How many of you have a welder?

[Vanilla Sky]

So many issues can be fixed by having a welder sitting around. I've done several exhausts with my second-hand $125 Lincoln flux core. After owning such an easy welder to use, I can't see how anyone can go without one. I've since upgraded from that flux-only Lincoln to a Millermatic 130xp. It's still a small 120V welder, but it will weld anything I'd need to weld here. If I can't weld it here, my buddy has a Millermatic 200 sitting at his shop.

With this all being said, how many of you guys have a welder and know how to use it? I see people here paying to have exhausts systems welded up, and I see so many that want strut tower braces and such, but all of this stuff is pretty simple to put together if you have a welder laying around. My Miller was $200, but it needed a couple of parts. I traded it straight up for my Lincoln, though, because I'd done a good bit of welding for my buddy before he bought his big Miller.

Everyone here seems fairly willing to have stuff made, but no one wants to make it. If you have minimal tools, you really can make anything. We build roll cages and suspension members with nothing more than a couple of grinders and half a wall of measurement tools.

On that note, how many of you guys would like to have some simple shop how to articles to go along with the 3geez stuff? We have the R&D forum, but no one seems to use it. Would a fabrication forum along with some guides to make some of the more popular mods be helpful to you guys?

[A18A]

fabrication forum would be awesome.

I have my mates flux core welder (need to make it gas one day). He never uses it, so it resides in my garage. I would say the quality of my welds are below average, but if I want something done, I'll make it work. My H22 hasn't fallen out of my car yet lol.

It's a really awesome tool to have.

I do "own" a half broken arc welder, but I never use it.

[2oodoor]

There is a milermatic 210 at work i use a good bit it has aluminum and steel leads very nice unit

[AccordEpicenter]

I have a Hobart 120 and Hobart 140 welders, both with C25 gas. I made my turbo manifold, charge piping, exhaust parts etc and brackets for misc parts with the 140 and it works great. I just have angle grinders, one with a grinding wheel and the other with a wire wheel, and a nice milwaukee chop saw and somtimes i can clean things up with a dremel if need be. But yeah, you can make just about anything with this type of setup.

[A20A1]

I want a gas/aluminum conversion kits for my Lincoln so I can run the smaller solid wire to do the thinner gauge metals, also weld aluminum apparently.

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/LCN-K610-1/
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/LCN-K664-2/
$275.43 incl./Shipping to Hawaii

My best investment aside from the welder itself was a good helmet, for a while I was using the hand held face shield that came with my welder and it didn't make things easy.

[Vanilla Sky]

My Miller is spool gun compatible. That's the biggest thing I'd look for, because aluminum wire tends to kink if given the chance. The pisser is that a spool gun is as expensive as my welder.

Hobart also builds some good welders. They're a subsidiary of Miller, so you may find some parts to be identical to Miller. I'm not sure if it's still the case, but Hobarts used to come with Miller torches.

I'm pleasantly surprised to see as many of you have welders as have reported in thus far. Now we all need to start building cool stuff.

[2oodoor]

I would like to build a custom hood like an all metal riser like the oem but raised up 2 or 3 in. Id cut the oem style up about 1.25. In for the overlap and eiher add mtal to the factory panel or possibly use mustang hood skin as donar. Retaining the original hood of course.
All this to make more room underneath<

[Vanilla Sky]

I've always thought about taking 2 Accord hoods and using the body line that's already there, making a taller cowl hood.

[2oodoor]

I've always thought about taking 2 Accord hoods and using the body line that's already there, making a taller cowl hood.

Thats like what I was saying but you said it better

[Vanilla Sky]

Right on.

[Dr_Snooz]

I have an old Dayton something-or-other stick welder waiting for me up the hill. I just need to go pick it up. It was my father's before he died. It's about the size of a large ice chest, but must weigh 90 lbs. I haven't a clue how to use it, so once I get it, I'll be massacring a lot of welds trying to learn.

I also want to learn how to fiberglass. I've done some surfboard repairs but no fab work.

Edit: I think a fab forum would be a credit to the board. We have some serious skill here that we need to show off to the world.

[AccordEpicenter]

My Miller is spool gun compatible. That's the biggest thing I'd look for, because aluminum wire tends to kink if given the chance. The pisser is that a spool gun is as expensive as my welder.

Hobart also builds some good welders. They're a subsidiary of Miller, so you may find some parts to be identical to Miller. I'm not sure if it's still the case, but Hobarts used to come with Miller torches.

I'm pleasantly surprised to see as many of you have welders as have reported in thus far. Now we all need to start building cool stuff.


Yes this is exactly right. Hobart and Miller are made by the same company with similar parts in most machines, and the Millers are a little better made with better quality parts.

[87roach]

The Miller I bought was a great purchase and I never looked back, seriously awesome to be able to zap things together when I want and not having to source someone out to waste my time and money.

[cygnus x-1]

I want a gas/aluminum conversion kits for my Lincoln so I can run the smaller solid wire to do the thinner gauge metals, also weld aluminum apparently.

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/LCN-K610-1/
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/LCN-K664-2/
$275.43 incl./Shipping to Hawaii



It is SO worth converting to gas with MIG. Flux core works ok but it's hard to use on thin materials without blowing holes. And it's very smoky which is bad news in enclosed spaces (garage).

For aluminum consider getting a spool gun.

http://www.amazon.com/Lincoln-K2532-1-Magnum-100Sg-Spool/dp/B000LPWIJK

Newer Lincolns are plug and play with this gun. The older ones will need some rewiring but it's not that hard to do. It is a bit expensive but will make aluminum welding much less of a hassle. I recently picked up one of these guns for my Lincoln 175 but haven't really even tried it yet. Been too busy with other work.

Also you will need a tank of straight argon for aluminum. C25 will kinda-sorta work but the welds will be really porous and generally crappy.


C|

[AccordEpicenter]

guys tell me for welding aluminum, forget the spoolgun and go straight to TIG, they say its the way to go by far.

[Vanilla Sky]

TIG is without a doubt much nicer looking, but you can get perfectly serviceable welds with a MIG and spool gun.

If I had only one machine and couldn't afford a multi-process machine, I'd get a big Miller or Lincoln MIG with a spool gun. I don't want to TIG everything.

If you guys have issues finding good deals on welders, start going to shops, any kind of shop that might have a welder, and ask if they have a welder they're looking to get rid of. It's incredibly common for shops to upgrade and keep the old one around for "bitch work", only to have it sit and collect dust while the new one gets used all the time. One of my buddy's shops has 2 spare welders, a Lincoln and a Miller. They have a third big Miller that sees all of the work.

[cygnus x-1]

TIG is without a doubt much nicer looking, but you can get perfectly serviceable welds with a MIG and spool gun.


It also depends on what you're after. If you just need to tack stuff together and aren't concerned too much with looks then MIG is just fine, and it's way faster. TIG is also expensive, figure at least $1000 to do it right with Al. If you want pretty welds and/or need to do finer work then go for TIG if you can afford it.


C|

[Vanilla Sky]

Agreed. To me, TIG is for precision work or something you need to look good. MIG is for steel and just getting the job done. Pretty much anything can be welded with any process, pick what your wallet can afford and what your primary goals are.

I'm into welding for body work and exhaust work. Some cages and stuff. I've been doing well with a flux core welder, so MIG was the logical step up. If I wanted to work on thin stainless and any aluminum as my primary materials, I'd skip straight over to TIG.

No matter, I'm learning it all. No reason to only learn half of something.

[hondalude86]

I bought a used hobart handler 140 last summer for 250 bucks! It came with the little basic pony cart (made by hobart), random spools of wire (mostly flux core), an autodimming facesheild, and an upgraded teflon lined miller torch on it. works great! I love it, and only recently did i upgrade to gas. Insane how much easier and cleaner gas is. I also bought an argon tank, but haven't filled it yet. Here is a picture of me welding...
http://i180.photobucket.com/albums/x319/hondalude86/IMG_3786.jpg

[cygnus x-1]

Just thought I would mention; For MIG on regular steel you need an argon/CO2 mix gas. For stainless and aluminum you need straight argon. For TIG you use straight argon for most everything.

C|

[A20A1]

I bought a used hobart handler 140 last summer for 250 bucks! It came with the little basic pony cart (made by hobart), random spools of wire (mostly flux core), an autodimming facesheild, and an upgraded teflon lined miller torch on it. works great! I love it, and only recently did i upgrade to gas. Insane how much easier and cleaner gas is. I also bought an argon tank, but haven't filled it yet. Here is a picture of me welding...


Nice welding jacket. I need one, I was welding something above my head and wrapped my head in a wet towel but had plenty of molten sparks go right thru my clothing and embed themselves into my shoulder and forearm.

[Vanilla Sky]

I need a set of leather coveralls for welding under my Jeep. I have a nomex balaclava that I wear when I'm welding anything overhead, but it still doesn't protect anything but my head.

[nswst8]

Yeh, my brother owns a welding shop in Bakersfield, CA and I go as often as I can, I have a Millermatic 211. It is dual voltage 110/230. I'm nowhere near as good as he is but it is great to have a full shop to play around in.

[Oldblueaccord]

My Miller is spool gun compatible. That's the biggest thing I'd look for, because aluminum wire tends to kink if given the chance. The pisser is that a spool gun is as expensive as my welder.

Hobart also builds some good welders. They're a subsidiary of Miller, so you may find some parts to be identical to Miller. I'm not sure if it's still the case, but Hobarts used to come with Miller torches.

I'm pleasantly surprised to see as many of you have welders as have reported in thus far. Now we all need to start building cool stuff.

http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200482227_200482227

I bought this one last year. I was thinking I would use the gun with regular wire and keep the machine set for light gauge wire. Sadly I wired it up and ran it on flux core for 30 secs and haven't used it since. I had a chance to weld up a pickup truck AL tool box with it but I didn't have the argon bottle and mines brand new full. You can't do lighter gauge AL with it.


I still grab the old Century 110v. its like grabbing a hammer out of the bottom drawer of my tool box its so easy.That and about 80' of 10 guage extension cord cant go wrong.

wp

[Buzo]

So electric arc welders are obsolete? Its the one I have at home :sad2:.
I used it the last time to modify my dizzy and convert it into a cam sensor, I use it mostly for "pointing" things together, not for welding big surfaces.

I also recall I saw one in a shop made with a 5 gals can filled with salt and water, I believe. Not sure how it was interconnected, but it worked pretty good!

[Vanilla Sky]

Obsolete, maybe. Will it get the job done without much hassle? Yup. If you know how to work the machine, there's no reason to run out and buy the latest and greatest thing out there. The name on the machine and the process used makes no difference if you're able to do the work with it.

I mean, how many of us have ratchet shaped hammers? They still hammer, right?

[hondalude86]

Hahaha, i use my 1/2 ratchet for hammering almost as often as i use it to ratchet! Either way...
Im going to get my argon bottle filled soon... time to do some stainless/aluminum welding. Ive gotta fix the exhaust on a series of cars so, could be worth having some argon for that. I thought you had to have 98%argon/2%oxygen for stainless, but if 100% ar works, fuck yeah

[cygnus x-1]

Hahaha, i use my 1/2 ratchet for hammering almost as often as i use it to ratchet! Either way...
Im going to get my argon bottle filled soon... time to do some stainless/aluminum welding. Ive gotta fix the exhaust on a series of cars so, could be worth having some argon for that. I thought you had to have 98%argon/2%oxygen for stainless, but if 100% ar works, fuck yeah


It seems to vary depending on the process used and who you ask. For short circuit (which is what we would be doing) I think you can get away with straight argon, although it's not the best. It also looks like you may be able to use C25 as well if you aren't too concerned about long term corrosion resistance or it being a bit messier. And then there are the tri-mixes. Oh the confusion...

C|

[dieselgus]

I have been very happy with my Diversion 180 (I do a lot of aluminum TIG at work building bracketry and such for police cars. Humidity is so high here and right on the ocean that steel is just a pain in the ass to deal with a lot of the time. Alu and a good epoxy paint serves us well). Even more so once I swapped out the stock torch body for a proper 17 series with good gas lenses/diffusers instead of the standard collet body/cup. I do miss the syncro 350 we had at the other shop a bit, just because it was a badass machine all around (and it didn't even flinch doing 180A for many hours at a time).

Probably grab a MIG at some point just to have around (211 I am thinking. Nothing big or fancy), and would like to have a plasma. But that is down the road. We don't do a lot of intense fabricating, but I do like tools. And one can never go wrong with the Blue stuff at all. I am with Vanilla though. Arc is by no means obsolete at all. In fact it is still the preferred process for a lot of large scale manufacturing and for outdoor environment welding where you need to just git er done. I learned to weld on stick, and welded stick for many many years. Leave me alone with some 6018 rods and a machine for a few min, and I can be running nice beads in no time.

I still like TIG. Something about the process I find nice and relaxing.

[conozo]

I'm confused on what to get, I have$200 and want to weld some body panels together for rust repair, probably an exhaust here and there and some small brackets, which kind/type of welder should I get.

[cygnus x-1]

I'm confused on what to get, I have$200 and want to weld some body panels together for rust repair, probably an exhaust here and there and some small brackets, which kind/type of welder should I get.


For sheet metal work MIG (with gas) is the way to go. A 120V machine will have enough power but you really do need to use solid wire with shielding gas. Flux core wire splatters more and it's difficult to weld thin material without blowing holes in it.

At the very least get a machine that can be converted to use gas even if you don't get the gas right away. That way you can first practice with flux core and see if it fits your needs. Then upgrade to gas when you can.

C|

[Vanilla Sky]

See if you can pick up a good used Lincoln, Hobart, or Miller MIG welder secondhand. Have someone show you around welders a bit in person before looking. If you're going to be shopping craigslist or such, cheap welders go FAST. When I bought my Lincoln flux core welder, I called the guy 30 minutes after he posted, showed up less than an hour later, and went home with it.

[hondalude86]

Its true, ive even been beat to the purchase by minutes. And as an odd twist i bought a welder that a local bought to flip. I too contacted him within the hour it was posted. Theres plenty of good deals.ou there, so dont be too discouraged when looking

[AccordEpicenter]

I scored my Hobart 120 with a c25 cylinder and wire for $100 because he said he never could get it work right (co worker) told him it was a deal and picked it up on the way home from work. It was a little dirty but the problems he was having were really easy fixes, he had the wrong wire size groove on the feed roller on the unit (just flip it over) the tip in the torch was junk, and the regulator on the tank was turned down wayy too far. Once I fixed these things and played with it for 20 min the welds were almost as good as my 140, and my 140 is a pretty nice machine. But for $100 with a c25 cylinder its an absolute steal :)

[hondalude86]

badass, that sounds like a killer deal, just a tank of c25 is more than 100 bucks!

[Oldblueaccord]

I'm confused on what to get, I have$200 and want to weld some body panels together for rust repair, probably an exhaust here and there and some small brackets, which kind/type of welder should I get.


for 200$ gonna be tuff. I use my Century 110v for light weight metal but I don;t think you should use fluxcore for body work(paint over). Something that runs the .023 wire is what your after. You might look at brazing with a torch in the price range.

wp

[Dr_Snooz]

Here's a good how-to video for beginning welders. It was the second result on Google for "how to stick weld."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mH2PoF10lFQ

So, if I understand this right, a beginning welder should:

1. Wear short sleeves, shorts and flip flops
2. Weld with one hand while holding a camera in the other
3. Make thin metal his first project
4. Perch the weld on an unstable surface that he has to stoop over
5. What are clamps?
6. Strive for extremely deep penetration, melting into the metal as much as possible
7. Leave big gaping holes in his muffler bends
8. Weld over his new rotary tool and next to a shelf full of spray paint and his nicely painted car

So, yeah. I think I've got it. Does anyone else have anything to add?







:rofl:

[87roach]

Nope, but I did enjoy your comments haha.

[hondalude86]

Don't forget,
Must be wearing flip flops
Fleece face mask
Always weld on concrete!