I need to get hold of a welder for several projects, one being an HA/GR. I've been thinking TIG welder. Then oxy-acetylene crossed my mind. So, the question is: Could an O-A setup be as good (useful, versatile, etc.) as a TIG setup? The main reason is cost. I know, I could get one of those really cheap TIG setups. Thanks, Kurt PS: It's just now re-occurring to me that TIG will weld aluminum and O-A not so much.
O-A will allow you to part cars out with reckless abandon and quickly pay for itself. If you're into that kind of thing. good luck
O-A will weld whatever you want it too. Has a much larger heat zone though and takes a lot more skill than a MIG
The nature of welding with oxygen is that you contaminate the pool with oxygen, creating oxide films that roll into the puddle and harm strength. TIG by nature has a shielding gas (the I is for Inert, as in non-reactive sheilding gas) and allows a purer weld. Is purer even a word? That sounds weird.
Whats wrong with MIG that's all i use, i could even get by with just my 110V lincoln if i needed to, does sheet good and can do frames too
That is key. Yes, purer is a word. Pure, purer [http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/purer], purest (not to be confused with purist).
These guys have an opinion regarding your question .http://www.tinmantech.com/html/welding_aluminum_body_sheet.php Maybe not the only answer but it's a start.
Frankly, I've never used it. It conjures up images of sloppy welds. It seems to be the the least expensive and most readily available for used equipent. Maybe I need to reconsider; show me some good MIG welds.
Slag. I remember plain old arc welding slag. O-A doesn't produce a lot of slag, right? It's been a while.
O-A produces almost zero slag. Personally, I think it requires a tiny bit more skill than TIG, but if you're any good at one, you can step over to the other relatively easily. I really like O-A for sheet metal work, but I use the TIG since my kids are in & out of the shop so much. That, and I'm working in an attached garage. I just get nervous laying down a lit torch while I'm hammering on the fresh weld. I've seen some REAL nice MIG welds though... I wouldn't discount it due to the ****py stuff that a lot of people do with MIG. It's just a little too brittle (and hard)for the way I work sheet metal.
Oh, and an O-A setup gives you the ability to do more than weld: you can obviously cut with it, but also heat things to bend them... or shrink patches of sheet metal, free up rusted bolts, heat up undercoating to s****e it off more easily, etc.
dont let the people who say "mig is easy you just point and pull the trigger" get you confused. There is skill involved even tho it is the easiest process, mig top bead , and tig is the bottom
Tig gives cleaner welds with less heat distortion. Oxy acetylene lets you heat things, cut things, (ferrous), and braze things. You can also weld LIGHT things with oxy acetylene (as in under 3/16" thick) but the heat effected zone is so large it will warp all to Hell on you. The biggest barrier to welding aluminum with oa is that aluminum does not change colour as it changes temperature.---so--you have to use a flux that changes colour to let you know what is happening with the weld puddle---otherwise you heat it, and heat it, and suddenly it turns to vapour and you realize that you have just blown a hole through it.
Frankly, I've never used it. It conjures up images of sloppy welds. It seems to be the the least expensive and most readily available for used equipent. Maybe I need to reconsider; show me some good MIG welds. Here ya' go
But is it any different welding aluminum with TIG? I've welded aluminum with TIG and that vaporizing bit never made sense to me. Is it more for thin sheet aluminum?
Any time I welded steel with an oa rig, I knew how hot the steel was getting and when to add filler rod to the weld puddle by the colour of the steel as it went up through the temperature ranges. With aluminum there are no visual keys to temperature, because it doesn't change colour. I have never tig welded aluminum, so I can't really answer your question. I THINK that with a tig weld, the heating is far more localized than with an oa setup, but that is only a guess.
Ok Ok, I'm a dumb*** I've got some years under my belt as a TIG, MIG, welder and I will admit I've never heard of welding aluminum with a o-a set up. Never saw it in shop cl*** or any shop I worked in. Just goes to show an old dog can learn new tricks.
Well, I am an old dog, and I never did learn that trick particularly well. We had to do it as part of welding cl***es back in '62-63 as part of my technical education. Although the shop teacher could do it fairly well, I attempted to do it half a dozen times, then figured it was one of those arcane sciences where you had to sell your soul to the Devil or something to master it . So---I seen it done, I know it was done, but damn it, I was never succesfull at it.---Brian
All aluminum welding used to be O/A. Nearly all of the welding done during WW2 on aircraft was gas. TIG was brand new at the time and not well known or in general use. I've tried it and it is the work of Satan. You need the correct flux, of course, and special lenses to see the color change. I think they're yellow. My welding instuctor could do it beautifully.
All the good coach builders and metal shapers will weld all there Aluminum body panels together with O/A. The big thing about welding Aluminum is having the right lens not your standard #5. I use the Cobra welding gl***es when gas welding aluminum they will eliminate the orange glare that comes off the flux that you have to use. I use a DHC 2000 Torch (old Cobra) Aladdin #73 flux and 1100 rod when welding 3003-h14 aluminum. I also weld steel patch panels with the same torch and just use .023 mig wire. It will give you a very ductile weld that will be easy to hammer. To all you guy laying there torches on the ground when you hammer. Get yourself a gas saver. They are nice because you can hang your torch on it and it will cut the gas off and when you pick your torch back up you just light it on the built in pilot light. All your settings are the same so you can go right back to welding. I love mine and plus it saves alot of your gas hints the name gas saver. Tom
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