Welding machines [Merged 9-7] welder weld TIG MIG

[trig]

i'm going to be making my own exhuast soon and want to weld it myself. does anyone know what type of welder will do the job? it's only goign to be for small things like exhuast and ic piping work.... stainless steel and regular steel.

thanx

o yea and does neone know if i can weld stainless steel and the reg steel together? or does it make a difference????

thnx

 

[Tallen]

If you dont know what kind of welder and do notknow what does what, you probably can't weld. Then you'll just be left with a big pile of slag, a bunch of metal splatter marks, and nothing welded together, or you burn a hole in the pipe. Go take a class in welding, then consider welding it yourself. In the mean time, it'd be more affordable to take it to an exhaust shop (diesel exhaust shops are usually pretty cool)

 

[RiceKiller_TSi]

Yeah, welding is a craft... dont set yourself on fire dude!

 

[NOSNUSE]

A small wire feed welder should work (Miller is a good brand), where abouts in Fl are you? My dad lives in Clearwater and welds for a living, if need be I could get a hold of him and ask about it. Like said above though it would be a good idea to learn how to weld(practice makes perfect.)

 

[trig]

hehe, well the plan is to practice and learn first.... but i need a welder first to do that ... and yea i know it's quite the skill to learn but it's something i'd rather try to learn and fail then just pay sumone to do.

 

[Tallen]

Thats fine and all, but I 100% recommend taking a class at the local community college. Look to spend upwards of $300 for a good welder.

 

[phastalon]

could you all explain the differences between an arc, mig, and tig welder?

NOSNUSE... is there a difference in wire feed welders (ie, electric or gas)?

I would prefer electric just b/c of garage space and portability issues, any suggestions on where to pick one up?

Thanks,
Brad

 

[quarter]

jsut go get a 50 dollar arc welder.

 

[phastalon]

Originally posted by quarter
jsut go get a 50 dollar arc welder.

will it work for intercooler piping and such? are they mostly electric? which brand would you recommend?

regards,
Brad

 

[hostile]

You need at the very least a mig welder... this is what exhuast shops use.

Migs are wire feed, with a gas also.

Just a stick welder would be hell for welding thin pipes like exhuast and intercooler stuff.

TIG welding would be for fine stuff... also tig is the best way to weld aluminum.

If you get a mig you should be able to practice for a few hours and get it down.

Tig welding is really nice for stuff like intercooler pipes and headers but your looking at about 2 grand to get setup for tig.

 

[psychlow]

If you don't really care about how it looks all too much, just get yourself a Lincoln Electric or Miller 110V wire-feed flux-cored welder. Flux-cored welding wire is great because it's fairly inexpensive, very easy to learn on, and does not require any external shielding gas, as the shielding gas is actually on the wire and released as you weld.

The second thing I ever welded in my life was two of my buddy's old mild steel lower control arms from his Jeep Wrangler together (just to mess around). I did one pass on each of four sides (I welded them together in an X). When it cooled, I threw it on the ground, and nothing happened. I jumped on it, stepped on it, beat it on concrete, nothing. I picked up my 15lb sledgehammer and wailed away at it, and the sides of the control arms were bending and flexing, yet my welds held.

Third thing I ever welded with it was a bracket to hold a swaybar bushing in place on my old Tercel 4WD wagon. It was three years ago, I drive the car everyday, and it's still holding.

As I said before, it's VERY easy to learn.

 

[Defiant]

Originally posted by phastalon
will it work for intercooler piping and such? are they mostly electric?

ah..... yeah, most arc welders are electric.





wow.

 

[frontdriver]

I got myself a Lincoln 135 plus MIG welder. I got tired of waiting on people to weld stuff for me. I never had experience with MIG welding before. I used to arc/stick and ox/acetylene weld as part of my job about 28 yrs. ago so it's been a while. After reading ALL instructions I gave it a go and with a little practice can now Mig weld pretty well. I opted for the argon/CO2 gas instead of the flux core just to do a neater job. With flux core you can also weld thicker metal and also in windy conditions (outside). With a MIG you can weld aluminum, stainless and mild steel but you need a different setup for each if you plan on using stainless wire. It's also a bigger investment for the gas because you now have to buy, lease a bottle, probably get a cart to carry it all, fill the tank. For the proper set up like I have you should expect to pay about $700 from a reputable dealer. That's cart, welder, full mask, gloves, wire, full bottle. You can buy all kinds of stuff cheaper online like e-bay, etc. I like to be able to have someone I can deal with after the sale.

Sorry for the long post.

 

[Tallen]

I prefer argon/co2 to flux 100%

 

[1G/TS-ituner]

flux core sucks ass for welding exaust pipes, it's ugly, and leaves spatter everywhere go with argon, or the 75%/25% mix, and as for an arc welder for 50 bucks???? i dont think so mig welders are excellent for exaust work, and your not going to find an arc welder going for 50 unless it's broken, arc is for heavier type welding you will burn holes in your exaust and have to worry about slag, blah blah. tig welding would be best but you have to have some decent experiance with that to do it well. and it's more expencive. just stick with either a Miller(prefered) or lincoln MIG welder, ya can't go wrong. but practice on metal for a few days before going on to weld your exaust

 

[frontdriver]

Originally posted by 1G/TS-ituner
just stick with either a Miller(prefered) or lincoln MIG welder, ya can't go wrong.

Not to get off topic and just out of curiosity, why is Miller preferred?

 

[crazyboost]

I'm new to the welding world, and have only welded a few times. I'm looking for a cheap welder just to learn how to weld, and possibly weld an exhaust or two. I was wondering if any arc welders use wire-feed or just sticks? Also does anyone have any experience with those dirt-cheap ebay welders

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2391685215&category=46413

 

[frontdriver]

I'd be afraid of being electrocuted with one of them. I believe you get what you pay for in this case.

 

[GodspellPHX]

You cant arc weld an exaust and by YOU i mean you. Short of haveing A lot of arc welding experiance all your going to do is burn right tru. Hell iv been welding for 5 years and I probly would too. You could do it with mig which is what i would do. Mig is fairly easy on thicker steel but becomes a little harder with the this stuff and if you arnt carefull you will just burn thru. Tig would be the best tho if you have no welding exp at all theres no way you could tig weld anything.

This is one of those cases were its really better to just buy it then make it.


ps even if your welds were good and somehow you cut and bent all the tubing exactly right your probly gunna warp it out of shape anyway.

 

[GodspellPHX]

oh and go with miller

 

[quarter]

Originally posted by 1G/TS-ituner
and as for an arc welder for 50 bucks???? i dont think so

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=33224

omfg you got so OWN3D!

 

[rowlex]

DUDE NICE BURN!

Ok. so to get back on topic...any specific MINIMUM apmperage/voltage necessary to weld stainless steel piping (for a MIG welder)?????

 

[GodspellPHX]

how thick?

Oh and its ss you sould tig it

 

[seth98es]

Yah if you are welding SS or aluminum go with Tig. Anything else go Mig or Arc, usually preference. Mig is easier, but Arc makes prettier welds for the most part

 

[bastarddsm]

if you really want to get tricky learn to oxy actelne weld. it is really tough but if you have a torch you have half of it already. my advice is goto your local high school that has a shop class and ask to borrow one of thier text books and read the hole section on welding. you can pretty much weld any metal in any mode but some ways work better than others. but as a rule:

mild steel; tig, mig, oxy actelne, arc

alum; tig, oxy actlene, mig and arc can be done but it is hard as hell and don't work well

stainless; mig, tig, arc, oxy actlene

titanium; tig i think not sure never done it

for making steel exhausts find get yourself a miller 110v unit that is what my dad has and it is wonderful. if you wnat to try and leanr how to tig get a miller econotig got one of them also, awesome

if your going to buy a welder buy one from someone who makes them places lie snap-on and mac , and matco all sell em but they are ridiciusly over priced for what you get. go for a miller or lincoln or systematics, or hobart.

good luck