mopar98,if ur doing tig always that because the pieces ur doing are better done whit tig,u wont make a pieces whit tig when u can use mig whit same result... too much time consuming right?

 

I agree Wali about the time consuming part.
The main reason is clearance issues. We can't get Mig guns in some of the tubing bends.
The shop has been looking into more ways of increaseing easy access to the joints , but
I don't see them redesigning the cooling unit that we build again.
The last time we went through this we had 3 different model changes in a year.
Engineers aren't they great

 

Engirneers.. ROFL
i make building steel structures and engineers are sometime asking my advice for stuff they dont even know how to make!they know how to calculate stuff but sometime crazy stuff need to be made and they call me!
This is fun to see a group of guys around 50years olds asking the young one what they need to do...

This is not happening all the time,only 2-3 time every years but those time im so proud hehe :P
my 2 minutes of glory

 

Personally I like TIG, but that is just because you have so much control with it and most of the time I'm not doing long welds where a MIG would speed up the job much. Personally I wouldn't buy a stick welder, but that is just because I've used MIG and TIG and like them so much better. MIG is a lot easier to learn, the biggest trick is just setting up the welder, once you have the settings right it is easy to make decent welds.

 

I work in food processing plants (mainly milk plants) I TIG everything,it is time consuming but very precise. If you a fabbing parts you can't go wrong with it. Also it is very easy to learn.

 

I love stick cause you can burn through anything. I love tig because of its precision. I love mig cause its fast and easy (just like my ex girlfriend).

 

haha, thanks again! hopefully i can work something out! i'd love to learn how to fabricate and i've wanted to for a long time... lack of garage, or a plce to work, and no fabrication tools or knowledge at present makes it pretty hard!

 

i see everybody reccommending miller and lincoln which are both good brands but for the price and the amount of use it would be getting id get a hobart stickmate. hobart is made by miller--think of it as the great value brand spaghetti-os versus the campbell spaghetti-os. same thing pretty much but cheaper. i know tractor supply company has em so you could check out their website but for more detailed information youd probably have to look on the actual hobart website. i came close to buying one but couldnt justify it since until may atleast i can bring all my stuff that needs to be welded up to the school and use their machines. but one of my buddies has the exact same machine and it works great, itll fit in the backseat of a truck, its pretty heavy, but a grown man can carry it around and lift it with no problems. make sure not to skimp on a hood either, you dont have to spend alot of money just get a good one. the one i keep in my truck cost me about 20 bucks and has the flip up lense so i can use it as a faceshield for grinding too. the second one i have cost about 40 bucks and has the extra large lense. they are more expensive to replace when it comes time to change the lenses, but i love the extra visibility it gives me, and that way if your mask shifts around on you while youre welding you can still see. get a couple pairs of gloves, youd be surprised how quickly you can ruin a pair when youre doing that kind of work.

another thing to look into if youre gonna be working with metal is a oxy-acetylene torch. tractor supply sells a complete rig with a no.3 oxygen and no.3 acetylene bottle, a cart with wheels, all your gauges, regulators, cutting goggles, torch with spare tips, and hoses for like $600 bucks. basically you are paying for the bottles and getting the rest of the stuff for about $20 bucks extra which is a really good deal.

 

Man all of this talk about welding is kinda inspiring me to try my welder out. I have a mig welder that I can also hook some sort of gas bottle to. Do I need to? If so, what kinda gas?

I got one of those auto darkening helmets. How do you kow if it's any good? How do you know when the bateries are dead?

What about that welding that you see useing some sort of torch? What's that all about?

 

The gas is argon & oxygen (2 separate tanks), the helmet does take batteries, it auto darkens from the intense bright light. The torch welding is brazing, not near as strong of a weld, it's just a different tip that you put on the end of a oxygen & acetylene torch.