gsims]

Not sure on the out if position part...have not done what your plan is but the 211 states it will weld up to 3/8 on both solid or flux core both at full power (10). Difference is the wire feed rate is quite a bit less with the flux core.

.230 is slightly less than 1/4 so I would think it would penitrate OK for you. Power settings for 1/4 is I think around 6 or 7. Might have to let it catch its breath once and a while but it should weld it OK.

[Renagade]

Bevel your joint, 035 wire, 75/25 gas - burn it in

[clint738]

There will be a LOT of T-joints vertical and lap joints both overhead and flat welded.

I've never heard of beveling on those 2 joints? Is that common?

Thanks!

[aametalmaster]

My first choice of wire would be .030 and gas. My second choice would be .035 gas flux core and the gas of your choice. The smaller machines do better with .030 soild...Bob

[Renagade]

Can you give us a picture or drawing of what you want to do

[clint738]

My first choice of wire would be .030 and gas. My second choice would be .035 gas flux core and the gas of your choice. The smaller machines do better with .030 soild...Bob

Just noticed this wire chart shows .030 solid wire is to small for over 1/8" material.
http://store.cyberweld.com/choosewire.html

So would .035 solid wire run ok for the millermatic 211 for stuff this thick?


Or would the flux core .045 work better in the 211 for materials .170 to .250" thick?

[Cgotto6]

Should have no problem with steel that thin. I would use .030 and 75/25, as already said.

[Thrutraffic]

I'm a newbie and a 211 owner. I've done a good bit of that range of material thickness. I would think as easy as it seems to be for that machine to burn through it is surely capable of doing what you want if you know what you're doing.

(yeah, I know who's doing the burning through :-))

In fact I don't use the AutoSet feature much as it seems to always run too hot for the material. I always use the chart guide to get started and manually adjust from there.

[clint738]

I'm a newbie and a 211 owner. I've done a good bit of that range of material thickness. I would think as easy as it seems to be for that machine to burn through it is surely capable of doing what you want if you know what you're doing.

(yeah, I know who's doing the burning through :-))

In fact I don't use the AutoSet feature much as it seems to always run too hot for the material. I always use the chart guide to get started and manually adjust from there.

I always used the chart guide as a starting point on my Miller 140 since I never had a bottle to try the auto-set feature.

Here is what I am thinking.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/u2b5ba5v6u...t%20Design.JPG

I checked it with a uniform load of 250lbs per foot (a lot more than what I should have stored up there)
Uniform load of 20lbs per foot to account for the weight of the material (more than probably needed)
On the left I have a point load in case I want to ever put a small hoist to lift stuff (have it over rated too for what I will need)

This will have a top surface about 4ft wide.
The 3 fixed points are the vertical columns. I will have H beams running across as braces at the 3 fixed positions and at point #2.
I don't want to use an H-beam as a brace at point #1 because it will prevent the trolley from running back and forth on the 10ft span.
I will weld angle iron on the under side of the top of the beam and run it across like bridging to brace the beams, spacing will be every 2ft.

On top I will put flat expanded metal. I was considering plywood, but don't want to be running a grinder and set the plywood on fire above me. Also considered using light gauge steel plate, but not sure thick I would need to go to not have too much deflection with bracing at 2ft. Also, don't want to go too thick if I went with plate since that would be a lot of weight.

I will try to sketch something up more official looking when I get closer to buying materials.

I am really wondering if I will need to alter the cement slab for this in the shop. I think it is a 4" cement slab.