Welding ?

[ALERO81]

I have been thinking about getting a welder for a few months now and need your help on which one to get I know there are a few different welders out there such as Mig, Tig,Arc. Now can someone please tell me the difference ?
I have only done very LITTLE welding before and that was around 5 years ago in High School. but would love to learn how ?

ANY HELP WOULD BE GREAT ..

[billytheman1188]

MIG.....its the easy and better. forget about TIG, that takes a while to get a hang of. What do you plan on welding???

[comanche]

It really depends on what you want to do, and what you want to spend.
-A new Miller 180 mig welder with large tank and wand runs about $1000 U.S., as of one year ago. This would work for all general types of welding, and is probably the easiest to use. You can buy a lower quality mig welder and small tank for much less.
-Arc/Stick welders cost much less, and may do what you want, but have less flexibility than mig welders.
-Tig welders are in general more expensive, and also more complicated than either mig or tig. (You use both hands and one foot) Hand/Eye coordination is important.
-Oxy/Fuel welding is also possible, but not very practical.

[ALERO81]

Well the welder that I'm looking at getting is a stick which is a arc .. I think I can get a gre
Deal (150.) on this welder but as I said I have not welded anything in a long time
Do you think that this would be somthing to try out just to learn on or am I going
Over my head.

[comanche]

I would check out the welding websites/forums for more info.
Example: http://www.millerwelds.com/resources/communities/mboard/

Not sure of others but you could probably google them.

Good to learn on, yes, but you will probably end up wanting a Mig welder in the end. Make sure you buy the right kind of electrodes for whatever job you need, probably a general purpose would be fine. Personally, I would buy a quality welder if I planned on keeping it a while. And an automatic mask would make things a lot easier. Lots more to think about, but the welding forums are probably best for that, just search. They know way more than my welding class taught me.

[ALERO81]

The welder that I'm looking at is Campbell Hausfield 70amp/115v

[jayson_waltz]

If your gonna weld any type of heavy metal u might want more than 70amp. i really can't help you with the different kinds of welders tho i could help if u needed advice on how to do it. i've taken a whole welding class.

[billytheman1188]

If your gonna weld any type of heavy metal u might want more than 70amp. i really can't help you with the different kinds of welders tho i could help if u needed advice on how to do it. i've taken a whole welding class.

220 MIG welder FTW! You can weld on thin metal and thick metal. I used to use the 220 at school when i had my welding class and everyone else wanted to use the smaller ones cause they were easier???:lol:

Just get a MIG welder, they can be used for anything and they make A LOT better/stronger welds and its the easiest one to use.

[wearetheromans85]

can MIG weld on a car without using gas? ie exhaust pipes? i can't find an answer weather u can or not just advantages and disadvantages.

[wearetheromans85]

can u*

[CBLOHM3400]

yes you can weld without gas but have to have special wire (fluxcore)
i have a clark 130 gas no gas set up i run it without gas and use .35 flux core wire the most i do is exhaust work and small fabrication

[CBLOHM3400]

mig welders are the easy to use and get good at stick is a lot harder to learn (manily which stick to use etc etc)
if you can go 220 volt that is the best way to go

[hok666]

Go with mig like everyone is saying I'm getting either a lincoln electric, or miller haven't decided yet.

[wearetheromans85]

sweet. ima look into gettin a welder then. wanna try some custom pipe work so that'll gimme something new to learn.

[CBLOHM3400]

in my opion (spelling) doing exhaust on cars sucks worst job to do with out a hoist

[itsbmw]

....

[Noseminer]

it's probably better to get gas if you want to weld on cars with a mig. Because if u get flux core wire then it leaves a small amount of slag on the piece of metal that needs to be broken off to see the weld, with the gas and wire u can weld without it leaving a slag on the piece that ur welding. I myself bought a 220 mig welder and found it pretty easy to weld with. They seem to have an easier learning curve than a arc or tig welder. From what I've been told the 110v migs are kinda crapy, hope this helps.

[CBLOHM3400]

i forgot to mention that my clark 130 is 110 great for very small jobs
but i wont fab anything for saftey with a 110 unit

[hok666]

Definately find a 110V AC MIG welder I forgot to menion that also... Unless you have a 220V AC just laying around...

[CBLOHM3400]

also i would look into some welding classes best thing that i did

[billytheman1188]

also i would look into some welding classes best thing that i did

no need.....just get a lot of sheet metal to practice on. like he said earlier, he took some classes a few years ago. So he knows the basics;)

[chevymuscle218]

I love my arc weilder, def. get a 220. I would go with a mig though, i wish I had one. My opinion, I like Lincoln. College classes for weilding shouldnt be to bad. The basics should be enough to get you used to the weilder and learn about the different types and use them.

[bdyman]

like some one said before MIG is the best way to weld, its stronger, like what do you think the factory does to this day??? MIG!!!!, with panle bond, or resistant spot welding which bascilly is a mig welder

i love miller welders, i have one we use them at the shop, just overall cant be beat, mac tools welders used to be made by miller, so if ya find one of those ya got a miller

i can tell you this both pieces of metal have to be clean bare metal, a good soild ground, and when you weld you want it to sound like your frying a egg, when you hear that sound you have a good weld that will penatrate the 2 pieces of metal

when i seam weld i do a half moon motion and i pull back, when i spot weld i start one side of the hole and make a circle around and finish in the middle and pull up

when i get back to work on monday i will do some practice welds and post pics to show you

[ALERO81]

Thanks bdyman !
So would you stay away from the arc welders ? as I said before I can get a great deal on one, But then again if its not going to work for what I want to do then its not that great of a deal ...

[bdyman]

yes for welding on cars, ya we dont use arc welding no more, the metal is to thin, mig or tig is the way to , tig you will get allot cleaner weld, once you get good with a mig you will make a weld look like it was done with a tig

[Spilner521]

It depends on what you're using it for. A low amperage MIG would be better for thin metal if that's what you'll be welding most often. With stick welding, it takes a lot of practice to make a good weld, plus the welding rods are too big for thin metal and you'll end up blowing a hole in it. But if you get a stick machine, you can make it a TIG machine with an Argon bottle, a gauge, and some hose, but like others have said, it takes awhile to get used to, and awhile longer to get good at it.

For general purpose/thin gauge type stuff, a MIG machine with the option of using gas would be your best bet.

I have a 110v no gas MIG gun and I use .30 fluxcore wire that works just fine for welding 16 guage exhaust tubing.

A couple guys mentioned the MIG makes a stronger weld. Stronger than what? Doesn't matter if it's MIG, TIG or stick, if you're using the right size rod/filler wire and the right heat/amperage for the metal you're welding, you can make a good, strong weld on every pass. Different welding processes will be better for different jobs.

[bdyman]

mig is stronger then say tig, why use a flux core welder when the gas is there to not only shield but clean the metal as you weld

every car on the road is mig welded together,and with the use of panle bond, up in the "sail panle" is a laser guided mig seam, have you ever tried to break aprt a weld on a car,

tig welding is as strong but its just a fancier way to weld, gives a cleaner weld, lead brazing, and arc welding are a thing of the past in the automotive field, i havent see or used neither of those methods since the late 80`s

mig welding is faster, more versitile, the weld is a strong and if not stronger when welded through panle bond, what do ya think resistant spot welders are, its a mig welder, and what do you think car are assembled using, a mig or a resistant spot welder

mig is the overall best and easy welder to use its not just for thin metal, thats where experience comes into play, i can weld on my mig, close to 1/4 plate steel, and have penetration, and then dial it back down for 16-18 gauage metal, mig welding is the best way to weld

[Spilner521]

Cars are MIG welded because it's fast and easy. Load up the robotic gun with 20 miles of filler wire and let it go to work. Do you really think automotive companies would pay a couple people to TIG weld everything when they can let one robotic MIG gun on an assembly line turn out 20X as much production as 5 skilled welders?

I use a fluxcore mig welder because it was cheap, and it's easy. My machine doesn't have provisions for gas, so that's not an option. The gas doesn't clean the metal, all it does is shield the arc and keep the air out of the weld so there's less chance of porosity and a weaker weld. A grinder cleans the metal before you even strike an arc.

There's no doubt that MIG is the easiest process to learn, but it is not the strongest by any means. TIG, yes it may be "fancy" as you say, but it'll make a weld just as strong and sometimes stronger than a MIG. Like I said, it all depends on the job to do. MIG, TIG or stick will all have their advantages and disadvantages for different jobs.

Now stick welding, yes it may be a thing of the past for automotive applications, but it's the most common form of welding in other applications. 90% of the welding I do as a boilermaker is stick welding because it's easy to setup, can be just as strong at MIG and TIG, can be performed on multiple types of metal and welding rod is cheap.

Basically as far as the strength of a weld goes, if you have 3 welds, one MIG pass, one TIG pass, and one stick pass, if they're all 100% penetrated, they'll all be equally strong. And slag on the weld's surface is no isssue whatsoever. Grab a chipping hammer, or run a grinder with a wire wheel over it...the slag comes right off and leaves a clean looking weld.

[kwhauck]

We have a mig for in shop purposes, but out in the field, it's stick welding just do to the fact that the stick welding works better on rusty metal and will weld better in the wind.....

[Spilner521]

Good point, that's another thing I forgot to mention. Good luck using shielding gas if there's any kind of draft.