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Thread ID: 145580	2017-12-08 21:47:00	Arc Welding - What to Buy	kahawai chaser (3545)	PC World Chat

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
1443122	2017-12-11 09:05:00	of course don't forget all the other bits you will need. eg a half decent helmet, need a good one for tig. around $400.	tweak'e (69)
1443123	2017-12-15 06:37:00	You'll have a hard time welding sheet metal with an Arc welder. Get a mig and use Co2. Much more versatile and easier. I have a 200amp machine and it can do anything from 1mm to 6mm no worries. Could probably manage thicker but I've never needed to. Co2 is easy to get (you aren't limited to big brand gas suppliers) and much cheaper (cos you aren't limited to big brand gas suppliers).	hueybot3000 (3646)
1443124	2017-12-15 23:59:00	You'll have a hard time welding sheet metal with an Arc welder. Get a mig and use Co2. Much more versatile and easier. I have a 200amp machine and it can do anything from 1mm to 6mm no worries. Could probably manage thicker but I've never needed to. Co2 is easy to get (you aren't limited to big brand gas suppliers) and much cheaper (cos you aren't limited to big brand gas suppliers). yes and no. for a few hundred more you can get a multi process machine (stick, mig, lift tig). then your not limited to anything. the trouble with mig is its easy to make good looking bad welds. also its a pain and costly to change to do other metal types. really handy to have small packs of different arc rods for doing different repairs. gets expensive quick if you try to do that with spools of mig wire and the different gases required. mig is much more suited to welding the same thing all the time.	tweak'e (69)
1443125	2017-12-16 03:14:00	As has already been pointed out, it doesn’t really matter what Welder you buy if you don’t know how to Weld. It’ no different to choosing a car when you don’t know how to drive. It reminds me of a little problem I had years ago when the manifold on and old Ford “K” series truck of mine broke at the flange where the exhaust pipe connected to the manifold. No problem, I’ll just take the manifold down to a leading Engineering Shop that employed top Welders (all fully certified) and get it fixed. No problem, got it back looking a picture, bolted on on and two days later it broke, so back to the shop I go. The foreman was quite perplexed so said he’d do it himself. Picked it up, bolted it on, and wouldn’t you know it it broke again a couple of days later. So, back I go and by this time it was creating quite a bit of interest, so all the welders passed it around and came to the conclusion the type of casting couldn’t be welded. Anyway, I’m heading out of the workshop tripping over my bottom lip, wondering where the hell I was going to get another manifold from, when I went past their head Turner, a master on the Lathe. He took a look and declared that you couldn’t weld that because of the type of casting, but it could be Brazed. Take the manifold down to NZIG ask for ?, Tell him I sent you, and he will provide the correct rod and flux and do it yourself. (He knew I had a Gas Plant and Young Model “C” Arc Welder.) So, off I head, fully equipped and Braze the manifold. (Yes I knew how to set it up, preheat it with the Gas Torch, and Sequence Weld it) and I sold the truck about five years later with the Brazed Manifold still intact. Moral of the story is you can have all the gear in the world but it’s of no use unless you know how to use it. ;)	B.M. (505)
1443126	2017-12-16 05:43:00	Moral of the story is you can have all the gear in the world but it’s of no use unless you know how to use it. ;) i quite agree. part of that is learning with the harder gear. it forces you to learn a bit more. rather than just leaning the bare minimum.	tweak'e (69)
1443127	2017-12-19 20:43:00	Thanks you lot for sharing tips and experiences. I have a few cracked metals (e.g. mower tank metal holder, mower stater housing loose weld spots, mower body rust, etc), which I want to try weld up. I actually have plenty spare parts, but I feel time to learn to weld - male thing or age thing? Dunno. Mig seems to be dearer than arch. Neighbor offered me a tiny arch welder (looked like a battery charger really) few years back, but had no interest then.. I forgot about brazing - so useful for certain metal alloys/blends? Many cheap Chinese tools are made from such metal (and lightweight) these days...	kahawai chaser (3545)
1443128	2017-12-19 23:50:00	Brazing is very strong if the metals are cleaned well and fitted as closely as possible...... although one can build up a bridge of brass from one part to another if necessary. Brazing rod is expensive - but non-fluxed rod is a lot cheaper. If you want to save some serious money for brazing rod - get the naked stuff without flux. Heat the rod up a bit and dip it when still hot into some borax. Not BORAXO, although by it's name one can tell it has borax in it. Borax is a laundry additive that has grown out of popularity in this generational thing, but it's still available in the US.	SurferJoe46 (51)
1443129	2017-12-20 00:24:00	stick welding is a lot more fun and cost wise, a lot cheaper. A mini arc welder that sits in the palm of your hand is also quite good. I have a 200amp inverter (tig/stick) which I use argon gas. I rarely use tig unless mates come round with stainless exhaust pipes to weld. Other than that, I use stick for just about anything around the home. Can weld 1.5mm to 8mm thick using the most common rod sizes, 2.5, 3.2 and 4mm. When learning, you want good rods, 3.2mm is easier to start with. You'll learn more than trying to start off with nasty general purpose rods. After a while, you can handle whatever rods they throw at you. Amps determine the rod you weld with, not the material. You have to learn the sound, people say its like frying an egg but I consider it more like electrocuting. There's more technique with stick welding and I reckon this is where you should start, as tig/mig will make it too easy and the fun factor isn't that fun at all. It also makes good montage slow mo videos stick welding, just rains sparks and when it splatters on the ground makes it even more impressive. Welding rust contaminates the weld, you want it clean, its better to patch quite large holes rather than fill them. The video of that chain wrench could be welded without the need to grind the weld smooth, I think he's showing a handy man approach, but gives you an idea of how easy it was to bond two metals together.	Kame (312)
1443130	2017-12-20 03:38:00	stick welding is a lot more fun..........It also makes good montage slow mo videos stick welding, just rains sparks and when it splatters on the ground makes it even more impressive. And this can be improved if the welder is doing overhead, and only wearing speedo’s. :devil	B.M. (505)
1443131	2017-12-20 05:07:00	Brazing is very strong if the metals are cleaned well and fitted as closely as possible...... although one can build up a bridge of brass from one part to another if necessary. Brazing rod is expensive - but non-fluxed rod is a lot cheaper. If you want to save some serious money for brazing rod - get the naked stuff without flux. Heat the rod up a bit and dip it when still hot into some borax. Not BORAXO, although by it's name one can tell it has borax in it. Borax is a laundry additive that has grown out of popularity in this generational thing, but it's still available in the US. Thats the way its done in NZ heat dip the stick in the flux, didnt even know you could buy pre fluxed stix. Brazing rod is pretty cheap I bought a bundle about 15 years ago and still using it. I do not use braze for power steering hose repairs as sometimes you can get a bit of flux inclusion and the pressure will blow it out. Just what you need on 90 mile beach as the tide is coming in. I use silver solder its 50% silver pretty expensive I use the scraps because I am a bit of a jew it has its own flux. I wouldnt use this on a fitting over 3000 psi and over 1 inch as its not as strong as braze. Bit harder to do because if you overheat the flux the silver wont run.	prefect (6291)
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