Want to get into welding, simple needs

[John Fabre]

Thanks for posting this, I had the same question, now that I will doing body work (on cars).

[ray hampton]

Thanks for posting this, I had the same question, now that I will doing body work (on cars).

If you plan on welding car bodies , your first tool should be a strong magnet , use it to test for plastic body parts

[curtis rosche]

You can't push the aluminum wire through the long hose. Basically it just moves the spool of wire to the business end.

One place i worked we had an alum MIG set up with a 15FT whip and no spool gun,, worked well

[John Fabre]

If you plan on welding car bodies , your first tool should be a strong magnet , use it to test for plastic body parts

Thanks for the heads up, I should not see much plastic on a 69' Dodge Charger.

[Jim Barkelew]

One of my first major tool purchases was a cutting and welding set-up. Oxy-propane toarch for cutting and a Sears stick welder. Propane works fine for cutting and is much cheeper than actelene. The stick welder takes some practice but using rods with iron powder in the flux, 7018 rods I think, are easy to weld with. I have welded cast iron using special cast iron rods but that took some research.

For cutting a sawzall witha metal cutting blade cuts mild steel fine. A 4 in angle grinder with a thin disk also cuts OK but watch the sparks.


My latest welding project was a Thien top hat separator that works great. Last weekend I welded up a thumbnail sharpening jig for the Wolverene.


A welder is a great addition to a woodshop as long as the fire hazard is respected.


Jim

[ray hampton]

Thanks for the heads up, I should not see much plastic on a 69' Dodge Charger.

LOL, I cut a 61 F100 up for scrap and were unable to cut the grill, the headlights cover, rearview mirror housings , taillights assemblers, hitting any of these with the flame from a torch for a split/second will melt it, is the Vette the only car body molded from fiberglas ?

[Mac McQuinn]

If my memory serves me correctly,the Studebaker Avanti had a Fiberglass body.
Mac

LOL, I cut a 61 F100 up for scrap and were unable to cut the grill, the headlights cover, rearview mirror housings , taillights assemblers, hitting any of these with the flame from a torch for a split/second will melt it, is the Vette the only car body molded from fiberglas ?

[Curt Harms]

I've been a welding inspector almost all my life. The thing about inspecting other people's welds is that you know how bad your own welds are when you are learning

I have a Miller Bobcat 250 on a trailer, a Hobart Handler mig machine and a really old Miller Thunderbolt Buzz Box stick welder. The Thunderbolt is the one I use the most, probably because all I have to do is flip the switch and go as it sits on a shelf in my shop. I use the Hobart mig machine to weld thin flat bar and scrolls when I am doing wrought iron work (sign hangers).

I keep a pretty good selection of stick rod in my shop which includes 3/32" and 1/16" diameter welding rods for thin stuff. It seems that I am outside the norm in this thread as I prefer stick welding to the other techniques.
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But if you want to get frustrated as a newbie, get a cheap 110-120 amp AC welder like Harbor Freight used to sell. I don't see mine on Harbor Freight's web site any longer but they can still be found on Ebay and the like. I paid less than $100 and didn't have too high expectations so I'm okay with it. The welds seem okay but it can be a true PITA to strike and maintain an arc. It sure is handy to have one though for mobile bases, jigs and such. I agree with gas rigs being handy. I did a little gas welding and brazing in a welding class in school. It's fun but requires a little coordination because both hands are in play, one on the torch and one feeding filler metal. I'm not sure how an insurance company would view storing an oxy-acetylene rig in a residental basement and don't believe I'll find out .

[Matt Meiser]

We've started a small metalworking club as an offshoot of our woodworking club. I've been unable to make the last two meetings, but I guess one of the guys brought a HF MIG machine he got from his daughter for Christmas and everyone was pleasantly surprised with it. But still, I'd spend the money for a better machine. I'd stick with something well supported too--Lincoln, Hobart, Miller mainly. My dad bought a Linde machine back in the 90's. Its been problematic since new, and the dealer was much less than helpful. Then the transformer blew up on it days out of warranty and they did nothing for him--and some of the problems were likely related to that. After replacement it was better electrically but still doesn't feed great. Both my brother and I have used it since buying our Hobarts and swear at the thing every time because we can't get it to work as well as our machines that cost 1/4-1/3 as much.

Another way to save a few bucks would be to watch CL for one of the 110 machines from someone upgrading. BUT, I'm told there's a difference between the Lincoln's sold at the big box stores and the ones sold by the local dealers, country of origin being one big difference. I've not verified, but something to look into before you start shopping. Buying used may get you hundreds of $$$ in accessories/consumables "free".

[Steve Kesler]

Local adult ed center is a good resource. I took all the welding classes a couple of years ago at night in the winter. Great way to get started with access to metal to practice on and place to ask questions. Found out I really like tig welding. I bought a Miller Dynasty 200 amp tig, and a Lincoln 180 amp mig. I always use the tig first unless I'm in a hurry and just need to lay down a quick bead. It's come in handy for multiple projects..

[Kevin Groenke]

The Thermal-Arc Fabricator 181i is a combination Mig, Tig, Stick machine with respectable amperage that seems to have gotten pretty good reviews (still relatively new though).

It seems like a lot of capability for the price (~$800, + ~$200 more for the Tig torch and pedal)
Does anybody know more about it?

-k

[Matt Meiser]

That's one that one of the local shops has been advertising.

[Adam Woznicki]

One place i worked we had an alum MIG set up with a 15FT whip and no spool gun,, worked well

If you use a teflon liner it should work ok.

[Adam Woznicki]

Wall Mountain Company, Inc. has the best videos that I've seen. They have a nice clear picture of the puddle, and if you don't know what the puddle should look like and how to control it, the you don't know how to weld.
http://www.weldingvideos.com/fcaw.html

Just remember 90% of welding is prep, including good fit up. This is especially critical since you want to do tubing.

[George Carlson]

Remember the Thermal-Arc Fabricator 181i is a DC machine. So if you have ideas about welding aluminum, you'll need another machine. The power souirce for TIG and MIG are very different. The MIG requires constant voltage, TIG and stick need constant. It's neat that they can do this today with the inverter electronics.