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Welding

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Ed_McCarron:
Oh, and invest in an automatic shade for your hood.  Makes it SO much easier to start the weld its silly.

SavannahLion:

--- Quote from: Malenko on April 05, 2010, 11:43:14 am ---WHAT do you want to weld? that'll narrow down what you need to learn

--- End quote ---

Ultimately, aluminum. Most likely the thinner gauges. Tubes and the like.


--- Quote from: Ed_McCarron on April 05, 2010, 02:36:12 pm ---MIG is easier than stick IMHO.  Think of it as a glue gun for steel.  Set the heat and speed right and you just start sticking chunks of steel together.

--- End quote ---

And both are easier (and/or cheaper) than TIG?


--- Quote ---But they will NOT have gas capabilities unless you spend much more.
Take a class.... lots of Technology schools offer them.

--- End quote ---

I've considered that, but I'd like to be a little bit more educated about what direction I want to learn with. I've made a few mistakes taking classes that swamped my time unnecessarily when I could've better applied that time elsewhere. The time I spent learning VB probably could've been better applied towards C. Oh well, live and learn.

--- Quote ---EDit:  My little $600 MIG setup can weld Al, but it's a pain.  Steel turns red when it's hot.  It's easy to tell when you're about to melt it into oblivion.  Al, not so much.  It just goes from silver to silver and then falls apart.  You'll need straight Argon instead of the mixed gas you'd use for steel, and a separate liner for the feed, or a spool gun.  I think adding the aluminum capability cost me about $300.

--- End quote ---

So is TIG really not necessary if you've got a MIG machine? Everything I read seems to indicate TIG is the preferred method for welding aluminum and welding al with a MIG seems to be some kind of hack or something. I'm OK with hacks, I just don't want to complicate things unnecessarily in the long run.

Kevin Mullins:
If I personally had to recommend ONE method to encompass what you are describing that you want to do then it would be TIG.

But.... a decent TIG unit can be spendy.

An inexpensive ARC and MIG unit can be had easy enough for fartin' around the house. (steel mostly)
Think of ARC as for doing the big badass stuff, MIG for the smaller stuff...... thin, detailed, complex alloys, etc.... TIG.

If you plan on doing tubing, find a course that teaches towards 6G certification.

Don't let any of it intimidate you, it's an art form.  ;)

SavannahLion:

--- Quote from: Kevin Mullins on April 06, 2010, 11:16:28 pm ---Don't let any of it intimidate you, it's an art form.  ;)

--- End quote ---

I failed art.

Ed_McCarron:
TIG is definitely the preferred method for anything 'exotic' -- and by that I mean not steel.

The more you weld, the better you get.  I still can't do sheet metal without burning a hole in it, yet my buddy with a tig can damn near weld soda cans together.

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