Welder advice

[SC_RUFCTR]

I've owned an arc welder for about 20 years which has served me well but I need something to weld thinner steel. (I'm restoring a car right now)
I've look at lots of TIG and MIG welders but there is a bewildering array to choose from out there. Everything from a rough $200 Cash Converts one to a very nice $2,000 CIG TIG welder that can weld aluminium.
So I'm asking for recommendations. I've gout about $900 to spend and I already have a nice CIG auto darkening helmet.

I need something that will weld all steels thick or thin and aluminium as well (not essential for Alu)

Also... What are the disposable gas bottles like? I really don't want to rent a bottle from CIG.

[morrisman]

I've owned an arc welder for about 20 years which has served me well but I need something to weld thinner steel. (I'm restoring a car right now)
I've look at lots of TIG and MIG welders but there is a bewildering array to choose from out there. Everything from a rough $200 Cash Converts one to a very nice $2,000 CIG TIG welder that can weld aluminium.
So I'm asking for recommendations. I've gout about $900 to spend and I already have a nice CIG auto darkening helmet.

I need something that will weld all steels thick or thin and aluminium as well (not essential for Alu)

Also... What are the disposable gas bottles like? I really don't want to rent a bottle from CIG.

Hi Welcome

This is a subjective topic , we all have different ideas :)

If you can save up a little bit more , you can buy a good new TIG machine with all the bells and whistles . TIG takes more skill to master the techniques of it, but they are very versatile and once you get used to it , you can weld heaps of stuff.

Try and read the many welding forums on the internet and get peoples opinions on whats good and what isnt .

There is a good UK welding forum . The disposable bottles are pain because they don't hold much gas , always running out .

Mike

[Michael G]

Al (AC) welding equipment will cost you more than something that will weld Steel (DC). For the money you have, I suspect Al welding will be out of your reach.
However, post 274 of the ebay and other auctions thread
http://www.woodworkforums.com/f65/ebay-other-auctions-metalwork-stuff-149643/index19.html#post1493259
has a WIA tig/ stick machine for sale. The seller has it advertised for $1000, but I bought a T&C grinder from him and he was prepared to take an offer (in my case I let him think about it for a while). He's a good guy so worth contacting.

I get my gas from Supagas. A little cheaper than BOC I think but free delivery in the metro area. Until I can buy a bottle they are probably one of the better suppliers that I'll find.

Michael

[morrisman]

I've read that this business has a good reputation with excellent backup service .

Welding Supply Inverter Welder TIG Welders MIG Welders ARC Welding Supplies Sales service Australia wide (http://www.tokentools.com.au/)

[Stustoys]

SC_RUFCTHi,
As far as gases go, if you think BOC costs to much disposable gas bottles wont make you very happy either(at least according to the figures I saw awhile back). Also you'll need different gases for AL and MS.

Stuart

[Com_VC]

I would have to say the cigweld 175A mig tig arc inverter. They look like a good package and haven't heard anything bad about them. I believe a few forum members have them. I think they are around $900

[Gringo]

crash repair shops use brass wire mig for some welds for less distortion than steel wire

Ken

[Stustoys]

crash repair shops use brass wire mig for some welds for less distortion than steel wire

I've been looking at silcon bronze wire for awhile now and would like to have a play but at $175(ebay) for a 5kg spool it hasnt happened yet. Next time I'm in BOC I'll have a look.

Stuart

[PDW]

I've been looking at silcon bronze wire for awhile now and would like to have a play but at $175(ebay) for a 5kg spool it hasnt happened yet. Next time I'm in BOC I'll have a look.

Stuart

Hmm. I got offered a 15kg spool for free and knocked it back as I didn't see I'd have a use for it.

Wonder if it's still there...

...... but I still can't see what I'd use it for.

PDW

[Stustoys]

...... but I still can't see what I'd use it for.
Same here for the most part but I'm interested to see if it can be used to weld cast. None structural, just for things like filling in oil passages that are to wide or in the wrong place.
Maybe I should just wander into the local panel shop.

Stuart

[PDW]

Same here for the most part but I'm interested to see if it can be used to weld cast.
Stuart

There's a thought. Instead of using epoxy to secure a chunk of bronze to a CI slide a la machtool, weld it in!

I don't think I'll go first trying it though.

PDW

[Jekyll and Hyde]

Same here for the most part but I'm interested to see if it can be used to weld cast. None structural, just for things like filling in oil passages that are to wide or in the wrong place.
Maybe I should just wander into the local panel shop.

Stuart

If you just want to weld up oil passages, you should be able to do it with normal wire pretty easy....

With a Tig at least, silicon bronze is more of a brazing rod, so you can 'weld' lots of stuff together - I've used it to weld two bits of brass together when I machined up a gas fitting for the tig, worked pretty well. Also used it to build up one of the slides in my Dawn cast offset vice to correct the jaw alignment. That was a mistake, the stuff is bloody hard, and takes forever to file down. I used normal mild steel rod for the other one!

Can't remember if you have an oxy set or not, but if you do, I can give you a couple of sticks of silly bronze to play with. AA Industrial sell it too (the rods, that is, although they probably have the mig wire too), not overly expensive from memory, probably because its commonly used in oxy welding or something.

[rascal]

Hi SC RUFCTR
Here's a175 amp Migomag blue that a mate in Adelaide has.It cost about $700 with a roll of wire and a few spare tips. He got the gas (co2) from beer belly in Blair athol.It cost about $250 to buy the cylinder (4.5kg I think)including the first fill,the next fill cost $40.He also got a Micromatic regulator ($89) from them.The Migomag regulator doesn't fit a food grade cylinder.
John

[RustyArc]

I did pretty much the same thing - I got a UniMIG 165 inverter combo machine (MIG + stick) and used gasless wire initially before getting a beer gas bottle and CO2 regulator+flow meter.

Welder was about $850, bottle was $250 delivered off ebay (6Kg - came full of gas - quite a bit taller than the one in the pic above) and about $70 to refill 6 months later at the local homebrew shop, and about $80 for the CO2 regulator from Gasweld.

Very happy with the setup. The arc with CO2 is a bit fiercer than with an Argon/CO2 mix, so not great on very thin sections (less than 1mm) but fine for the work that I do, and I'm not shelling out ~$15 a month bottle rental.

[Stustoys]

There's a thought. Instead of using epoxy to secure a chunk of bronze to a CI slide a la machtool, weld it in!

I don't think I'll go first trying it though.


Well I was thinking of much smaller welds....... but now you have me thinking, I do have the worse T&C grinder table on the planet...... might be worth a try. still thats along way off most likely.

Thanks of the offer J & H but no oxy and I wouldnt want to put that much neat into cast. Yeah bronze is more like glue than welding.

Stuart