info for beginning welders |
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info for beginning welders |
scotty b |
Jan 8 2005, 05:32 PM
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#1
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rust free you say ? Group: Members Posts: 16,375 Joined: 7-January 05 From: richmond, Va. Member No.: 3,419 Region Association: None |
(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/welder.gif) As I have been going through some old posts I have seen a fair amount of discussion on how to weld,what machine to buy etc. As a certified welder I can tell you a few things right off the bat. if you are only going to be using it for sheet metal and light steel ( up to 3/8 ) you don't need any more then a 150 amp machine. Go mig, it is the easiest, fastest and cheapest, I know tig is THE thing now, but it isn't for sheet metal due to machine cost, material cost, learning curve and if you don't know what you are doing you can warp the hell out of a panel tigging. .023 wire is all you will need, anything larger will require more amperage and will burn through. Don't mess with flux core on sheet metal, you will most likely ruin your job. My first machine was a 250 amp and came with .035 wire and I used it for panel replacement succesfully, but not without a lot of patience. When I finally broke down and bought the neccessary parts to run .023, my job time was cut almost in half because I didn't have to give the panel as much time to cool.Spot weld across the panel not around ( noth, south, east, west, repeat ) until you have enough strenth to run small stringers, then do that in a simmilar pattern. Two pieces of angle, c-clamps, a rubber malet and a body hammer make a great brake, I made several pieces, including entry steps like this before buying a brake. Always remember, if you can see 2" of rust ......there will be 5"!!! (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/aktion035.gif)
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John Kelly |
Jan 9 2005, 06:13 AM
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#2
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 692 Joined: 1-May 03 From: Moclips WA. Member No.: 640 |
Hi Scotty,
Mig may be fastest, cheapest, easiest..just not best, and maybe not cheapest...you can get a good oxy-acetylene setup pretty cheap used, since so many are going to mig or tig. Mig is fine for general all around work on a car including the thicker structural stuff, but gas-welding wins if you want to do the best sheet metal work possible with no filler, or very little at the most. Mig is the easiest to learn, but it makes for a hard time metal-finishing..even after grinding the weld, hammer and dolly work is more difficult..gas-welds do not have to be ground before using a hammer and dolly. As a test, cut through a mig weld, then a gas weld with aviation snips... a big difference. The mig-weld acts like a stiffener, the gas-weld is just like the parent metal. You can weld longish sections with a torch and still get the shape back fairly easily...welding anything more than a hot tack at a time with mig on sheet metal in one go is asking for severe shrinkage that is difficult to get out. I only mention this because there is a popular myth that mig is better, when it actually has only some advantages, with disadvantages as well. It is probably the best choice for a home hobbiest. Welcome to the 914 club! John www.ghiaspecialties.com |
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