The Welding Thread

[80's_delirious]

The disposable cans are great for one off small jobs. I've used them a couple of times welding alloy. but they get expensive reall quick. The last alloy project I did, I could have bought a cylinder of argon, had a shit load over for a job in the future and been in front with the $$, and that is when being careful with the gas, setting stuff up to minimise welds etc

[blueybob]

im only a app first year, so dont claim being a good welder. but here is some of my work.

[Shieldsy]

im just a poor sparky....but

[norty40]

Hi guys,

I'm looking at purchasing my first mig welder, as the trusty stick is just becoming a bit aged and un suited for some of the jobs I'm doing. Can anyone recommend a small unit that is capable of welding anything from car panels up to a maximum of 8mm plate, between the $500 and $800 dollar mark? The only stipulations are that it needs to run of single phase 240V. I've done some looking around and I'd love one of the Lincoln 180C power migs but the prices I've seen are a bit out of my price range. Has anyone had any dealings with Rossi welders, as some of them that I've seen look very well priced for what you get?

Just to throw a cat among the pigeons, is it possible to buy a mig and plasma combo unit? I've seen the mig/tig/arc and tig/arc/plasma units, but seeing as I already have an arc, I'm wondering if it is possible to purchase a mig and plasma together? Or even a mig/tig/plasma combo?

I know its a lot of questions, but the more I ask, I better chance I have of getting the right welder for my needs.

Cheers,
Patrick

[DUDELUX]

Cant recommend any tig/mig/plasma machines.
But, I love my Lincoln 180C, runs off house power, although I had to run a new 15a line from the fuse box to the shed to run it.
Works on gas and gasless, but I havent done gasless myself, but I know someone that owns the same machine and only does gasless.

[norty40]

Yeah a couple of the places in town had the 180C, but unfortunately both of them wanted a bit more then what I was willing to pay for them.

Has anyone had any dealings with Everlast welders or know much about their reputation? Google seems to be giving me some mixed reviews about their welders.

[bimbo]

I have a token tools tig/stick/plasma which as far as I'm aware are the same as Everlast just painted red instead of green. Mine has been great for the $$ not sure how mig goes though. I have a cig transmig 165 mig which has been fantastic, gone through a few spools of wire and a few bottles of gas in the 8 or so years that I have had it.

[norty40]

Cheers, thats some food for thought. I've seen the Unimig mini mig 180 well priced, and google is telling me that these are pretty good little welders for what I need. Can anyone verify this?

[vanbox]

I recently bought the unimig 190 mts machine and love it. I have only done gasless mig and stick so far.

Paid $1250 and got,
unimig 190 with mig and stick leads
trolley
5kg gasless wire
large view unimig helmet
chipping hammer
wire brush
anti spatter
gas regulator
gloves

I was wrapped considering the best I could buy the machine for was about $980. The helmet retails for $200.

[Jive]

I just bought a boc smooth arc 275c
Will post up some work when I crank some out, anyone else got one of these machines?

[uninformed]

I just bought a boc smooth arc 275c
Will post up some work when I crank some out, anyone else got one of these machines?

I have an older 250c by BOC, actually made by Kemppi. I will be interested to hear what the new ones are like. I believe they are more advanced but now come out of china???

[BumbleBee]

Common all you pro welders... In this 9 page thred there is no pics of TIG welding AC or DC....

[CRUZAAMAD]

righto
kempi and boc had a falling out.
kempi made all boc stick welders, maybe migs too.. by far kempi have the better stick machines by a country mile.
now that boc stuff is made in china, mind you i used the smallest boc caddy to hardface 3 power pole augers, flat out for 2weeks straight, and never overheated, or cut out..that was impressive. and i never let it rest, threw the next rod in fast and away i was, about 80hrs welding.
uni mig is super cheap, and actualy not bad gear. used a few over the years, parts back up a little less than desirable..
cigweld hasnt changed since day one, top quality migs, especialy in the single phase, got a 220 at home, new in 2002 was 1350? got a roll of wire throw in..
boc migs are pretty good, even used the migatronics, one worshop had like 15 machines all migatronics, best was the soft start on the wire mode.
it would slowly build up the wire speed to weld pool on start of welds, absolutely beatifull to use.
massive reliability issues, but thats what you get when 20 guys use the same welder and cant set the machine up right.
and you spend time setting it up right, and that time blows your job out because your always fixing it

no matter what it comes down to the operator of the machine to get the welder running right, and sadly in the trade i see this all the time.
and get it running right, for trouble free use.

i always use tip cleaners on new tips, and file it out just a few times, and the machine runs perfect every time, as well as keep clamps, terminals tight, and check the earth has decent clamping force, amp rating otherwise overheats machine, and stuffs the earth up quicker than a bougati.

[bru21]

Heaps of good welders on grays this week, fronius, wia, lincoln etc... 2 days left

[ledgend80]

i was wondering if any body has used or got one of the following as i was thinking of getting one

kemppi minarcmig adaptive 180

http://www.aitkenwelding.com/documents/ ... 50_180.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Since I got this have not done that much with it and got a roll of flux core but wanted to just run normal wire. So my question is for welding mild steel and aluminum (not together) what shielding gas do I need and can I run the same shielding gas to do both materials or do I need 2 separate bottles.

[GaryP]

Argoshield for mild steel, pure argon for alunminium.

[Shadow]

Ok my first atemp at TIG welding tonight.

This is the welder i'm using. its a cheapo tig/stick/plasma from ebay!


Ive used the plasma cutter a fair bit, and it works great.

Use the stick alot as my mig is 3phase and i don't have 3phase at home D:!



I finally got some pure argon for the tig on saturday so i can finally start to use the tig.



I've tried both foot control and torch switch control. I probably prefer the torch switch control but i realise it gives me no adjustment to the current while im running, so maybe i should just use the foot control and get used to it?

Anyway heres a couple welds on 1.2mm zinc sheet. using 1.6mm red tungstens. Had the peak current at about 80amp.

Dont rubbish me too much


Foot control


Torch switch control


back of the weld using the torch switch.

I welded with them sitting ontop of a piece of 6mm plate for a heatsink/shielding??? should i weld ontop of something else?

Anyone have some tips or advice? I've got alot of 1.2mm sheet lap welding to do on my FJ45 firewall.

should i try get my settings right for the torch switch? (can set background and initial current etc) or should i just get used to a foot control?

[SCANAS]

Anyone want to do a small job on my sailing boat, she's not able to be trailered, can post pics if anyone is keen, it's a two minute job but you'd need to transport you gear, boat is at Newport 4020, material would be stainless.

[CRUZAAMAD]

shadow, if your going to tig the firewall, clean the shit out of the firewall, BOTH SIDES, of paint, and mill scale..
and the peice of steel your welding in, remove the mill scale off both sides, get a better result, pure weld.

piss off the foot control, its more for a setup in a lathe, tig stuff, well thats my thoughts.

on the start up run a 1 second delay to full amps, it will help you get a bearing on where the tungsten is to the job your welding, as in mm off, and you dont want to blow a hole in the sheet steel.

i loove zinc seal, but make sure the its realy clean for the tig.

the heatsink is realy for distorsion purposes.
you know when your settings are right when the weld is a shiny rainbow sort of colours..
hopefully your machine doesnt breakdown, and cant chase up parts being a ebay machine?

[Chook91]

Ok my first atemp at TIG welding tonight.

This is the welder i'm using. its a cheapo tig/stick/plasma from ebay!


Ive used the plasma cutter a fair bit, and it works great.

Use the stick alot as my mig is 3phase and i don't have 3phase at home D:!



I finally got some pure argon for the tig on saturday so i can finally start to use the tig.



I've tried both foot control and torch switch control. I probably prefer the torch switch control but i realise it gives me no adjustment to the current while im running, so maybe i should just use the foot control and get used to it?

Anyway heres a couple welds on 1.2mm zinc sheet. using 1.6mm red tungstens. Had the peak current at about 80amp.

Dont rubbish me too much


Foot control


Torch switch control


back of the weld using the torch switch.

I welded with them sitting ontop of a piece of 6mm plate for a heatsink/shielding??? should i weld ontop of something else?

Anyone have some tips or advice? I've got alot of 1.2mm sheet lap welding to do on my FJ45 firewall.

should i try get my settings right for the torch switch? (can set background and initial current etc) or should i just get used to a foot control?

Forgive my noob-ness but could you do the lap joints without any filler rod? Ive only done my basic TIG at trade school and just for shits and gigs i got 2 pieces of 1.5mm zinc, lapped them and then just proceeded to weld them just using the arc, no filler. Came up pretty good and apparently is acceptable for thinner material. I can imagine that this might not be any good for thicker metals but for 1.2mm you might be able to get away with it. Could one of the more experienced welders chime in and correct me if Im wrong?!?!

Cheers
Chook

[bimbo]

I am only a backyard hack, but imo with tig you can definatly run without filler and just melt the corners into the weldpool. Probably not a bad way to learn as well as you can concentrate on the arc and just move metal around without having to also worry about dabbing filler rod in.

[Shadow]

I am only a backyard hack, but imo with tig you can definatly run without filler and just melt the corners into the weldpool. Probably not a bad way to learn as well as you can concentrate on the arc and just move metal around without having to also worry about dabbing filler rod in.

this is true.

But for me, on 1.2mm zinc sheet, without adding filler wire the top sheet would melt back about 5mm before it would melt together with the bottom sheet

I was always adding filler wire to the edge of the top sheet on the above welds, which pretty muched stopped the top sheet melting back at all.

[SCANAS]

Anyone want to do a small job on my sailing boat, she's not able to be trailered, can post pics if anyone is keen, it's a two minute job but you'd need to transport you gear, boat is at Newport 4020, material would be stainless.

Any Takers?

[rockcrawler31]

Can anyone tell me why my TIG welds have a finish like an Aero bar? It's like the metal is boiling and then solidifying with the bubbles in it. I've got gas flow and coverage and the the metal/electrodes have all been cleaned with acetone. I've tried different levels of current and gas flow with no avail.

HF start so no touching, lanthanated electrodes, mild steel

[Struth]

What gas are you using?
What material are you welding?

Do you still want that quote now that I am reminded?

[rockcrawler31]

100 percent argon

Mild steel

and yes thanks Shaun.

[rockcrawler31]

Figured it out!

Way too much gas. The flow was high enough to be venturi-ing O2 from the atmosphere into the weld and inducing porosity.

[Struth]

So has it settled now?

[rockcrawler31]

Yep! Much better.

[brooksy]

Yep! Much better.

Hope so buggalugs



brooksy