Choosing a Welder?

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Choosing a Welder?
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flag hambone2
Posted: Jun 21, 2009 at 10:27 Quote
madeinchinamyass wrote:
ricar wrote:
It's true. If you spend $250 on a cheap welder, then thats $250 you will have to save all over when you want a better one. If you don't spend the $250 then you are $250 closer to a good welder. IMO just save your coin and keep an eagle eye on the papers for a used welder. Also estate sales can be a good place for bargains.

I guess I wanted to get some thing right away but maybe I should wait and save some bills. In the meen time I have and will be practicing gas welding. Thanks for all the help.
AH, gas welding is fun!

try brazing too! (people say its ghetto, but thats probley cause they cant do it) but they are both fun!
flag socalshreder
O+
Posted: Jun 21, 2009 at 14:22 Quote
Brazing will not work on a DH bike. Only Road bikes. You are not really suppose to even mig weld bike frames. Their usually tig welded. But you could get away with mig welding it.
flag jonbikes
Posted: Jun 21, 2009 at 17:46 Quote
socalshreder wrote:
You are not really suppose to even mig weld bike frames.

We've been through that a few times but most people don't seem to get it.
flag ricar
Posted: Jun 21, 2009 at 18:30 Quote
I knew a guy who put big money into a frame building buisness. It took him almost a year to get his fixture. He had everything but, and all he did was bitch about waiting for it. I told him to practice welding. When he finally got the fixture his welds were piss. They looked like bubble gum squished in a line. It took 5 or 6 frames to get the welds looking good but those frames did his reputation no good. I have a friend who has been MIG welding for 15 years or so. He is a machineist and has been trying to get his boss to pick up a TIG machine. I let him run a bead with my machine and I could not belive what he put down. Any welding will help, just practice.
flag hambone2
Posted: Jun 21, 2009 at 23:13 Quote
socalshreder wrote:
Brazing will not work on a DH bike. Only Road bikes. You are not really suppose to even mig weld bike frames. Their usually tig welded. But you could get away with mig welding it.



i wasent talking about making frames... i was talking about learning how to weld... and i feel that brazing is a part of welding and its somthing you should learn how to do!
flag thud
Posted: Jun 22, 2009 at 17:11 Quote
hambone2 wrote:
socalshreder wrote:
Brazing will not work on a DH bike. Only Road bikes. You are not really suppose to even mig weld bike frames. Their usually tig welded. But you could get away with mig welding it.



i wasent talking about making frames... i was talking about learning how to weld... and i feel that brazing is a part of welding and its somthing you should learn how to do!
deffinitly brazing teaches great patients which most people have to learn when welding and deffinitly works on your hand eye movement.
flag hambone2
Posted: Jun 22, 2009 at 18:00 Quote
thud wrote:
hambone2 wrote:
socalshreder wrote:
Brazing will not work on a DH bike. Only Road bikes. You are not really suppose to even mig weld bike frames. Their usually tig welded. But you could get away with mig welding it.



i wasent talking about making frames... i was talking about learning how to weld... and i feel that brazing is a part of welding and its somthing you should learn how to do!
deffinitly brazing teaches great patients which most people have to learn when welding and deffinitly works on your hand eye movement.

yeah! i dont know why people just pick up a mig welder to *learn* how to weld! My uncle taught me how to weld by starting off with a cutting torch and cutting tons of metal, once i could cut good straight lines he taught me how to gas weld/brazing.... then arc welding... then once i got the mig welder in my hand it was a frickin snap! i think you have to lean them basic's before you just grab a mig welder
flag sidekicked
Posted: Jun 22, 2009 at 18:17 Quote
I couldnt agree with these last few post more
flag socalshreder
O+
Posted: Jun 26, 2009 at 11:20 Quote
Brazing is not a form of welding. Its more like gluing or sodering. Welding is fusing to medals togheter, that of the welding wire and the actual materiail. MIG welding will be hard on bike frames cuz I know its hard to weld on Cages and stuff, you dont have much room and you got to angle the gun just right. TIG will produce a much cleaner weld cus its a finner weld and does not have splatter like a MIG. You might be able to mig weld bike frames with a smaller gun and tip.
flag bento
Posted: Jun 26, 2009 at 16:35 Quote
The wall thickness of your tubing will pretty much limit you to TIG. Offers the greatest amount of heat control for a proper weld.

TIG welding is the hardest form of welding, something that I would suggest taking a course to at lest learn the basics (night school courses exist) and then move on to practice before going balls deep into a build and finding out things the hard way.
flag ricar
Posted: Jun 26, 2009 at 18:51 Quote
I don't know about that. Stick is a bitch. That being said I have never really TRIED to stick weld, so maybe some practice would change my opinion....
flag vps-rider
Posted: Jun 27, 2009 at 12:48 Quote
you need tig to weld aluminim nothing else welds it right. tig is the hardest to use and the most expensive. i would say design it and mabie cut the peices then take it to a welding shop and get it done perfect. sometimes if your a kid the welding shop might do it for freeBig Grin
flag ricar
Posted: Jun 27, 2009 at 13:49 Quote
Actually MIG welders do a great job on Alu. You just need BIG$$$ to get one that can handle the job. Aluminium filler is weaker than steel so when the machine pushes your Alu gets all bunged up and it takes forever to clean out the 10lbs of wasted filler that gets all knotted up. Also cheaper welders will bite into ALU filler making things worse. Thing is Alu needs to be welded with AC or DC reverse current. TIG machines can't handle the reverse DC because the tungston melts and the tortch gets too hot to hold. With MIG, the machine is DC reverse.
flag ezekiel
Posted: Jun 27, 2009 at 14:00 Quote
ricar wrote:
I don't know about that. Stick is a bitch. That being said I have never really TRIED to stick weld, so maybe some practice would change my opinion....

Stick welding depends a lot on the rod being used. Certain rods a monkey could burn all day without an issue. Other rods are a lot more temperamental and require a refined technique to use them properly.
flag srobinson
Posted: Jun 27, 2009 at 14:17 Quote
ricar wrote:
I don't know about that. Stick is a bitch. That being said I have never really TRIED to stick weld, so maybe some practice would change my opinion....

Stick really isn't that hard, once you get used to to the fact that you have to keep moving the gun down. I actually prefer it in a lot of situations because it's easier to manure.

IMO, TIG is far easier to weld with than a torch, simply because of the pedal. Being able to adjust the heat in the middle of a weld is something I wish every welder I had (Another reason I like stick, make the arc a little longer, get more heat). Master the torch, and the TIG will come easy. Just remember, TIGs are finicky bastards. Everything must be CLEAN, and your tungsten must be in good condition.

However, that's assuming steel. Aluminum sucks. It sags, it blows apart, it oxidizes, and it's just generally a pain to weld. I would however like to point out that aluminum can be welded by ANY process. My dad has made an aluminum tank fitting with a stick welder, and I know a guy to made an entire aluminum boat with an oxy-acetylene torch. I will never recommend anything but TIG though, because aluminum is so difficult to weld.

 


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