The Official Welding Thread

[crash89]

Check out this guy's youtube channel and website, he really knows his stuff when it comes to welding and you can learn a lot from him:

weldingtipsandtricks's Channel - YouTube
Welding Tips and Tricks - TIG, MIG, Stick and a pantload of other info

Someone didnt read the whole thread!! Check post number 7... Just saying.

 

[DSM Jeff]

The V205-T should be equally capable and comparable in performance to the Dynasty 200.

Sounds good. Going to head down to my local welding supply next weekend and chat with them as they carry Lincoln. See what pricing they can do vs. online. Thanks.

 

[viperlp01]

A watercooler is most important for aluminum welding. I have used a air cooled tig for simple aluminum welding and the torch gets hot fast. Any SS welding really isn't a big deal watercooled or not.

I made a water cooler set up for the Tig I have at the shop. The welder originally used a wasted water supply which is feed from a house water line and then it just dumps the water outside. I wanted a concealed unit so I bought a 5 gallon bucket w/ lid, a little pond pump from harbor freight, and used the existing lines to make my own watercooler. I filled the bucket with water and antifreeze. When I weld for a while the water barely makes it warmer than room temp.

 

[Gamble97]

Anyone want to buy the advanced tig welding dvd and then we can swap for a bit?

 

[99gst_racer]

I just watched Covell's 'Basics' video last night. Found it on thepiratebay. I wish I could find the advanced one too.

 

[Gamble97]

Let me know if you do.

 

[simple jake]

I'm thinking about getting this Harbor Freight tig/arc welder to get some practice in with tig. I've read the reviews on it and it seems like everyone is satisfied but the thing is, it doesn't have a foot pedal. But of course there's always a DIYer who has rigged up his own foot pedal and did a write up on it. If I can do that then I might take a shot at making my own turbo manifold.

Arc / TIG Welder with Digital Readout - 240 Volt

 

[turboglenn]

I would like to add a vote for the Hobart Handler 135/140 units for being a good welder in the 110volt range MIG units. I've had mine for 12 years and aside form it finally needing anew liner for the sheath the wire feeds through it's been a terriffic unit(considered normal wear and tear item and easy to replace for around 40 bucks)

Although at 125/140 amps they're only rated for 3/8th material you can do a lot more if you know what you're doing. the 3/8ths' is penetration, so if you groove your material when doing stuff in the 1/4 - 1/2" and thicker range you can penetrate 3/8ths to each side of the weld groove and then fill up something thick as 1".

As a atter of fact i just used it tonight to repair a custom crossmemebr for a honda that had broken due to the owner leaving the engine mounts loose and it caused this part to take the load of the engine rocking. I welded up some 3/8ths steel with it even having a sticking liner and did a wonderfull job with my wire only getting stuck in the dirty liner once (hate workin with the worn out liner, but haven't had the call to replace it yet)

As for water coolers, well i just wish i had one for those big AL projects, like was said earlier i can do SS all day andnever get the torch hot because stainless requires you to minimize the heat that's inputinto it where aluminum will eat up every bit of heat you have and can throw at it and still want more ,

One little tip for those TIG'ing aluminum (or at least those learning) is floor your pedal right off the bat, then back off to enough to keep the puddle going.. As you travel andthe material heats up more nad more you will prgressively need lessand less heat to keep the puddle wet and moving, just remember to keep enoughheat input to fuly penetrate the material you're working with

two other tips for alumninum are to pre-heat it with a propane or better yet an oxy/acetalne torch and if you' do enough of it adn have the money to invest in a seperate bottle of gas for aluminum only buy a bottle of helium, it's not very good for SS or plain steel but it wil transfer a lot more heat when welding aluminum (but it is lighter than air so a gas lense to put some velocity behind the gas to ensure it goes to the material is a must)

Also, use a gas lense any time you can fit it in the work area.. I use them on 95% or more of my welds and they really do go a long way towards making the gas last and cover the weld better.. I can turn my flow down to around 10-13 onthe regulator instead of running in the 15-19 range, and this can go a long way towards making the argon last..

Argon, unlike some other bottled gasses does not go to a liquid state when pressurized and there for youw ill see far less arc time from a bottle of argon than you would say on a MIG unit where you're maybe using pure co2 for the extra heat it can help with (co2 is no good for TIG, but on MIG welding it can help a lower amp unit weld with deeper penetration just as helium helps in a TIG unit on aluminum)

I usually run pure co2 in my MIG unless I just happen to have filled the C25

 

[RipperXX]

Whats the "best" gas or mixture of gas's for MIG? I was under the impression that Argon was the most common gas used. Though I may be totally off target, since it's been YEARS since I have touched a MIG due to well, being in the Army and not having a place or time to do anything...(hope thats going to change soon.)

 

[turboglenn]

Argon and Co2 mixture a.k.a C25 is the best all around gas for MIG welding, but on different materials you need different gasses like pure argon for Stainless, and Tr-mix argon, helium and Co2 for aluminum. since you need so many different gasses for the different materials I mostly will run pure Co2 for mild steel, another reason i do this is that i have a special regulator for bottled gas that lets me run my air tools off the bottle where ever i am and since Co2 compresses into a liquid when bottled it has the most amount of gas available for the same size tank compared to most other gasses used in the welding processes

 

[99gst_racer]

Yup, 75/25 argon/CO2 is what I've always ran with my MIG.

 

[Gamble97]

I've heard a lot of people have been using a 98argon 2% co2 for mild and stainless and it works well.

 

[99gst_racer]

I'm thinking about getting this Harbor Freight tig/arc welder to get some practice in with tig. I've read the reviews on it and it seems like everyone is satisfied but the thing is, it doesn't have a foot pedal. But of course there's always a DIYer who has rigged up his own foot pedal and did a write up on it. If I can do that then I might take a shot at making my own turbo manifold.

Arc / TIG Welder with Digital Readout - 240 Volt

Honestly, I'd opt for an old but trusty transformer over a HF inverter. Just my .02.

Example: lincoln hi-freq tig welder

I know there's old Miller DC boxes every week on ebay for around $400-500.

 

[turboglenn]

Yea, I agree with ya there Paul, the HF transformer units haven't faired so well from anything i've read.

Go with a used hobart handler MIG (135/140 models) or go on the millerwelding forums and look in their classifieds for a good price on a used inverter machine made by a good company

 

[Gamble97]

Yea, I agree with ya there Paul, the HF transformer units haven't faired so well from anything i've read.

Go with a used hobart handler MIG (135/140 models) or go on the millerwelding forums and look in their classifieds for a good price on a used inverter machine made by a good company

I have a hobart handler 140 mig. It's awesome!

 

[99gst_racer]

^^^ I'm trying to score one of those right now from CL. I just need to sell my Clarke first and I'll have enough then.

 

[turboglenn]

Great machines, I was using my handler 135 last night like i said, welding up nice thick 3/8ths steel on old dirty inner liner that makes the wire hard to push through the sheath. So other than keeping the line as straight as possible it performed like the day it was new.. its my only MIG to be honest and its only 110v, but i figure ifi need any kind of shielded enough weld to be used outdoors or in dirty places where TIG would suffer in both those states, I'd just toss a stinger on the dynasty and stick weld from that point..

Honestly there's not much i haven't been able to do with the combo of the Dynasty 200DX TIG/Stick amchine in any voltage i can feed it up to 440 3 phase, the handler 135amp in 110v, and then having a plasma cutter running off 220 volts for cutting the materials i can't easily do with saws, grinders and the like.

to me it's the perfect combo, yea i could have more, but rarely have i needed more, and when i did a combo of pre-heat, grooving the weld on thick materials or jsut plain knowing how to do things from trial, error, experience and a fw tricks and tips from the "old timers" i know i've been able to get by without fear of any of my jobs failing

 

[Dylan0123]

I saw an article in a magazine recently about the Miller Diversion 180 Tig welder, it looked like it'd be really good for someone that is just getting into tig welding. It was very simple, you just select what kind of material you're welding (ac or dc), and the thickness of the material. Didn't have the different adjustments that someone with more experience would be looking for, but it'd probably work well for most diy light-duty, at-home-mechanic type stuff.

 

[blindboarder_02]

Great thread. Some really good tips in these pages.

 

[v8s_are_slow]

just seeing this thread and I'll go back and read up more on it later. I'm going to school for welding and feeling pretty dang accomplished cause I'm the only one that's done stick, mig, and now tig in one semester. But still have a lot to learn.

Have a question though. I'll finally be able to build my exhaust next month. I ordered 3" mandrel bent pipes from Frozenboost.com. It says stainless on the website and I got it in the mail and they're all polished up. So anyway, I'd LIKE to tig this stuff. Any good tips for a newb tig guy like me? I don't wanna screw it up and I'm pretty new at tig right now. Thanks.

 

[99gst_racer]

Got my T-splitter in the mail yesterday, so I'm ready to backpurge. I won't have a need to try it for a while though.

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[v8s_are_slow]

Looks like a piece you could've fabricated. Lol.

 

[Imback]

Cool set up i personally would of just have gotten a dual flow regulator.

 

[99gst_racer]

A dual flow regulator would be nice, but they're expensive. I already had both regulators (one was a freebie) and the splitter was only $20 shipped.

 

[CODE4]

just seeing this thread and I'll go back and read up more on it later. I'm going to school for welding and feeling pretty dang accomplished cause I'm the only one that's done stick, mig, and now tig in one semester. But still have a lot to learn.

Have a question though. I'll finally be able to build my exhaust next month. I ordered 3" mandrel bent pipes from Frozenboost.com. It says stainless on the website and I got it in the mail and they're all polished up. So anyway, I'd LIKE to tig this stuff. Any good tips for a newb tig guy like me? I don't wanna screw it up and I'm pretty new at tig right now. Thanks.

Practice on some scrap SS tubing first. Get yout heat and flow rates dialed in before attempting on your good stuff.