A few legs on an old wrought iron handrail need repair. Should I say frick it, get a cheap welding kit and dive in? I have absolutely zero expierance working with metal.
Redpill me on welding for n00bs
A few legs on an old wrought iron handrail need repair. Should I say frick it, get a cheap welding kit and dive in? I have absolutely zero expierance working with metal.
I think jb weld will do you some good.
Same here, I used to have a cheap stick welder 20 years ago, fixed up some chairs and whatnot.
I want to get back into it, my first goal is to modify the ramp on my car hauler.
I see most MIG welders claim you can also stick weld with them.
Is there a catch to this or do I really get 2 in 1.
Someone told me to not bother with the all in one multi-process like picrel because if I ever get into TIG, I will be disappointed with it's performance.
tl;dr dedicated stick welder or a MIG/stick? They cost about the same.
>I see most MIG welders claim you can also stick weld with them.
That one you definitely can.
Buy a stick welder and throw a few tacks on. Clean up with a grinder. If you buy a MIG welder everyone will make fun of you (rightfully so)
All a welder does is convert you're 220v current from the wall into a voltage you can weld with and let's you vary the amperage. I've welded high pressure steam pipes where all the welds were x-rayed with a tiny €800 tig welder. The only thing a more expensive machine will give you is more control over the waveform of the electricity coming out. Funny AC waveforms for more control welding aluminium or pulsed amperage. Stuff a hobbyist doesn't really need. Anyway my point is anyone who tells you the welding machine has any impact on how good your final welds are gonna be has no idea what they're talking about. If I wanted a welder for my house I'd probably buy a multiprocess machine. If you don't care about MIG, which you shouldn't, get a stick welder and buy a valved Tig torch and a little adapter thing later on if you enjoy welding and want to try out Tig.
>multiprocess machine
went ahead and ordered a chinesium multi-process one bunch of israelitetubers are shilling, threefiddy of scamazon
>picrel
I think I'll git gut with a stick first before even trying to mig
Honestly the whole prospect of driving to airgas every time the shield gas bottle is empty seems like a pain in the ass, but the machine costs the same as just the stick so whatever, might as well have the option.
>Honestly the whole prospect of driving to airgas every time the shield gas bottle is empty seems like a pain in the ass
It isn't. I buy used cylinders to exchange but if you have two total you're covered. I use CO2 and MIG mix. CO2 lasts longer because it stores as a liquid. Shielding gas is absolutely worth it. MIG beats CO2 for sheet metal.
Learning stick first is wise. Make consistent test coupons and bend test them. Stick has advantages as does wire welding. You can never have too many options.
>It isn't. I buy used cylinders to exchange but if you have two total you're covered.
Nah yeah, I live in the sticks with a ton of very young kids, so it's a significant time investment to go and get that shit.
But since I have to do a propane/diesel run anyhow once in a while and also got a kegerattor I'll need to add co2 and shield gas in the rotation.
Don't have any sheet projects lined up, but a lot of crusty old trucks that need steering racks reattached and shit like that.
My old welds from ages ago are still holding up, but those were for holding up 300lb fat asses, not 3+ ton machines.
I kept old mower blades, and other scrap bars to practice on. I'm stinking on drill and tapping my hydraulic press so I can install a pressure gauge and measure the force used and test how good my welds are while trying to break them.
I got a cheap 110v Stick Welder - an S7 - and honestly I gotta try out the 6010 I currently got for it and also get my hands on some clean pre made 3/8" thick plate with 3/32" lands. Try my hand at putting in that Root Pass, Hot Pass, and then a fill and cap with 7018.
But then it's maximum actual amperage is 113 amps *cue the disappointed trumpet sound effect* though I might even see how it's TIG performance goes. Say, btw, how could it be possible to weld with a Vulcan ProTIG 165 on a Home Power supply?
My little 220v TIG welder goes up to 200 amps. Damn you americans really have it bad. 113 amps should be enough for most stuff unless you plan to weld i-beams together. How's the duty cycle. I've yet to have my little machine overheat on me welding pipe at work. 220v is a game changer
>. Damn you americans really have it bad.
any sane american does not weld off a 110/120 circuit.
A 110v Stick welder?
Um no.
Advertising vulcan welders? Shills!
Yeswelder advertisement.
Yaskawa ad.
Youtube channel advertisement.
Anon, I posted yeswelder and vulcan. Sadly I didn't get any chinkcoins for this, nor am I experienced enough to tell you if these are good or not.
Ask around your friends and pay someone 20 dollars or so to fix it; welding has a steep learning curve.
You're hands have to be relatively steady.
Wearing helmet kinda sucks but it's better than going blind.
Pull with MIG, push with stick or flux core.
Stick and flux core NEED wire brushes to clean slag off of welds.
MIG needs expensive gases.
Some metals are way more difficult to weld than others, some can only be done by brazing without really fancy equipment.
And the sparks.... they go everywhere and you WILL get burned at some point.
I don't have any friends.
>MIG needs expensive gases.
Expensive for who, crackheads?
If you aren't getting setup with a yaskawa robot and a miller to spray arc your gate into kingdom come, you are literally wasting your money, and shouldn't call yourself a DIY'er
>do it yourself
>use a robot to do it for you
Well St. Nick, a grinder and paint make me the welder I ain't. Favorite is tig, most useful is short circuit.
I like Short Circuit as well - seeing that Solid Wire melt and that "Bacon Frying" buzz in my ears, ah, music. Alongside the hiss of Spray Transfer.
You might find this useful. This guy does all sorts of real product tests. I've learned a lot from his channel.
I actually checked out the Welders at Harbor Frieght and it seems they mostly sell Chicago Electric, Titanium, and Vulcan Brand - and also I think the YesWelder MIG Welder he tests is only available on Amazon.
>Wrought iron
You homies all have no clue. Best bet for wrought iron is oxy acetylene or real special sticks.
Most wrought iron is just mild steel.
It's not really that hard to learn well enough to do what you want. It'll be a while before you're good enough to do really fine work or anything structural / load bearing but you can learn to stick metal together in like half an hour.
like like several steps up from you right now. I already and have a HF 90amp wire feed. Recently i've added a 220v circuit to the garage and then I picked up a used, empty 200cf argon bottle from ebay $203. For the welder I think im gonna get one of the ones pictured. pretty sure ill just get the primeweld cause Im worried about the screen in the ahp dying from cold or some bullshit
how long does it take to be "ok" at welding? this guy at the metal shop at my college was putting on classes and I got to do like, 2 hours of mig today and it was cool but my welds are embarrassing. it feels like learning to ride a bike or something, I've got so much shit to juggle and I never really got into the groove.
Probably takes like 10-15 hours until you're actually okay at most filet welds with MIG. But that's "okay" meaning you still do mistakes but they'd work for real applications. There's lots of fiddling with setting on MIG machines without synergic modes as well. Wire feed, arc dynamic, voltage, wire size, wire feeder pressure, gas flow and so on. Once you know how to set the machine properly you can actually start practicing welding technique.
I want to practice stick welding at home. What would I need for a decent home set up, what's the best outdoor table for practicing?
A cheap stick welder, mild steel flat bar, a fan to blow away the fumes and an angle grinder. Make the table yourself by cutting flat bars down to a desired size, then make a basic grate for table, see pic related. The holes gives you clamp space while also not making the table act like a heat sink. Weld pipe onto table and shove pipe into the ground. Practice filets and corner welds in various positions using flat bar.