Author Topic: What do you use for welding  (Read 10462 times)

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JW

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What do you use for welding
« on: January 05, 2018, 06:35:30 PM »
I think MIG is the easiest to use. I also use TIG I get the strongest welds with that. I also use oxy/acetylene to braze and silicon bronze with the tig.

here is some aluminum TIG ive done



Its for a condenser

XeonPony

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Re: What do you use for welding
« Reply #1 on: January 05, 2018, 10:59:22 PM »
Well most my experience has been torch welding (Oxy acetylen and oxy hydrogen) but have used mig, never much luck with stick, plan to buy a plasma cutter and a TIG welder as I have seen them in use and they are very much like gas welding.
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george65

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Re: What do you use for welding
« Reply #2 on: January 05, 2018, 11:16:18 PM »
I have a gasless MIG.
It seems welding is the domain of more snobbery and one upmanship than a Milan fashion show but I have never had any problem with it.
I don't weld aircraft components or pressure vessels or anything critical and I have NEVER had a weld come apart  but put it to the test a few times.  Had the base metal tear from around the weld but. 

A mate of mine some years ago got me to do a heavy steel gate frame for him and was making some wisecracks about quality of the gasless wire.
When I was finished he discovered he'd laid it out wrong for me and it had to be cut and re positioned.
He wasn't laughing when he saw how well the weld penetrated the thickwall tube and how hard the stuff was to get apart again.
His son was laughing at him then at how badly he underestimated the quality of the job and that the welds would be about the last thing he should worry about failing.

I was considering a TIG but very much in 2 minds. Think I'll just buy another MIG with gasless capability as the one I have now is nearly 20 years old and clearly suffering from the times I have been stupid enough to lend it to family and friends.  Never seems to be the same when I get it back and has developed some new little quirk. Never has come back with any wire in it or a new reel to compensate what was used either and don't even mention tips.  I use one about every 2nd roll of wire. Everyone else uses a Pkt of 10 per reel.

That is something I'll look at with a new one. The present machine has tips that are not common. I'll get a new one that has the most available tip made so I don't have to order the things in or get dumb looks all the time. 

I'll use the new machine myself and keep the old one to lend out.... with the same consumables ( or lack thereof)  it comes back with. 

I had Oxy but the price of gas and more so rental is ludicrous here.  A mid size bottle of both gasses and rental for a year is $500. Stuff that for a joke!

I have seen machines that run on water and crack it back to hydrogen and oxygen but never seen them for sale. Also seen the Petrol/ oxy machines on the net but never for sale here. I think they are only for cutting but not sure.
I have a plasma cutter but the petrol oxy is interesting.

clockmanFRA

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Re: What do you use for welding
« Reply #3 on: January 06, 2018, 04:43:39 AM »
The last 40 years I have used mostly stick welding for just about everything, need the correct sticks. But I am not a Pro welder, but also used MIG and TIG.

I was Trained by Foxy, when in his spare time he would come and do some welding for me. A nice hairy biker guy, used to work for British Steel, he welded up sections for Nuclear Submarines and was visited every week by folk from Lloyds who watched him and x-rayed his welds.
My Gosh he taught me many operational tricks and techniques of the trade. 

20 years ago I got a MMA Inverter stick welder that is power FET and no AC/AC transformer, so it has a shoulder strap and so light weight. Best compact 220amp welder I ever bought.

Some times I can be welding day in day out for weeks. In the old days I had about 3 transformer stick welders operational as they would always overheat then I would move on to the next.

Pet hate, stick welding upside down. And Arc Eye, although in this day and age and me being older that's very rare.

Worst thing about electric welding .... the earth clamp always comes loose from its cable, sort that out and I would be in heaven.

Getting good quality sticks today is not so easy, I get fed up with changing my technique with each batch of sticks/rods. just not as consistent quality as the old days, sigh.

Oh yea being in a particular trade I use Silversolder, different melting grades, with propane for the various size of nozzles, also do heat treatment, work on stuff below 30mm in diameter.

MMA Stick welders rock!
« Last Edit: January 06, 2018, 05:06:31 AM by clockmanFRA »
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electrondady1

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Re: What do you use for welding
« Reply #4 on: January 06, 2018, 08:47:23 AM »
last summer i had to change the power supply to my shop.
 i took an ordinary garden hoe and cut it down to only 2 inches wide.
 i used that to dig  a trench, 18" deep and  150 feet long for a 220 volt line.
about 1/2 way i put in a post and attached 22O volt power outlet so i can weld outside in the yard.
 i have a 360 amp AC stick welder
 a 120 volt wire feed welder .
also have an oxy/acetylene welder and  cutting torch.

thinking seriously about adding  a plasma cutter  to the mix.





mab

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Re: What do you use for welding
« Reply #5 on: January 06, 2018, 02:20:20 PM »
I have a little no-gas mig that's served me well for many years. Just occasionally I could do with something bigger - i have welded 5mm plate but it's slow going with a 90a hobby mig - and you end up drinking lots of tea whilst waiting for it to cook down and come back on.

dbcollen

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Re: What do you use for welding
« Reply #6 on: January 07, 2018, 11:36:23 AM »
I use a SAM-400 welder, 2-71 GMC powered, will do up to 550a DC. I also have a 200a mig with gas, and an old miller buzz box.

SparWeb

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Re: What do you use for welding
« Reply #7 on: January 07, 2018, 01:25:34 PM »
I took a course in oxy-acetylene welding a long time ago.  It was hard, and I struggled to do any good welds with it.  Put it aside after a few stored-up projects were done and didn't go back for a while.
I tried TIG but I always seemed to need 3 hands.  Always too much heat or too little.

Then later these wind turbine projects came along, and I decided to get a MIG welder.  Miller 180Amp "hobby" with shielding gas.  First few welds were unsteady but then I picked up the trick quickly.  Now I can get proficient welds at a moment's notice and the unit doesn't go through a lot of material even through I use it fairly often.  Sometimes getting a good tool does make the worker look more skilled than you are.  Also fun to show my son how to use it.
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OperaHouse

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Re: What do you use for welding
« Reply #8 on: January 07, 2018, 06:42:19 PM »
I have a big Miller TIG welder, never have turned it on. A small portable MIG welder, turned on maybe 15 years ago. I could come up with the parts to gas weld, hoses have rotted.  I gave away my plasma cutter.

I do repair work for several piping and metal fabricators and I can just walk into their shop and build anything I want. Nice being able to press brake something 12 feet long, shear 3/8 steel, punch holes in metal or use a milling machine.  My MIG welding is passable.  It would look better if I didn't just turn on the machine and use it at whatever the last setting was. It holds together. Most time they just ask me what I want and build it. In return I fix things for them that no one else will touch. I needed a pipe assembly made and it was TIG welded high pressure stainless. Gorgeous, I couldn't have made it and just the scrap metal value was close to $200.

XeonPony

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Re: What do you use for welding
« Reply #9 on: January 14, 2018, 12:48:31 PM »
well sold my car The ev one, sad to see it go but no grid it just wasn't economical, so now time to start buying tools again! looking at a plasma cutter - TIG welder, looking for ward to rebuilding my fabrication tools.
Ignorance is not bliss, You may not know there is a semie behind you but you'll still be a hood ornimant!

Nothing fails like prayer, Two hands clasped in work will achieve more in a minute then a billion will in a melenia in prayer. In other words go out and do some real good by helping!

JW

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Re: What do you use for welding
« Reply #10 on: September 08, 2018, 02:03:08 PM »
I have this 140 amp Hobart MIG with c25 flux gas its a great machine...

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This is my TIG machine that I weld Aluminum with (AC). I use straight Argon gas for it. I can also stick weld with it. I like to sand the flux off of my arc rods and use as filler rod on my TIG weld them SUPER STRONG welds. Electrode positive or something like that. The TIG is 200amps with 220vac input

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« Last Edit: September 08, 2018, 02:31:10 PM by JW »

JW

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Re: What do you use for welding
« Reply #11 on: September 08, 2018, 05:22:51 PM »
Here are some pictures the TIG machine it is solid-state no transformers. Heres what I mean about filler rod.




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That brazing rod (white flux) is just something I have around, its meant to be used oxy/acy Torch
« Last Edit: September 08, 2018, 05:48:20 PM by JW »

SparWeb

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Re: What do you use for welding
« Reply #12 on: September 08, 2018, 06:30:31 PM »
No one believes the theory except the one who developed it. Everyone believes the experiment except the one who ran it.
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JW

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Re: What do you use for welding
« Reply #13 on: September 08, 2018, 07:03:20 PM »
Its amazing how far these new solid-state TIG welders have come. There are 3 types  1-High frequency,  2-lift start  and 3-Scratch start.

I spent hundreds of hours welding Alu with Hfreq machine and hands down the best. I have a scratch start with mine. I probably could not weld well with if I was starting off using a scratch start.

Anyhow there are upgrades such as air cooled torch to your rating limit. What does this mean? its that on a real TIG it has a water-cooled torch. What does that mean? its that you dont have to take periodic breaks and can run 100% duty cycle.

Can these new welders do a good  job, YES...

I spent a lot on upgrades with mine but its worth it. I have no idea if a scratch start can be converted to HQ.
« Last Edit: September 08, 2018, 07:20:58 PM by JW »

SparWeb

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Re: What do you use for welding
« Reply #14 on: September 11, 2018, 01:07:21 AM »
Quote
I have no idea if a scratch start can be converted to HQ
Very unlikely, and probably not worth trying.  If you have a setup that won't start its own arc or let you use a foot-pedal then you have NO THROTTLE control over this race car. 
No one believes the theory except the one who developed it. Everyone believes the experiment except the one who ran it.
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JW

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Re: What do you use for welding
« Reply #15 on: September 11, 2018, 07:53:56 AM »
There is a foot pedal to control amps.

Frank S

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Re: What do you use for welding
« Reply #16 on: November 25, 2018, 05:01:54 AM »
 The very first welding I ever did was at 11 years old with an oxyacetylene torch using a coat hanger for the filler I was working at a blacksmith shop as an apprentice. I was soon welding with stick electrodes using an old Lincoln coffee pot from there I graduated up to helping the blacksmith's son by the time I was 13 he and I were going out with his welding rig building pipe fences and sometimes even on pipeline repairs or heavy equipment mostly I ran a grinder but sometimes he  would be cutting saddles in the pipe while I welded the rails to the posts. In the shop I would fabricate trailers and forge things or build bumpers for pickups and lots of other stuff One time William an I braze welded 24 hours straight on a John Deere tractor rear end. by the time I was 16 I owned my own Lincoln short hat welding machine and a Southbend lathe I bought the lathe when I turned 14 and taught myself how to use it.
 Over the years I've owned many welding machines and currently have 4 gas drive machines 1 is a 400 amp miller and 2 are miller 225 bobcats and a 300 Amp Hobart. I have a 800 amp Hobart motor generator a 450 amp Hobart Mig a 250 amp Miller Mig a 140 amp Hobart mig a 250 amp Lincoln buzz box and a 300 amp Airco DC bumblebee I also rebuild Welding machines
 As for filler materials there probably aren't many that I haven't used. ranging in stick electrodes from the tiny little Makay 1/16" to the 3/4" 36" long low hydrogen mig wires with gas from .023" through .125" bare wire flux cored and gasless I've even ran submerged arc using wire up to 1/4" diameter with 1000 amp power supplies.  I've been a certified ASME WPS PQR  inspector  Worked as a QAQC. And took my first limited access AWS 6g ( Arkansas Bell Hole) when I was barely 15
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tanner0441

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Re: What do you use for welding
« Reply #17 on: November 25, 2018, 01:48:52 PM »
Hi

My first experience of welding was with oxy acetylene when i repaired a  gate.... I discovered an oxidizing flame looks pretty but doesn't make a good weld. After much practice and book reading I became quite proficient, then a firm I was working for offered me chance to go on a course. I thoroughly enjoyed it and came away with a Lloyds certificate, which the instructor went to great lengths to tell us it was only valid for 12 months. The training stood me well because when I was at one firm in R&D developing Electrophoretic  painting plant i was happy gas welding aluminium bus bars.

When I worked on boats i did all the ally and stainless welding with a TIG welder and a supply of different shielding gasses I would have given my teeth for.

Sadly my own welder is a very old 40 years plus air cooled 150 amp (on a good day) stick welder which I fitted a fan too when I was tired of the thermal cut out tripping, I don't know the make the case is too rusty to read it. Shot blasted with grinding sparks.

Brian

JW

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Re: What do you use for welding
« Reply #18 on: January 10, 2019, 04:54:02 PM »
Did some TIG welding today. The piece was cast aluminium Im just happy I didnt blow a hole thru it. Pretty thin stuff 1/8in

11603-0

11604-1



SparWeb

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Re: What do you use for welding
« Reply #19 on: January 10, 2019, 11:21:01 PM »
What is it - a water pump?
No one believes the theory except the one who developed it. Everyone believes the experiment except the one who ran it.
System spec: 135w BP multicrystalline panels, Xantrex C40, DIY 10ft (3m) diameter wind turbine, Tri-Star TS60, 800AH x 24V AGM Battery, Xantrex SW4024
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JW

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Re: What do you use for welding
« Reply #20 on: January 11, 2019, 08:33:41 AM »
Its a timing chain cover, I think he cant get another.

richhagen

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Re: What do you use for welding
« Reply #21 on: January 11, 2019, 04:02:06 PM »
Most commonly I use an old (I've had it for 23 or more years and it was old when I got it) 50 amp Craftsman  arc welder.  It is finicky on rods, and for mild steel it prefers a 3/32 6011 welding rod.  It has served me well over many years, repairing fences, welding window bars to keep the two legged vermin out, to making all sorts of fixtures, brackets and jigs.  It doubles as a pipe thawer in the winter time as needed as well - while that might be outside the scope of its original purpose and thus void its warranty, the manufacturer has recently went bankrupt and it is way past any warranty.  The device is essentially a big transformer.  Over the years I have replaced the rod holder, the ground clamp and much of the external wiring, but all in all it has been a very versatile and useful piece of equipment.  Surviving the rather severe abuse I have put it through is a testament to its reliability.  The last thing I welded with it was a repair to the undercarriage of an office chair a few days ago. 

I did add a Miller 625 plasma cutter a few years back, which sees occasional use cutting every such sort of metal around, from opening up laundry coin boxes I've lost the keys to to cutting metal for brackets, braces and gussets, anything not easily done by a chop saw, which often gets follow up welding from my little stick welder.  Until recently both were stored in the basement of a building I own when not in use and subjected to an environment with much too much humidity for part of the year.  The plasma cutter did survive that and its recent run in with a few laundry machine coin boxes, so I guess it is aging well.

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A rather ugly but functional weld typical of my small stick welder.  :o

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an image, just because, of the replacement knob I turned when I put the chair back together and broke the original one  :( (because that is how stuff usually goes for me - a step forward, a step back, repeat). 

For the future, I really want a TIG setup as I 'think' I have need of the ability to weld stainless and aluminum, but the pressure on me to get one has not exceeded my desire not to spend the money on one to date - at least not when I have been near a welding supply store or on the internet at a retailer selling them.  With the recent purchase of the building next door and its full unfinished basement along with a two car garage, along with retirement looming in the not too distant future, I will probably pick up some more tooling to add those capabilities that I 'think' I need.  Time will tell.  Rich
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JW

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Re: What do you use for welding
« Reply #22 on: January 11, 2019, 04:17:34 PM »
Well its beer thirty over here :)

The guy who I welded the part for, picked it up today, he seemed happy with it, I wouldn't let him pay me.

For aluminum I recommend using a high frequency TIG for learning. The cheaper TIG machines (scratch start) are really hard to use without  experience on a HF machine.

keithturtle

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Re: What do you use for welding
« Reply #23 on: March 02, 2019, 12:09:03 AM »
I use mig and oxy-acetylene, a small 110V inverter stick and a plasma cutter.

Plasma cutter was a very good investment

Turtle
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skid

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Re: What do you use for welding
« Reply #24 on: April 10, 2019, 12:17:29 AM »
I have a Lincoln MIG that I bought about 25 years ago. I then got a spool gun for it to weld my aluminum water wheel.

Tried stainless in the spool gun but it's to springy and too much trouble so I got a Miller Bobcat propane powered welder that doubles as a 12000W generator for when we lose power. Stainless stick rod actually is quite easy to weld and the flux jumps right off when it cools. No need to chip.

Probably get a plasma next and possibly a Tig. I see an old Hobart 240V stick machine in craigslist for free so may look into that too.

XeonPony

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Re: What do you use for welding
« Reply #25 on: February 19, 2024, 09:39:41 AM »
Finally got my self my dream:

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Plasma cutter works amazing what a difference to using gas or disk, and the tig welding / stick works great.
Ignorance is not bliss, You may not know there is a semie behind you but you'll still be a hood ornimant!

Nothing fails like prayer, Two hands clasped in work will achieve more in a minute then a billion will in a melenia in prayer. In other words go out and do some real good by helping!

camillitech

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Re: What do you use for welding
« Reply #26 on: March 10, 2024, 03:43:57 AM »
Whatever I use (bar oxy acetylene) I always do it through my inverter rather than the generator  ;) Always found the weld to be better when done via inverter. Perhaps I'm just a carp welder  :)