Hey guys, the last time I touched a weling machine or torch was back in the mid 60's and it was pure oxy & acet cutting and stick&flux welding. No fancy stuff like Mig or Tig or plasma. I was pretty good at it back then though so I do have a feel for it. The help I need is this. Is Mig or Tig any harder to learn or do than the old way? How about plasma cutting? What's the big difference in all this? Is there a "welding for dummy's" book? Can you point me in the right direction? What say all you experienced HAMB'rs? Beep
I'll give you everything I know, which by the sound of what you know you've probably already forgot.... If you can torch weld and stick weld then you can probably mig in your sleep. Tig is similar to torch, but easier. A plasma cutter is a neat tool, but truth is most people I talk to that have one don't use it as much as you'd think. Tig is most versitle, but more money and skill involved. www.metalwebnews.com has some good links for more information. If you ever come to Detroit I'll teach you all about mig welding (15min.) if you teach me all about torch welding .
yep, with alittle work you'll be mig welding in your sleep. The only difference is with stick welding you can't anchor your elbow or arm against your body because you have to constantly feed the electrode. But with mig you can and should anchor your torch arm against anything solid. Much easier. The trick is to keep your nozzle at the correct distance from the weld.very easy. Tig welding is a different animal and will take more time to adapt. The heat is much more controlable and locallized as compare to torch welding. Once you start with it you'll love it. If I had a tight budget for machines..my choice would be mig. Much quicker and we aren't building spaceships or nuclear submarines here. Just hotrods. As long as its strong it doesn't have to be perfect in looks and surely doesnt have to meet Xray specs. Plasma cutting is a blast and has the potential to make perfect cuts. Much easier than torch cutting.
in the basics of it, mig is easy as all hell, but tig is nice and clean, they both have there ups and downs, and if your willing to spend the time youll learn, just remember look for penatration(sp?) mig is cheaper and easyer, just dont go with flux core imo i perfer to use a solid steal wire with a 75/25 mix of argon and carbon dioxide,, with tig i would use 100% argon , and aslong as you got a good tig that you can switch between ac and dc currents you can do ferous metals (iron content) and aluminum aslong as you got the right tungsten if you want the perfect tig weld use helium thats where the term heliarc came from. if its just for home use on sheet metal pick yourself up a nice little 110 mig, and if you want to work with heavyer metals i would use a 220 , i usually use .035 wire for all that i do with a 220 and its fine, just grab some scrap metal and practice, or if you have the time and money go to a local college and take a welding class, its worth it and you learn alot ,, talk to your local welding shops, like fence builders or whatever and ask them what they like to use in the situation that you want to use it for. if there is anything else i can help with pm me ill get it there first
oh yea plasma cutters, youll need a air compressior, and baiscally its like a gas torch but electric and you dont have to get the metal redhot before you cut. the plasma is cleaner but if your good with a grinder save your money and use a oxy/acetlene torch,,, and yes there are books on useing welders and metal working, if i remember right i think tex smith has one, just search amazon or go to a local book store,
There's as much preference as practicality that drives my suggestion, which is: if you can have but ONE - go Oxy/Acet - If you could have 2 get the TIG next - MIG's are great but less versatile and you automatically get your Stick welder in your TIG machine. I realize most will say MIG first - and I respect that, but for me I have both and reach for my TIG 99% of the time. It REALLY depends on what you plan on doing with it. Steel - aluminum - stainless - ect. If you do opt for a MIG - do yourself a favor and step up to a decent one - those itty bittty sum flung dung models pretty much such at doing any precise work. IMHO.
ESAB (a welder manufacturer) has small paperback books on MIG and TIG that are pretty good. Not too much B.S. I took a community college course on TIG welding that helped me a lot. Mostly it forced me to practice 6 hours a week
libraries have shit loads of books on welding of all types, and you can use them for free! the color charts for determining temperature based on color helped me.
what are soem good mig welders that u would recommend for soem garage use? i'm savin up soem money to buy me a mig welder. nothing real top notch,just soem thing to get the job done. i hear that these are some good brands hobart lincoln miller i also heard a few people say thats its always best to buy the one u want,rather than try to get the cheap way out,a nd buy a cheap one. any info willl help
Use the spell check, your post is hard to decipher. Any of the three you mentioned are good brands. I like blue welders personally, but have actually had a red welder longer than all the rest of my stuff. Never any problem with any of them.
No experience to offer, but if this if for what I think it is for, go with TIG. If you're welding chromoly and you have to certify, TIG is the only option.
If you can draw a line with a pencil, you can mig. You will probably burn up a tip or two until you learn to keep a little distance and not treat it like a welding rod. Only other trick is matching wire speed to amp setting so it doesn't burn up into tip or chatter as it tries to push it away. Heat with 170A mig units not as good as buzz boxes so weld will not burn in as much, so leave a little clearance. Gas is fixed flow so yo needn't concern yourself, other than remembering to turn it back on after breaks. You'll remember to turn it off after the first time coming back to the job after a couple days and finding you are out of gas for $30. Tig is neat, but other than al or ss or hammer welding, not something you need to start back in on.
If you would like to try before you buy, you are welcome to come by my shop in Deer Park and see what suits you. I operate a testing lab and have all the process you asked about there. You will prolly prefer the MIG. It is fast and easy to learn and relatively inexpensive. PM if interested.
I just bought a Hobart 180 machine at Tractor Supply here in KY. They had a special on a unit with "instant on" helmet, gas ready and all at a really good price. (can't remember ) To me MIG is very fast and flexible. I can hold stuff together with one hand and tack it with the other without worrying about something moving while I'm striking an arc. I have turned it down and ran a bead on a tin can. Turn it up and weld anything you need to. Switch to flux core, (switch polarity, too) and weld outside. Switch wire and gas and do stainless. Handy! Just make sure you get a 220v machine. 110V will weld, but duty cycle is a killer Plasma cutters -- if you can cut with a torch you'll go crazy with a plasma. I've been cutting on some shipping containers -- metal less than 1/8" thick, galvanized and epoxy coated. With a torch it stinks, smokes, can't keep a burn going due to thin metal, etd. with plasma cutter I make sure nothing is in the way, push the button, and slice along about 5 times as fast as a torch could go. Stainless, aluminum, cast iron -- no big problem. If it conducts it will cut! Cutting the containers it would burn the paint less than 1/8" each side of the cut. Use a guide and the cut will be smooooth. Drawback is cost of "consumables" -- the electrode and nozzle/cup whatever. They are copper and will burn up, especially if you don't have clean air. But I found them cheaper than oxy/actlyene refills. Lincoln ProCut 25 is a handy little machine for hot rod level thicknesses. Had an ESAB 500 that I really liked. (lost it in the fire, adjuster said it wasn't covered ) If you gas welded you'll learn TIG quickly, but it's an art where MIG is production! How often will you be welding aluminum vs long runs of steel? HTH
My new Henrob torch kit came yesterday and I just finished watching the included instructional video. I'm quite sure my regular torch and TIG welder are not going to be seeing a whole lot of activity from now on. I have many years of welding experience so getting accustomed to using this gizmo shouldn't take too long. What I like about the Henrob is its ability to weld like TIG and cut like plasma. And it can do these jobs for much less investment than the tools it will replace. Personally, I never cared for MIG (wire feed) welding. I did it for a living, most recently in a sign shop running aluminum wire with a Miller spool gun fabricating illuminated awnings for store fronts. MIG is great for production work but it sure doesn't have a professional appearance like TIG or gas welding. JMO...
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