Chrome_GT Posted March 29, 2007 Share Posted March 29, 2007 My 5 cents. I learnt Arc briefly a couple years ago. Pretty easy but only any good on thick stuff. Bought a 140amp NeWeld mig last year ($408 from Repco but around $600 retail). Used it for the first time on Friday. I run fluxcore wire 0.8mm ($25 from Repco retail). Welded both 2mm piping and 4mm chunky steel and worked sweet as. Did splatter a bit but was able to get smooth welds. My workmate only uses gasless as he finds it doesn't cause any problems with anything he's done. I might try gas one day but only when I have too. Seems a bloody hassle hiring bottles when I only plan to use it one every couple months max. My advice - novice advice but I was i a similar situation to you - Buy an entry level Mig approx $500 - $700, Get some flux core, and get an autodarkening. I borrowed my workmates on Friday and it's great for learning. That arc eye thing is a worry though as it's something I've always questioned. Do Beware of Cheap import types of migs like myne. I've heard of many which were returned with various faults so only buy with a warantee. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
isnowi Posted March 30, 2007 Share Posted March 30, 2007 Oxygen is just as if not more dangerous than acetylene, oil and oxy is explosive. Pure oxygen is an oxidising agent (funny that) and as such increases the combustibility of whatever it happen to come into contact with. There was a gas station that sploded over the wairarapa a few yers ago, allegedly due to oxy cylinder spontaneously exploding in turn taking out the half full under ground tanks. Big crater apparantly. Aside from that oxy is usually at around 3000psi, and can be pretty nasty when released uncontrollably, just a year or two back a cylinder was knocked over at the Uhlenberg trucking yard in south taranaki, it went through 2 concrete block walls, a timber floor and took one of the employee' heads clea off. If you want to weld well i recommend you go to a night course, the sort that are run at local colleges etc, they teach you how to set your plant up properly, you may get pretty good via trial and error, but the course and setup will make your welding so much better than you ever though it could be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raizer Posted March 30, 2007 Share Posted March 30, 2007 After running out of argon/CO2 this morning (Dam disposables!) i have found that if you have to weld gasless use gas wire! Its still a bit splattery but its way nicer to use than flux core crap! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eke_zetec_RWD Posted March 30, 2007 Share Posted March 30, 2007 wot! do u mean using normal mig wire with no gas even if its not flux cored??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raizer Posted March 30, 2007 Share Posted March 30, 2007 It worked well for me!, but i wouldn't do anything more than little panel patches like that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eke_zetec_RWD Posted March 30, 2007 Share Posted March 30, 2007 mate your keen. if it sum how looks ok ontop it will be full ov holes and hollow underneith. lol gud effort tho Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raizer Posted March 30, 2007 Share Posted March 30, 2007 well it doesn't fall off when i hit it with a hammer, and since i only did a couple of little patches that don't need to be strong (just covering bumper mounts etc) it should be fine. But i wont be doing any more now till i get a bottle tomorrow! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madaz62 Posted April 4, 2007 Share Posted April 4, 2007 for fabricating on a car, id go for mig defnitly gas/gasless and as for someone saying arc welders are crap all depends on what you are going to use it for, they all have theyre place and the tig would be no good for panel steel (unless your real good) as they use alot of heat and youl just warp it or blow holes all over was down at mitre 10 mega couple weeks ago, they had a new range of welders in that looked all good for the price (under $1000) for a gas/gasless mig, but in the end you get what you pay for Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
isnowi Posted April 4, 2007 Share Posted April 4, 2007 MIG is definitely the go for panel steel. The point and shoot convenience is what you need. TIG on panel steel gets very good neat results if you know what you are doing, but there is a real art to it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidian Posted April 4, 2007 Share Posted April 4, 2007 at teh end of the day mig=steel, tig=alloy, stainless etc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gaz Posted April 4, 2007 Share Posted April 4, 2007 arc = big bits of steel... mounts etc arc FTW. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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