Any welders out there? Get ITT!
I'm looking to take my /o/ related projects to the next level so I've decided I it's time I got myself a welder. What do you guys think is the best all around welding machine for someone to learn on? I like the idea of the MIG's ease of use, but I hear TIG is cleaner and is better for sheet.. And how does oxy/gas stack up against the two? I can get my hands on an oxy/gas setup for free right now any time I need it, but I don't want to waste my time learning to weld with one if I'm gonna be unhappy with the results. I am pretty patient though, so I wouldn't mind taking my time if it meant I could get good results and save a ton of money.
Show off your projects, welds, weld porn, and let me know what you think.
Most versatile for you will probably be a 110v Miller MIG, you can do most auto related things with it and it's easy to learn. Just spend lots of time learning what settings work on what metals, that's the hardest part for me, the technique you can pick up in a few weeks of practice
>>13970155
argon/CO2 mix I take it?
I want to get a MIG but the entire setup it quite pricey compared to stick.
Stick is outdated and will be difficult to use for automotive projects, if not impossible in some situations. Way too messy and uncontrollable for small detail work.
Get a MIG first. Get good with that.
>>13970165
Yeah, I use 50/50, you can use other mixes if you want to weld materials other than mild steel. I'm sure you can find a used Miller or Lincoln mig for 400ish, it's more than worth it, you are just going to be fighting against a stick welder especially if you are doing bodywork.
>>13970155
>>13970173
Two votes for the Mig. Thanks br/o/s. What about 110v vs 220v? I have 220 available in my garage. Would it be worth my while to get one over a 110v unit?
>>13970232
I like the 110 for Mig so you can take it anywhere and have power. Unless you are welding heavy frame rails together 110 is find for auto work.
>>13970232
I would recommend you get a 110 volt MIG welder. this way you can plug it into anywhere in the garage, and take it on the road if you have to. The only reason you would need 220 is if you were doing really really thick stuff, like tractor loader buckets and industrial equipment. You wont need it , trust me. You won't be tied down to a 220 plug, which seem to be lacking from most garages.
The 110s are usually set up to do a little thinner metal too, as compared to the 220 volt ones.
Any guys out there know if you can do sheet metal with a 110 mig? Can they go down to 22 guage and below?
But the 110s should be good enough all the way to 3/8ths thick steel or more.
Get one with an argon tank, or one you can set up to use argon with. Much cleaner welds.
Buy a small tank from a gas place, check around because one place is usually wildly cheaper than the other.
Sometimes you can find a used 110v MIG WITH tank AND cart on craigslist super cheap because people like to upgrade to other stuff.
>>13970140
One more vote for a small mig. It will do most auto welding shit well.
The oxy torches are nice to have too. You can cut, solder, braze, and heat shit. And the welding is a bit more controllable for delicate jobs.
>>13970173
look at that sexy cnc plasma cutter
you should make stuff for guys on /o/ if thats yours.
>>13970243
>>13970273
>>13970282
110 it is. What about versatility.. can I do aluminum, stainless, or titanium with a MIG. I admittedly haven't done much research on welding yet. Just decided it's time to learn.
>>13970291
Yeah, damn they look sweet. I came across a plasma table browsing Grainger the other day. Maybe in another 15-20 years.. Right after I buy the $170,000 demolition robot they've got on there.
>>13970421
you can do aluminum depending on the brand.
I know miller 110 welders have the "spool o matic" attachment that allows you do do aluminum.
For aluminum and stainless, you just need to have different shielding gas.
>>13970140
Cheap TIG machines are worse than worthless. Stick with MIG unless you have thousands of dollars to blow.
>>13970465
is that the spoolgun thing?
Id probably want to end up doing some aluminium welding as well.
what size wire for sheet work?
>>13970140
I've welded with everything out there and my two favs are stickwelders at 180v(aka electrode welds) and oxyacyt. Stick gives great thick quality without too much slag. If your wanting to learn the trade then I'd recommend it but you need to have it properly grounded or else your dead. The gas welds are OK but much more versatile because you can get cutting tips too. Either way you go you can't go wrong.
>>13970682
youll probably want the standard of .030 " wire, or even smaller. You can get different sized tips for the MIG welder. Talk to the guys at the weld store and ask them what their suggest are . (for the work you want to do)
>>13970787
nobody uses a stick welder on a car
you use MIG or TIG or a spot welder. Small MIGs can do both spot welds and framework.
>>13970479
Say I didn't mind saving for a while. What sort of things is a TIG absolutely needed for? They've gotta be so much more expensive for a reason right?
An Oxy/acetylene plant would be good to have for welding exhausts as it won't blow holes like a MIG will.
>>13970935
from what I understand TIG is much much cleaner and does much smaller welds at lower temps, from what I understand pretty much most aluminium or titanium welding is TIG
>>13970465
Spoolgun is essentially a requirement for mig aluminum. The filler wire is just not stiff enough to push 10ft of whip.
I've never been happy with 120v machines, if you do want one that works on 120 i would get a dual voltage machine.
oxy/acetylene is old, there are much better processes.
>>13970935
Higher quality welds with better control. Anything aerospace related is TIG, along with small critical oil and gas parts. TIG is preferred in an indoor clean environment, stick for outdoors (pipelines, structural welding)
MIG is good in a garage, but if you're going to be working outside stick is the way to go (MIG shielded gas will blow away in the slightest breeze)
I want to buy a cheap TIG welder to learn with and so I can do aluminum and stainless fab work for my projects, any recommendations? I can already MIG weld fairly well and have one. First project I want to tackle is building a new intake manifold.
If you want to save up, consider a multiprocess welder. They're combination machines that do stick, MIG and TIG in one. Cheaper and more space friendly than getting all three separately.
it's easier to mig sheet metal imo.
you're going to grind it anyway so the minimal splatter with gmaw doesn't matter.
tig is too expensive if all you're doing is automotive shit.
if you're fabbing custom aluminum parts or tubular manifolds then yeah get a tig machine, but otherwise mig is just as good. convert to gas though, flux wire is aids.
>>13972322
I've done some bodywork with my MIG welder, fixing rust and such. The primary reason I want a TIG is so I can weld aluminum, but I want to be able to make stainless headers and brackets and such too.
>>13970165
go MIG, you can get flux core wire if you dont want to use gas, stick is great for welding heavy stuff but its harder than MIG, you would end up blowing holes through any sheet or bodywork.
Personally I have a multi MIG/Stick welder from a UK company called R-Tech, I use it for fabrication work and use the Stick setting exclusively, but i just bought a new car that needs a lot of patching on the sills and I'm going to invest in some gas and MIG it
Just buy a good MIG for now. I think they have some in the $200 range that are decent but just remember NEVER to buy a flux cored arc welder. Even though it may feed like a mig, and look like a mig, its not a mig and never will be. If there isn't a gas bottle involved OP, then don't bother.
I would just stay with a good mig until you do enough precision welding to actually warrant spending money on a $1000+ TIG. Its cheaper and easier just to have somebody else TIG something for the rare occasion you are building something that needs it.
>>13972332
if you have the substantial money difference to invest the obvious choice is tig. but if all op is doing is sheet metal or other steel repairs tig would be overboard.
>>13972413
but how am i going to get those sexy 'walk the cup' cobra welds without a TIG?
Too bad no one has invented really thin electrodes for stick, I can lay down a beautiful weld with stick as long as its a piece of 1/2" or something.
>>13970165
i use 75/25 gas, its seems to help me with thin sheet metal
Anyone every try the CO2 only method? CO2 is a lot cheaper than argon mixes and Ive seen people rig up MIGS to use sodastream bottles.
>>13974270
It increases temperature and makes the arc unstable. It's also prone to spatter. Not good for welding thin stuff. Fine for exhaust pipes and such though.
