Welding

Post by **I8A4RE** » Sun Apr 27, 2008 1:39 pm

Ok looking at buying a welder and not sure which is the best and easist to use. I have a lot of gas welding expeience but have never used tig or mig. Which would be the best for me do yo think

It needs to be able to be used at home and good for a beginner. It will be used for mainly small exhaust jobs etc

manofwood · Post by **manofwood** » Sun Apr 27, 2008 8:30 pm

if its just for exhaust jobs and the like, just get an arc welder

Post by **Bennoz** » Sun Apr 27, 2008 8:59 pm

Arc?? You gotta be kidding me, Arc is a pain in the ass to use! If you're doing turbo plumbing or exhaust stuff, then just go grab a MIG. - nice & easy to use, will do all your piping work. TIG is more of an art form, takes a lot longer to get the hang of. TIG you use on fancy & thinner metals.

Post by **I8A4RE** » Sun Apr 27, 2008 9:11 pm

yeah after i wrote that i googled it and i think i'll be going mig

heres one i found on ebay do you think it will be alright for small jobs like my intercooler and exhaust stuff

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/MIG-MAG-WELDER-1 ... dZViewItem

DaveO · Post by **DaveO** » Mon Apr 28, 2008 9:19 am

Buy as big a unit as you can afford. You can allways turn it down but you can't turn it up any higher than flat out.

Post by **I8A4RE** » Mon Apr 28, 2008 12:17 pm

DaveO wrote:Buy as big a unit as you can afford. You can allways turn it down but you can't turn it up any higher than flat out.

Can you tell me what would be considered as big

Cheers

DaveO · Post by **DaveO** » Mon Apr 28, 2008 1:26 pm

I8A4RE wrote:
DaveO wrote:Buy as big a unit as you can afford. You can allways turn it down but you can't turn it up any higher than flat out.
Can you tell me what would be considered as big

Cheers

Typicaly the more amps they put out the more they cost.
To weld 5mm plate you need about a 200amp welder. Any smaller and you wont get the heat into it.
So say if you're going to build a trailer then about 200amp welder minimum.

jonowong · Post by **jonowong** » Mon Apr 28, 2008 1:50 pm

hes building a turbo kit not a trailer

Post by **I8A4RE** » Mon Apr 28, 2008 2:24 pm

DaveO wrote:
I8A4RE wrote:
DaveO wrote:Buy as big a unit as you can afford. You can allways turn it down but you can't turn it up any higher than flat out.
Can you tell me what would be considered as big

Cheers
Typicaly the more amps they put out the more they cost.
To weld 5mm plate you need about a 200amp welder. Any smaller and you wont get the heat into it.
So say if you're going to build a trailer then about 200amp welder minimum.

Thanks dave, but yeah im welding steel piping (exhaust thickness), i think its like 1.5mm thick or something like that. However i will start looking at some heavy duty ones and see what the price difference is

Cheers Simon

mr-charisma · Post by **mr-charisma** » Wed Apr 30, 2008 12:26 am

Hey mate, was just browsing the Autospeed articles & came across these .. thought you might be interested;

http://autospeed.com/cms/A_108738/article.html
http://autospeed.com/cms/A_108763/article.html
http://autospeed.com/cms/A_108765/article.html

DaveO · Post by **DaveO** » Wed Apr 30, 2008 9:01 am

jonowong wrote:hes building a turbo kit not a trailer

So 5 or 6 years down the road and you decide to build a trailer. You going to go out and buy an other welder?

mr-charisma · Post by **mr-charisma** » Wed Apr 30, 2008 11:43 am

lol, does anyone here even have a towbar for their FTO?

mr-charisma · Post by **mr-charisma** » Wed Apr 30, 2008 11:50 am

mr-charisma wrote:lol, does anyone here even have a towbar for their FTO?

Nevermind ... I think that they're the same people who have the optional roof racks ...

Post by **Bennoz** » Wed Apr 30, 2008 12:22 pm

mr-charisma wrote:
mr-charisma wrote:lol, does anyone here even have a towbar for their FTO?
Nevermind ... I think that they're the same people who have the optional roof racks ...

Ya never know... he might have to whip something up for his mums Rav 4

mr-charisma · Post by **mr-charisma** » Wed Apr 30, 2008 1:12 pm

speaking of welders .. I've tried looking in Bunnings, Mitre 10 etc for an Oxy Acetylene torch, but they don't stock them .. anyone know roughly what they're worth & where I could find them?

Post by **Bennoz** » Wed Apr 30, 2008 1:24 pm

You wont find them at Bunnings. Got to BOC - keep in mind that with all this welding gear, you will need to create an account to hire out all the gas bottles you'll need. For oxy, you'll need Oxygen & Acytelene bottles, for mig you'll need Argon or C02 or a mix - and also keep in mind BOC bottle are rented out on a weekly basis, from memory its about $15 a week rent on a G size cylinder. That may differ from area to area.

manofwood · Post by **manofwood** » Thu May 01, 2008 6:17 pm

whats wrong with arc on exhausts? i never had a problem with them, atleast for little repairs on exhaust cracks and holes etc...
i didnt think about turbo kit before i spoke.
can you even use MIG's on aluminium for the intake setup, or whatever I8A4RE's looking to do? i thought thats what TIG was for? why cant you just buy pre shaped pipes for your intake?

Post by **Bennoz** » Thu May 01, 2008 7:40 pm

manofwood wrote:whats wrong with arc on exhausts? i never had a problem with them, atleast for little repairs on exhaust cracks and holes etc...

Nothing, Im more concerned about technique. Much easier for a Queenslander to point a little nozzle & squeeze a trigger as opposed to starting an arc & controlling a 20+cm rod

Post by **I8A4RE** » Thu May 01, 2008 8:27 pm

Im not a f**ken QLD'er ben

. Isnt living with them punishment enough for being a kiwi

.

So can mig be used for alloy or not???

DaveO · Post by **DaveO** » Thu May 01, 2008 10:09 pm

I8A4RE wrote:Im not a f**ken QLD'er ben . Isnt living with them punishment enough for being a kiwi .

So can mig be used for alloy or not???

Yes
But you need differant gas, torch liner and wire and an AC/DC welder (not the rock band). They can be very expensive.
I would recomend buying an AC/DC TIG welder if your going to weld alloy and steel. No liners required, the same gas for steel and alloy and cheaper to by a pack of welding wire.
Plus you can still weld up that trailer of yours.