Welding advice

C

colpumpkinnuts

Banned from public transportation
I've been hanging around craigslist looking at tools and bikes and I've seen quite a few ads for welding euipment. It's got me wondering if I shouldn't try to pick something up on the cheap. I did a little bit of welding in highschool shop class with an arc welder as well as some brazing with an oxy-acetaline torch. So I have general idea of what's going on but I would definitely need to do some more research into this whole thing. I was thinking that I might want to weld up steel tubing or steel plate for little projects, maybe reinforcing/modifing motorcycle frames. Certainly nothing aluminum and nothing that's ridiculously complicated or thick.

My question is, what kind of welding setup should I be looking for? Would a small Craftsman wirefeed welder be adequate or should I try to find a MIG/TIG/Arc welder? Cost is also a consideration. I'd rather not have to spend a ton of money on gas and other supplies. What does everyone think?
 
A wire feed welder is a MIG. Go for the Craftsman with flux core wire which doesnt require a bottle.
 
Col,

I was in the same position about 5 years ago, always wanted to learn to weld but not knowing what to buy or how to get started. Here's my advice:

1. You can start off with a small MIG (Metal Inert Gas) set-up and it can be 120V. BUT make sure that you can use it with either flux core or gas. Stay away from flux core wire, it's messy (smoke, splatter, welds need cleaning). You'll get great welds with gas. It won't cost much more to get the kit with the hose and regulator. You can get your gas at stores like Tractor Supply, Home Depot. The Lincoln Electric Handy MIG Welder Sears item# 00920580000 Mfr. model# K2185-1 is just the ticket $299.00

2. Take a class. I went to the local technical high school adult education program and got 60 hours of instruction for $150. Anybody can use a welder but a class will let you practice, learn good technique and a little metallurgy won't hurt either. Do you want to "do the ton" on shitty welds?

Since then I've taken two additional classes, learned stick and TIG. It's great fun and very rewarding.

Scott
 
Thanks for the help. I'll have to look a little more closely at the continuing education flyers I get every now and again. $299 is a little bit more than I plan to spend for time being but I also don't have anything to weld right now. So I guess I'll keep my eyes open for a mig welder and try to take a welding class in the summer months. How much does gas normally cost?
 
Col,

You do it just like propane for your gas grill. I use a #3 80cu.ft. tank and it costs less than $40 to get filled and it lasts a long time. I built this on about 1/4 a tank of gas.

Scott

IMG_0494.jpg
 
That doesn't sound too bad. Is that a motorized barstool? How fast does that thing go? It looks pretty cool but what are going to do with it?
 
Flux core wire is more versitile, you can use it in outdoor conditions without worry of wind blowing your gas shield. You would be better off learning on flux and moving to gas at a later date when the funds are better. A mig welder with flux is essentialy the same as stick but more precise.
 
Col,

Lil beast is correct, flux core is fine if you want to weld outside. I still recommend getting a welder that can do both; gas or flux core. It will be easier to sell if you don't like welding. I think you'll get hooked like I did. Check out the forums at www.weldingweb.com for ideas and tech advice.

As for the bar stool racer, I use it at the dragstrip to tow my dragbike back to the pits, and run to the concession stand. Look at the rear wing, those are cup holders!

Finished030.jpg
 
That's sweet. The few times I auto-crossed I wished I brought a bicycle to get around. A motorized stool would be even better. thanks for the link.
 
Skyeye said:
Col,

Lil beast is correct, flux core is fine if you want to weld outside. I still recommend getting a welder that can do both; gas or flux core. It will be easier to sell if you don't like welding.
Click to expand...

For sure, get a MIG welder that has options for both. I started with a Lincoln without the gas conversion. I learend with flux and to be honest I hated the splatter and unfinished look so I went and bought the kit a year or so afterwards. Was on a tight budget as well back then. I cant tell you how many times I ran out of gas and needed the back up of flux to finish the project. Its just as strong or stronger than with a gas set up.
 
And I have a need to use flux at times. I have been building off road truck for years and need to drag the welder outside and flux is perfect for tough onsite jobs.
 
Thanks for all of the advice. It is much appreciated. I've been looking around on weldingweb.com and it made me remember a welding related story. When I was in Iraq living at an Iraqi police station, we had a contracting company building guard towers for us. The two guys (Iraqis) that they had doing the welding for these contraptions were using what almost looked like a homemade stick welder. They kept flipping the circuit breakers when they used it so we had to shut off almost everything else in the building. The two welder dudes wore t-shirts, sandals and sunglasses for eye protection. Needless to say, their eyes got really fucking irritated and their skin was bright red at the end of the day. Big suprise, one of the towers fell down shortly after they built it. Luckily no one was in it. In a different tower at another time I was helping a couple of the IPs place sandbags in it. Then the floor fell out underneath one of the IPs. He managed to grab a hand rail before he went all of the way through. It was like something out of a movie. That was the last time I got into one of those fucking things. Makes me glad to be home.
 
Hey Sky, did you get the plans for the stool from the weldingweb site? Its a very cool ride.lol
 
as I understand it: a mig will give you better looking welds right out of the box, but if you are outside the wind will blow the gas away and cause weak oxidized welds. fcaw (flux core) works much better in the wind and will let you weld thicker metal with less current ( according to lincoln's web site.) FCAW spatters a lot more and it's hard to get nice looking welds, but they are strong welds and I dress all my welds anyways. whichever welder you get, get a autodarkening helmet it makes a world of difference. I have a FCAW without the gas kit so I can't do mig but with some time and a grinder my welds look just as nice.
 
So, flux core is messier but it's a little stronger and doesn't require gas so it can be used outside. Using the gas gives a nicer looking weld. So, from what I'm hearing, I should try to find a good MIG welder with some flux core wire for now and make sure that the equipment has the ability to use gas in the future. Cool. I definitely need to take a class in this now. I was just thinking that I could get an el cheapo welder off of craigslist for minor little welding projects but this has gotten me hooked. It probably wouldn't cost a whole lot more to get a proper MIG setup that will take care of my welding needs for a while. I've got a buddy that might go in halfsies with me for something like this. He's looking to start building a cafe bike this spring. It's too bad I don't have more money. Welding equipment is going to have to go near the bottom of the list for now, at least until I'm able to take a class to learn more about it. It's looking like I've got access to a half decent air compressor now. I just have to hook up a 220 outlet for it and I can probably build a low cost blasting cabinet. I wish I had done that at the beginning of my build. It would have saved me so much time.

Cool, thanks for all of the help, guys!
 
Col,

Sent you a PM on the Bar Stool Racer!

You got some great advice on welding from the members. When you get started let us know how you're doing. Lots of help available!!

Scott
 
Skyeye said:
Col,

Sent you a PM on the Bar Stool Racer!

You got some great advice on welding from the members. When you get started let us know how you're doing. Lots of help available!!

Scott
Click to expand...

Thanks, man! I don't know about a barstool racer but I do like the idea of an inexpensive tubing bender. It will probably be a little while until I get into welding at this point. Thanks for the advice.
 
FCAW could be stronger if the wind blows the gas away or if you were trying to weld metal too thick for your welder. mine was about $200 plus $50 for the helmet. I can add gas later and it becomes a mig welder but for now it's just a flux core. there are a lot of these cheap welders about with mig conversion kits available.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

DTT Light or Dark

  • DTT Light
    • www.jadusmotorcycleparts.com
    www.lostapostle.ca/
    www.sparckmoto.com

    Spread the Love

    Back
    Top Bottom