Learning how - WELDING

[richfromPA]

hey all,
tig welding is easy. it just looks hard, as long as you have the correct stuff. you just get the tungsten close and press the tredle. sometimes i tap the tungsten to the part. after that you add filler wire if needed (in most applications) i learned how to tig weld about a dozen years ago and have done steel stainless aluminum zirconium brass bronze. i wouldnt reccomend it for home. the best for home is a mig setup. a 220v setup might need more than a 50 amp outlet. trust me about the tig vs mig. if you are just looking to make some homemade projects, get the mig. i could take anyone of you and have you run nice tig beads in 10 minutes, no harder than mig. mig is alot faster, cheaper and more efficent. i was scared to death when i had to weld the zirconium a few months ago. the part was worth about 30 grand and ill admit i was doin some whinin to my dad. he said "son, trust me, you will have no problem" he was right, the only thing and differnt was the prep work to clean the zirc and the addition of some extra gas purge lines to keep the molten weld uncontaminated. anyway, if any of ya live near southeast pa let me know and ill have a welding school so ya dont learn the hard way like me.
rich

 

[StoneHeartFarm]

The main reason I went with MIG is it appears to be the method of choice for the custom hotrodders. Go to any book store, and buy a hotrod magazine that specializes in chopped roofs and tricked doors. Every one I looked at showed the guys setting parts up for the MIG. It's fast, works real good on thin metal and the units are popular enough to be cheap.

SHF

 

[JOR_EL]

SHF,
<font color=blue>It's fast, works real good on thin metal and the units are popular enough to be cheap.</font color=blue>

(I'm speaking from a position of welding ignorance here) Aren't we more likely to be concerned with thick metal when working on "tractor stuff"? /w3tcompact/icons/crazy.gif

Larry

 

[JonLeonard]

In my, rather limited, experience, it was much easier to weld thick metal than thin. The difference between too much heat and too little is a ruined piece of sheet metal if you are not very careful. In the welding classes that I took the smallest piece of metal we used were at least an eighth of an inch.

Stick welders work great for the thicker stuff and are cheaper than mig units. The downside is that you need a 50 Amp plug to hook it to, whereas the mig units can plug into a standard 20 Amp house plug.