BikerB
Well-Known Member
Horses for courses, I even have a spot welder as it is useful at times for car body work and won some kudos from the missus recently as it managed to neatly stick back on a handle from a huge cooking pot she has.
Just had notification my TIG has been sent, whoo hoo
, should be here in a day or two!Been clearing up in the workshop to find room for it, got a couple of big plastic boxes to keep all the welding kit neat and together with all the ancillaries at the weekend and put all the other Kit in one with the TIG to go in the other, the MIG has to stay out because of its size
Once I get it here I'll work out what extras and consumables I need, have order the some SS filler rods, a stainless wire brush and a pair of TIG gloves but know I will need more. Unfortunately lots of expensive more
Zed.
Well-Known Member
I weld, my aprentaceship was as a Fitter & Turner but also qualified as a weldist.
currently working in the local steelworks applying Hot-glue...
at home I have a few welding sets...
my go-to set is an old Sealey Supermig 180 (240v). this is ~30 years old and bought new - has done sterling service and hopefully will last a few more years! great on bodywork with .6mm precision-wound wire and Argoshield (Never c02) but also capable on thicket / structural metal BUT aircooled torch so can get a little warm...
I have a pair of Camarc 'Spoolgun' migsets, one 240v and the other 3ph. these will run Aluminium.
my current tig is an ebay special (~£200) Andeli hf set that is suprisingly good, runs low on tig and happily burns a 4mm 7018 electrode for mma
I also have a few other 'old' mma sets but theyr'e buried somewhere.....
I am a bit of a headshield snob though, my 'clean' shield is a 3M 'Speedglass' 9100FX with a 9100 filter/lens iirc and the Adflo airfed beltpack, have a cheaper Speedglass 902 for dirty work and in work I have a new ESAB airfed headshield (was supplied not personally paidfor like the others)
I am looking into an AC/DC tig but unsure on whats actually any good in my budget (~£1000)
Rich.
currently working in the local steelworks applying Hot-glue...
at home I have a few welding sets...
my go-to set is an old Sealey Supermig 180 (240v). this is ~30 years old and bought new - has done sterling service and hopefully will last a few more years! great on bodywork with .6mm precision-wound wire and Argoshield (Never c02
) but also capable on thicket / structural metal BUT aircooled torch so can get a little warm...I have a pair of Camarc 'Spoolgun' migsets, one 240v and the other 3ph. these will run Aluminium.
my current tig is an ebay special (~£200) Andeli hf set that is suprisingly good, runs low on tig and happily burns a 4mm 7018 electrode for mma
I also have a few other 'old' mma sets but theyr'e buried somewhere.....
I am a bit of a headshield snob though, my 'clean' shield is a 3M 'Speedglass' 9100FX with a 9100 filter/lens iirc and the Adflo airfed beltpack, have a cheaper Speedglass 902 for dirty work and in work I have a new ESAB airfed headshield (was supplied not personally paidfor like the others)
I am looking into an AC/DC tig but unsure on whats actually any good in my budget (~£1000)
Rich.
steve24v
Well-Known Member
I am looking into an AC/DC tig but unsure on whats actually any good in my budget (~£1000)
I'm in the same boat, would like a ac/dc set. I know people who have bought the r-tech machines but not personally used one myself, but they do have a good reputation of customer service and support.
The salesman who used to supply the welding gear at my work said tecarc are quite good, British made and around the £1000 price mark.
BikerB
Well-Known Member
After a bit of research I spent £991 inc Vat and delivery for a Parweld XTT202P which after a bit of research seemed to be the best AC/DC machine around at that price point. However I don't have it yet and never TIG welded so I may be simply talking bollox.
The decision was based on a few weeks of reading forums, reviews and various other bits of reading rather than experience so someone who knows more may have a different view
My MIG is an Oxford Migmaker 180 which I also bought new about 7 or 8 years ago.
The decision was based on a few weeks of reading forums, reviews and various other bits of reading rather than experience so someone who knows more may have a different view
My MIG is an Oxford Migmaker 180 which I also bought new about 7 or 8 years ago.
+1^^^
Me too. Never had a problem with stick (self taught) but got given a MIG set by the family for Xmas. bought under the direction of my son in law who is a really good amateur welder. He can weld really well with it but i am really very hit and miss.
No one understands how I can be so much better with stick than MIG. Fink i need someone to set it up for me betterer than wot I do!
Used to use them after I had a minor fall out with Air Products - but I had a few leaky bottles, so now I split my usage between Air Products and Air Liquide .....
Zed.
Well-Known Member
please keep us informed - good OR bad
only one way to learn....
that might be a Landyzone thing
Rich.
Stretch
Well-Known Member
I think one of the biggest hurdles for a DIY (electric) welder in the UK is the limitations of domestic power supplies.
You can't run much from a standard 13 amp socket. Here in the NL a 16 amp single phase possibility is pretty much standard in every house. That means I can safely run welders that will produce up to 200 amps (the knob on the box amps value) with out arsing about with trip switches...
...recently I've been playing with three phase welding machines at a local steam preservation society. They have two large commercial MIG machines. One on argon - which is a pleasure to use - the other on a CO2 mix - which is like fighting with a Tasmanian Devil.
Even with the "decent" MIG machines I still dislike this method of welding. It is all too easy to end up with "welded" material on top of what you wanted to join together. I think to get decent results in the real world with a MIG welder you need to be more careful than you do with MMA / stick.
Whilst my fellow volunteer welders always reach for the MIG (and then spend hours grinding off material) I have surprised them with my stick welding abilites. I much prefer it over MIG especially on low grade steel from the 1940s / 1950s. MIG struggles with dirt and impurities - you can easily get porous welds and welds that crack. With my stick welding I'm producing "nice stacks of pennies" - that look much like a good TIG result.
Even welding thin 1mm sheet with my stick welder is possible so long as I can get the lump of brass I just as a heat sink in full contact with the underside of the welded area.
Stick welding (much like MIG) is a welding process that inherently adds material to the welded area. I have found that on the whole stick welding will / can result in a reasonable amount of added material (if you are practiced and careful) whereas MIG often won't "weld right" without having poo loads of wire running into the weld pool which then results in an effing mountain of material and more grinding work...
...in my experience MIG can and does work as well as MMA / TIG but only on super clean surfaces. In the grotty railway preservation world that's kind of difficult to achieve so we're spending a lot of time grinding (!)
It is a battle but I'm trying to persuade people to love the stick (problem is MIG is just so easy)
You can't run much from a standard 13 amp socket. Here in the NL a 16 amp single phase possibility is pretty much standard in every house. That means I can safely run welders that will produce up to 200 amps (the knob on the box amps value) with out arsing about with trip switches...
...recently I've been playing with three phase welding machines at a local steam preservation society. They have two large commercial MIG machines. One on argon - which is a pleasure to use - the other on a CO2 mix - which is like fighting with a Tasmanian Devil.
Even with the "decent" MIG machines I still dislike this method of welding. It is all too easy to end up with "welded" material on top of what you wanted to join together. I think to get decent results in the real world with a MIG welder you need to be more careful than you do with MMA / stick.
Whilst my fellow volunteer welders always reach for the MIG (and then spend hours grinding off material) I have surprised them with my stick welding abilites. I much prefer it over MIG especially on low grade steel from the 1940s / 1950s. MIG struggles with dirt and impurities - you can easily get porous welds and welds that crack. With my stick welding I'm producing "nice stacks of pennies" - that look much like a good TIG result.
Even welding thin 1mm sheet with my stick welder is possible so long as I can get the lump of brass I just as a heat sink in full contact with the underside of the welded area.
Stick welding (much like MIG) is a welding process that inherently adds material to the welded area. I have found that on the whole stick welding will / can result in a reasonable amount of added material (if you are practiced and careful) whereas MIG often won't "weld right" without having poo loads of wire running into the weld pool which then results in an effing mountain of material and more grinding work...
...in my experience MIG can and does work as well as MMA / TIG but only on super clean surfaces. In the grotty railway preservation world that's kind of difficult to achieve so we're spending a lot of time grinding (!)
It is a battle but I'm trying to persuade people to love the stick (problem is MIG is just so easy)
Ian M in France
Well-Known Member
Have been looking for a bit and this thread has started me off again
This looks like great bit of kit for money,
only selling in Belgium at moment but can get from ebay, but more expensive price lidis Be 199€
will mig tig and arc think you have to buy tig kit but this guy looks like a pro and likes it, 3 years guarantee and lidis good at taking bits back, I will get one if they come into France which I am sure they will
I have read this with deep interest. Maybe some answers here to why I prefer stick to MIG.
One thing I have found is that if you have done a decent weld the slag more or less just falls off, it will even curl up out of the way along a good run. And my gear is ridiculously old, I only paid £10 for it donkey's years ago.
The only problem I have is striking the weld when doing just a tiny little job. I use a striking plate to heat up the stick just before going for it, but even then.
Stretch
Well-Known Member
If you are having trouble striking an arc then I recommend you consider upgrading to a transistor based amplifier - they are much more forgiving than old fashioned "buzz boxes". Even so if you've got the knack most of the time then I would suggest that the majority of the technology (when using constant current MMA methods) is actually in the welding rod.I have read this with deep interest. Maybe some answers here to why I prefer stick to MIG.
One thing I have found is that if you have done a decent weld the slag more or less just falls off, it will even curl up out of the way along a good run. And my gear is ridiculously old, I only paid £10 for it donkey's years ago.
The only problem I have is striking the weld when doing just a tiny little job. I use a striking plate to heat up the stick just before going for it, but even then.
I'm no expert but if you dig into the types of welding rods out there you can quickly wish you hadn't started looking!
Some folks swear by 7014 rods for thin sheet. I've struggled to find them here in Holland but I think the industry is better served in the UK - especially as people are slowly switching to pulsed MMA methods (which looks like it is becoming a standard requirement for some high end welding situations). Here in Holland I've had good results with the common as muck 6013 "farmers' rods" though have noticed that if you can afford the more expensive rods they tend to last better in storage and often burn more pleasurably...
+1. Was actually given a large number of "Mac Fine Steel" rods a little while ago - They're horrible snotty things, and they are in the scrap bin
. I gave up on cheap rods many years ago. I now use Oerlikon, Eutectic and Primafixe .... nothing else comes close IME.
Talking of welding , recently been watching this guy on utube repairing/ welding his Land Rover chassis, starts welding episode 10
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLNE6DEIclzg3yHWooBXZj8xXiQEjnF8o3
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLNE6DEIclzg3yHWooBXZj8xXiQEjnF8o3
Thanks for this. Was never aware that so much depended on the rods. I just bought them from B&Q or wherever never giving it a thought thinking they were much of a muchness.
I did buy one of those funny gizmos that were supposed to use a condenser or summat combined with a kind of in-out moving thing to supposedly weld thin stuff with standard kit. It didn't work very well, the vibrating tip causing more problems than it helped with. Then a member of my kit car club took the same idea and put something in the circuit to his to cut the power down when welding thin stuff and somehow made it work. He was a retired physics teacher, ex RAF so I think he knew what he was doing, which I don't!
Next time I get my kit out, I'll have a bash with the more expensive rods!
I need to be properly retired to give all this more thought, and money, but it'll be a while as I am under the cosh to finish all Wifey's DIY projects.
Just a hobbyist withthe hot-metal glue myself.
I've got some "issues" with welding as I have a dodgy eye and seeing and keeping to the welding line is a real challenge for me.
I started out on MIG (an elderly Clarke 105A unit) but I found it a bit like tring to aim an angry cat and a bit "spray & pray".
I bought an R-Tech 160A AC/DC Tig box (does stick too) and I find this an easier more controllable process (esp. with the foot-pedal to adjust the amps in flight).
Just bought a little 200A inverter MIG to have another go at MIG. Only becuase I can and I need to spend the Govt. Pension on something other than my leech-like offspring.
Some days you have great results and good looking welds other days it starts off $h1t and goes downhill from there.
Practice on scrap is the key I think.
I've got some "issues" with welding as I have a dodgy eye and seeing and keeping to the welding line is a real challenge for me.
I started out on MIG (an elderly Clarke 105A unit) but I found it a bit like tring to aim an angry cat and a bit "spray & pray".
I bought an R-Tech 160A AC/DC Tig box (does stick too) and I find this an easier more controllable process (esp. with the foot-pedal to adjust the amps in flight).
Just bought a little 200A inverter MIG to have another go at MIG. Only becuase I can and I need to spend the Govt. Pension on something other than my leech-like offspring.
Some days you have great results and good looking welds other days it starts off $h1t and goes downhill from there.
Practice on scrap is the key I think.
To me the essentials are a good helmet that pops when the arc strikes and using ultra clean metal. not always easy on Landies!!Just a hobbyist withthe hot-metal glue myself.
I've got some "issues" with welding as I have a dodgy eye and seeing and keeping to the welding line is a real challenge for me.
I started out on MIG (an elderly Clarke 105A unit) but I found it a bit like tring to aim an angry cat and a bit "spray & pray".
I bought an R-Tech 160A AC/DC Tig box (does stick too) and I find this an easier more controllable process (esp. with the foot-pedal to adjust the amps in flight).
Just bought a little 200A inverter MIG to have another go at MIG. Only becuase I can and I need to spend the Govt. Pension on something other than my leech-like offspring.
Some days you have great results and good looking welds other days it starts off $h1t and goes downhill from there.
Practice on scrap is the key I think.
But then what do i know? Only what works for me.
But I have learned to keep my welding wire indoors where it is warm and dry as I weld so rarely.
Shippers
Well-Known Member
warching him and Rusty Restorations who's doing an chassis S2
