Need A Welder's Opinion.

[Bondo]

Re: Need A Welder's Opinion.

You mentioned welding outside-a light breeze can blow the gas away from your weld,messing up your welds.You may need some type of tarp,or sheet to keep the wind off of your tip..

Ayuh,.........

Or use the Flux cored wire.............

 

[wire2]

Re: Need A Welder's Opinion.

A detail that didn't come up but may be important to someone reading;

Tig welding aluminum requires an AC power source with high frequency.

A molten puddle of aluminum forms a surface layer of oxide instantly, it must be dispersed by the current constantly reversing, the high frequency must be on continuously to re-start the arc.

 

[MikDee]

Re: Need A Welder's Opinion.

Yes, this is so, the TIG machine has to be AC, aluminum is one of the toughest things to weld, I've only done a little bit, but I am familiar with it. The high frequency zaps you if you're not careful,,,lol. We used high frequency DC straight polarity on our TIG handles inside the Nuclear reactor when welding stainless, & inconel, to prevent arc strikes, along with an adjustable time/amperage up slope, and a button for an adjustable time/amperage downslope.

 

[PondTunes]

Re: Need A Welder's Opinion.

hey pondtunes, are those boards running down the middle of your trailer walk boards? If so, I would put some non skid something on them. 2 by material seems to always be very slick when wet, and it hurts to fall on a ramp. Also, your bunks seem high, is there anything that sticks down below the toons? Seems you could save a little bit of altitude, and help in shallow ramps. Maybe I am missing something.

Yeah they're walk boards and I do intend on covering them with something Even uncovered they work great for loading, now that i've got the boat on it i'll be building a ladder/winch platform/front stop & some guide bunks just had to get the boat on there to do it.

Nothing sticks down below the toons the keel of the toons has about 2 inches of clearance down to the steel braces. My boat was in a lake here that is about 6.8 feet below full and I recovered the boat pretty easily.

Part of the altitude here is due to the 13" wheels, when I was building the trailer I knew it was going to have brakes. 13" wheels is the smallest size that will work with electric brakes. My old trailer was one of the between the toons trailers and was about 53" wide it was very unstable and I wanted to be able to travel with a good safe trailer. The new trailer's frame rails ride right under the keels on the pontoons (74 1/2" on center) and pulls/backs like a dream.

Once I add the winch/ladder platform I'll post some more pictures with the actual boat on the trailer.

 

[Reinellchris]

Re: Need A Welder's Opinion.

you can also weld aluminum with a spool gun they work very well specially the push/pull type built my new fuel tank with one.your new welder will work ok just make sure what your welding is clean.no rust.rust and slag do not burn
and no exposed skin as the sun burn is not worth it.un like occ
good luck

 

[MikDee]

Re: Need A Welder's Opinion.

you can also weld aluminum with a spool gun they work very well specially the push/pull type built my new fuel tank with one.your new welder will work ok just make sure what your welding is clean.no rust.rust and slag do not burn
and no exposed skin as the sun burn is not worth it.un like occ
good luck

Please tell me more about this spool gun? does it attach to a mig machine?

I used to arc weld on a table, on the jobsite in the hot summer using short sleeves with welding gloves but ocassionally my foreams still got a nice red color,,,lol,,, the worst was getting a bad arc burn at my neck (a bright red V) one time when I thought I was all covered up,,,

 

[alloffroad]

Re: Need A Welder's Opinion.

I was a union iron worker for 5 1/2 years. I did a lot of welding with stick and wire. With stick you can buy long leads and ground cables to do remote work. With wire the welder needs to be under your feet all of the time. Stick is easier to learn in my opinion but if you plan on welding thin metals you will want a wire feed. I have filled gaps with my Lincoln Electric 125, an inch deep and 1 1/2 inches wide. It took a while but it did the job. I prefer wire over stick because you don't have to stop in the middle of a bead to change sticks and I do a lot of thin metal welding. My welder is convertable to mig with a tank but as long as you clean the weld before laying the next layer over it you shouldn't need the tank. I priced them at about $150.00 deposit plus fill and $45 a fill for the 10 pound bottle. Of course if you are rich a large 220 or 440 volt mig welder is great but I got my welder as a referb on ebay for just over $500.

 

[luckyinkentucky]

Re: Need A Welder's Opinion.

Let me ask you guys this. Can you weld aluminum to steel? If so .... what type of Shielded wire would I need?

Also, what type of wire is needed for cast iron welding? I'm going to build a camping grill for my dutch ovens.

 

[alloffroad]

Re: Need A Welder's Opinion.

Steel to aluminum will oxidize. Some kind of metalargy. even just bolting the two together will oxidize they would need to be sepparated by a neutral material like rubber. Also aluminum melts at a much lower temp that steel so the aluminum would just burn up.
As far as cast iron welding. I don't think it would be wise if at all possible. I don't have any experiance with it so some one else might know better.

 

[MikDee]

Re: Need A Welder's Opinion.

Wow, you're asking for the world! Aside from aluminum, Cast Iron is tough to weld, usually beyond a beginner, you need a special rod, that maybe only available for arc welding, not mig, and you must preheat the casting, even then when you get done welding, you might hear a big crack! Brazing it with an oxy -acetylene torch would probably be easier.

 

[reelfishin]

Re: Need A Welder's Opinion.

Steel cannot be "welded" to aluminum, they are dissimilar metals. There are ways in which the two can be bonded or laminated so to speak but not welded by any conventional means.

I've done light fabrication for at least 20 years now, both professionally and for my own personal use. The best all around welder that you could buy would be a portable MIG welder or wire feed welder, with the gas option. It would allow you to do most all basic repairs and with a change in wire and gas bottle, you could handle some light aluminum repair.

TIG welding is better for aluminum, but the TIG welder would be a greater investment and it takes a bit more practice to master. A TIG welder would be able to weld just about anything you wish as well.

Myself, my first choice for aluminum repair is a TIG welder with the MIG welder being second. I generally go with the TIG welder on thinner metal or where heat absorption might be harmful to either the surrounding area or to the strength of the overall piece.

Stick welding has it's place but both MIG and TIG leave a much cleaner weld. If your only concern is light welding on steel, then maybe a basic wire feed welder with the Inner Shield, (Flux Core), type wire would be fine.

The best way to get the hang of it is to do it. The most affordable machines are imported, but I would recommend spending a bit more and going with a good solid machine. I prefer Lincoln welders, but Miller or Hobart are also good machines. Hobart and Miller are the same manufacturer, Hobart is more consumer oriented while Miller is more marketed to the professional shop.
You may want to go talk to your local welding supply, they usually have a good selection and should be able to give you a demo of each machine. Most that I deal with let you try each machine right there in the store. That's not an option at a place like Sears or similar type stores. An import wire feed welder starts around $100 for a 110 VAC unit, but I would highly recommend stepping up to a 220 Volt unit, while it's not convenient as the 110 volt unit, most 110 Volt welders are 20 amp or higher and often require a separate line anyhow. Many of the China made welders are 23 amp, and 10% or less duty cycle. (The higher the duty cycle the better, meaning that you can weld longer without giving the welder a break to cool down). The best professional models are 100% duty cycle. I have several MIG welders, the best portable I have is an older Lincoln SP130 it's a small portable with the gas option. It will weld just about anything up to about 1/2" or so with no problems. My main shop welders are Lincoln SP200's, and one SP250. My TIG welder is an older Lincoln TIG 225, but I will most likely upgrade that soon to a water cooled torch and more amps.

Here's a few links that may be helpful:

http://www.aws.org/w/a/

http://www.expertvillage.com/interviews/mig-welding.htm

http://www.artsautomotive.com/HowToWeldAluminum.htm

 

[dlngr]

Re: Need A Welder's Opinion.

The history channel had a good 'Modern Marvels-Welding'' show on just last night,all about stick,mig,tig,under water,etc. Look for reruns. I've heard of explosion welding before,but didn't know what is was. they laminate sheets of different metals together by covering them with an explosive powder and boom! It's called 'clad'-used a lot in refineries and power plants.
they also showed a joint on a skyscraper,a weld 5 inches deep,done with flux-cored wire.Takes 2 men 30 hours for each joint! I love welding,but not that much!

 

[luckyinkentucky]

Re: Need A Welder's Opinion.

So, in building a camping grill should I just use regular iron and paint it with grill paint? I've seen ones around that you use for cooking over a fire and using dutch ovens. I think they are made of iron, and not cast iron like I thought earlier. Cast iron would be very heavy, and I wouldn't want to lug that around. I have a 14 quart Lodge that weighs somewhere in the neighborhood of 30 lbs.


So, in an outdoor grilling environment should I use iron painted with grill paint?

 

[Zero Balance]

Re: Need A Welder's Opinion.

Ayuh,.........

Or use the Flux cored wire.............

Yep, thats likely what your trailers and farm doo dads are built with anyhow. Go with a 70xx series wire & gitter done..

But then again I'm no expert....

 

[PondTunes]

Re: Need A Welder's Opinion.

Let me ask you guys this. Can you weld aluminum to steel? If so .... what type of Shielded wire would I need?

Also, what type of wire is needed for cast iron welding? I'm going to build a camping grill for my dutch ovens.

Yeah aluminum to steel isn't possible in fact you shouldn't even bolt aluminum together using steel fasteners! Different properties in the metals can cause corrosion and other problems! Using steel hangars on copper water pipe will contaminate the water as reactions occur between the two metals.

The only way to weld cast iron is using a nickel rod like mentioned before cast iron is hard to weld, brazing is probably a better option.

 

[Zero Balance]

Re: Need A Welder's Opinion.

Actually any nonferrous metal can be joined to a ferrous basemetal through more unconventional welding practices however, these practices are not your run of the mill Arc Welding processes. Solid state weld process rely on a molecular excitement of various sorts to accuire the coalesant necessary to promote an acutal molecular bond. some of these methods use friction as well as explosives, Ultrasound, lasers, etc.

Basically its done a lot just not something the average welder would deal with.

 

[erikgreen]

Re: Need A Welder's Opinion.

Here's my 2 cents on what's been posted in this thread.

1) Harbor freight welders - not a bad place to start, they really make you appreciate a better quality welder when you get one. They can be made more workable if you toss the supplied mig flux wire and tip and get yourself a hobart or miller spool and tip.

2) Welding cast iron is possible - you need to have the right machine for it or torch, and you have to pre-heat and post-heat, and even then it won't be as good as the original casting... but it may be an option.

3) Welding aluminum is tough.. I just got a new tig rig and I'm starting this. The major hard part is knowing when you've melted the metal... it doesn't glow as it heats, so it goes solid-liquid right quick.

4) Aluminum can also be welded with a mig spool gun (to keep the wire run short) and a bottle of pure argon. Lincoln may have an add-on gun you can use for this - check their catalog.

5) Spend 50% as much money on safety gear as you did on the welder. An auto-darkening helmet is worth the cost, as are well fitting gloves and a high neck overshirt. A fire extinguisher isn't a bad idea either. Ventilate your work area, flux welding gases are hard on your lungs (poison).

6)NEVER weld anything galvanized or zinc coated without grinding off the coating. Vaporizing the galv. coating on a 10x10 inch sheet of metal and inhaling it will kill you fairly quickly.

7)Consider investing in a cheap metal cutting bandsaw, they chew through metal faster and cleaner than a torch.. Other than the welder, it's the best tool I have.

Edit: 8) Forgot - for dissimilar metals, you can braze. Think of this process as high temperature soldering or silver soldering. For some applications, it's perfect. For those requiring very high strength or temperature resistance, probably not. It also is difficult to do, takes time to learn properly.

Finally, enjoy. When you can weld, you can build all sorts of things most other people make sloppily out of wood or bolt together.

Erik

 

[wire2]

Re: Need A Welder's Opinion.

A power source that hasn't been mentioned yet, is an inverter.

They're a small fraction the weight of a transformer type welder.

Instead of stepping voltage down/current up, an inverter takes the 60 cycle AC line through a rectifier bridge to make DC, stores it on some big capacitors, then uses power transistors to pulse it at 8-10 Khz to the output. The width of the pulses changes automatically to maintain a dialed output of xx volts, DC.

Many will accept what ever power is available, 115, 230 or 440 automatically. They're extremely efficient, a lunchbox sized one of ~15 lbs will output 100+ A from a 12 A, 115 V outlet, 175 A from 230 V.

They're ideal for stick or tig work in high or inaccessible places.

There's usually several on eBay any time.

 

[bassboy1]

Re: Need A Welder's Opinion.

Yeah they're walk boards and I do intend on covering them with something Even uncovered they work great for loading, now that i've got the boat on it i'll be building a ladder/winch platform/front stop & some guide bunks just had to get the boat on there to do it.

Nothing sticks down below the toons the keel of the toons has about 2 inches of clearance down to the steel braces. My boat was in a lake here that is about 6.8 feet below full and I recovered the boat pretty easily.

Part of the altitude here is due to the 13" wheels, when I was building the trailer I knew it was going to have brakes. 13" wheels is the smallest size that will work with electric brakes. My old trailer was one of the between the toons trailers and was about 53" wide it was very unstable and I wanted to be able to travel with a good safe trailer. The new trailer's frame rails ride right under the keels on the pontoons (74 1/2" on center) and pulls/backs like a dream.

Once I add the winch/ladder platform I'll post some more pictures with the actual boat on the trailer.

Hmm. Just looked to me like the channel down bar connecting the bunk assembly to the frame was sorta long, and it mighta made it higher than needed. But then again, I am looking at a lone picture, and not the whole thing, and have never even seen the boat. BTW, I understand completely on the wheel thing. We don't believe in anything smaller than 12 inch, and those only go on light jon boats. The rest will have 13s, and 14s.

 

[dingbat]

Re: Need A Welder's Opinion.

6) Vaporizing the galv. coating on a 10x10 inch sheet of metal and inhaling it will kill you fairly quickly.

True but quite a bit overstated. Take it from an iron worker who for a number of years cut down and cut up using a torch more than a few 1 million gallon storage tanks that had multiple layers of zinc and zinc chromate paints on them.

I used to stop once or twice a week on the way home to grab a gallon of milk to drink to keep from throwing up on the ride home after spending the day cutting scrap. This is back in the days when we didn?t wear respirators and just sucked up the effects. We used to make fun of the guys that had rough evening the night before.

In hindsight, we where stupid but I?m still here, so far.