welding

[TRD_ZERO]

OK after looking at some of the members welding skills (gasman). It has inspired me to try my hand at welding. Now im going to be wanting to weld stainless steel and steam pipe. What specific welder am i looking for? Any arc welder will do? I just want to get something reasonably cheap. All help appreciated.

[flygt4]

you'll probly need a little training to get your head around it and some helpful tips and much needed practice.
a few wellington members did some night courses at local polytech and it wasnt too expensive, and they seem to be reasonably competent now.

you'll probly want to practice all types of welding, arc, mig and tig.
i think stainless, cast metals, and thin alloy are best done with tig.

[metric]

definately dc tig , easy to use and alot nicer welds

[Truenotch]

If you want to do that stuff then Tig will be best, but they are the hardest (Sort of) to handle because you need a really steady hand.

Gas is a good way to start and you can go a few ways about getting a set and bottles. You don't need to spend the $12 a month on BOC gas bottle rental if you don't want to though. There is an outfit called Air Liquide who are going to do a new lease system that works out at about $35 a year... But you lease for 10 years at a time = $350 per lease bottle + filling. But then theres no real way to get into welding for cheap cheap.

You could go for a mig. Mig's are the most versatile welders, you normally can't do stainless (well no where near as nice as a tig can), you can do some alloy (but again not as well as tig). Shouldn't have a problem with steam pipe, exhaust tube, panel steel, thicker steel, anything really. Good to get started. It's best to run shielding in the form of C02 (Fire ext or dive bottle ), argon / co2, or argon by itself. That involves getting a regulator and a bottle from Boc, Air liquide, some gas shops / fire ext places that will change the valves on bottles for you.

Arc - Good for welding big stuff and blowing holes in panels ..... Ours does it well.

I would say go for a mig to get started, they are good for doing most things in the shed. You can get setup with a decent one for not too much money. 130amp - About $550, 140amp about $700, 190amo about $ 1000 - 1500 + gas, regulator, wire and a decent mask. All up the accessories (gas, reg, wire, mask, gloves) would probably cost another $350 if using co2 from a private shop.

Then get a tig after that.

[TRD_ZERO]

I intend on practicing before i fabricate something. I was thinking about the welding course to give me some sort of idea. I thought of just buying a welder suited for what i want to weld and practice from there.

OK so tig is the way to go then i have a fairly steady hand but will never know until it comes down to it. Id rather just go tig and practice off that. I know its like diving into the deep end but i dont want to go out purchasing all types of welders.

[Distrb]

Best idea is to search out and enrol in a welding night class first and foremost. There they teach you each type of welding (arc, mig, tig, gas etc) How to set up your machine for what you are wanting to weld. Also basic welding techniques (butt, lap etc) on all types of materials (mild steel, alloy, stainless etc). The last course i did cost around $350 and ran for 20 weeks, one night a week, 2 hours a night. Best $$ spent.

Once you know how to set up your machine, and how to weld using the techniques, all it takes is lots of practice.

as truenotch stated, you're best to start off with a mig for sure with shielding gas. c02 is quite inexpensive if you dont plan on, or dont know how often you will be using it. with the argoshield you end up paying a monthly rental for the bottle from BOC which is IIRC around $30ish a month. which isnt alot, but isnt cost effective if you dont weld much.

hope you've got deep pockets if you're gonna buy a tig

[TRD_ZERO]

Thanks for the advice guys looks like ill be enrolling in a course then.

[Truenotch]

c02 is quite inexpensive if you dont plan on, or dont know how often you will be using it

Not completely true, the guy at National gas down here "flash" will sell you a bottle of co2 (Converted fire extinguisher) for $120ish full, and then refill it for the price of the gas. Works out cheaper then argon or argonshield. Might be hard to find others like that around the country though?

[Distrb]

note i did say inexpensive

probably should have said cheap instead, less confusing that way

[d1 mule]

argoshei;d gives a better looking weld, although not as good penitration. i recently brought a 160 amp MIG for $600 down from $800 the brand is blue weld, not the best in the world but for the money ya cant go wrong. Id highly reccomend doing a welding coarse its kinda like riding a bike ya dont forget how to do it i hadnt touched a welder for 18 months then did some rust reapairs on a mates car for wof, flew through. Its a really good skill to have IMO

[Truenotch]

note i did say inexpensive

probably should have said cheap instead, less confusing that way

*Pays attention*

[ee904age]

Definately go mig, its the most versatile welder you could own. Although you can get a Chinese inverter tig/stick machine for well under $1g its a bit overkill for your average shed unless your doing lots of stainless work.

Gas welding is good practice for using a tig, its the same principal. So try to get hold of a gas set, or even oxy/lpg if desperate to practice on panel steel etc before splashing out on a tig. That way your not spending big bikkies on argon/argoshield trying to learn how to weld.

[rollaholic]

i did an introduction to welding at unitec last year, was quite good. bout $350 if i recall.

you might think you can teach yourself (and you probably can) but i dare say its cheaper and easier to learn off the experts... plus the tutor i had has done heaps of cool fabrication stuff for all sorts of hotrods n drag cars, amongst other stuff. great guy to chat to!

[xsspeed]

how long was the course and what time? might look into that, i did a week course at aut as part of my eng degree but only did a couple of days welding. id be wanting to do night classes id say