What did you do in your garage today..? | Page 194 | GTAMotorcycle.com

What did you do in your garage today..?

bitzz said:
Welder advice: No matter what you buy, you regret not buying a bigger/better one.
... that means there are always lots of great deals on used welders
... and if you plan on welding motorcycle stuff, get a TIG
... and not to a welder snob, but buy name brand, that way when the thing breaks down you can get parts... and new welders gots more bells and whistles than new cars. I learned on a welder with 3 settings: amperage, on, off. My current TIG looks like a jet cockpit
Click to expand...
Good advice, but starting with TIG is expensive and not so easy.

I've tried a bunch of cheapo MIG welders, were all great. For a beginner, I'd buy a 120V synergic inverter Flux-core MIG off Amazon, <$200. Welding 14 gauge steel and stainless up to 3/16" is doable for a beginner with one of these welders. If you're dead set on brand names, buy from a welding store -- the Lincoln MigPaks sold at CTC & HD are made for big box stores -- no different than any cheap Chinese welder - not worth the $500 premium (we have one, it's junk).
  • Mig and stick are easy to learn. TIG is not as easy.
  • Stick and flux-core Mig weld without gas. TIG and MIG need gas. A bottle costs $350-$500. Welding uses about 15CFM/hr or about $10 of gas/hr when you're on the trigger.
  • Flux core can be messy -- plenty of splatter, soot, and burn holes on thin metal. Mig and Arc are better, TIG is the cleanest.
  • Flux core welding thin metals (under 14guage) is hard, MIG, Arc, TIG handle 24guage before getting tricky.
  • Wire and rod prices for all of them are relatively cheap for steel welding.
  • Stick and flux-core Mig welds can be done outdoors, TIG and MIG likes to be done inside (zero breeze)
I have all 3 types in my garage, most of my welding is sheet metal fab. My goto is a Hobart 140 MIG, been a few years since I fired up the Arc or TIG.
 
Ash said:
Does yours use a regular 15A plug? I've only got 15A circuits in the garage to work with, and I wasn't clear if the larger units require a 20A circuit (eg: the cheapo PowerFist fluxcore machine has a max amperage draw of 23A. Even the mini stick machine has a max draw of 20A, but has a 15A plug on it).

edit: the manuals for both of these say they require a 20A circuit, despite the 15A plug on the little one.

Is a flux core machine easier to use or significantly better at some things than stick? Skill-wise, I'm guessing the main difference is just figuring out the wire feed rate?
Click to expand...
They will pop a 15A breaker after about a minute on high. Most welding is on and off the trigger, if you're running 30% duty cycle in a 2 minute period -- I doubt you'll pop a breaker.
 
Mad Mike said:
They will pop a 15A breaker after about a minute on high. Most welding is on and off the trigger, if you're running 30% duty cycle in a 2 minute period -- I doubt you'll pop a breaker.
Click to expand...
Cheaper to aim an air conditioning duct at your breaker panel than it is to upgrade wiring. ;)
 
Mad Mike said:
but starting with TIG is expensive and not so easy
Click to expand...
True, but for us motorcycle folks, TIG is infinitely more useful.
Not easy? nothing is easy. It is "easier" to bodge two steel plates together with a MIG than a TIG, but it's not welding.
I've got a pulse AC/DC... and using pulse on steel feels like cheating... it's comparatively EASY (I grew up gas welding, so TIG came kinda natural. I can't stick or MIG to save my life. But the day I brought home my current machine, I welded two razor blades together (nice bead if I say do so myself, IIRC about 12v/ 2A) cuz that's what one does, and that was before I figured out you could use pulse on steel)
Stickin two pieces of steel together is "easier" with a MIG, learning how to weld them together is much steeper curve, no matter what process. TIG has a gas pedal, MIG doesn't (gas pedal like in your car, to make it faster or slower, not an argon gas pedal)

And there's no el'cheapo MIGs with a 30% duty cycle, more like 5 -10%, so no more than 6 minutes an hour, with lots of time to cool, or you blow fuses... glorified spot welders. A 30% welder is not going to be cheap.
 
bitzz said:
True, but for us motorcycle folks, TIG is infinitely more useful.
Not easy? nothing is easy. It is "easier" to bodge two steel plates together with a MIG than a TIG, but it's not welding.
I've got a pulse AC/DC... and using pulse on steel feels like cheating... it's comparatively EASY (I grew up gas welding, so TIG came kinda natural. I can't stick or MIG to save my life. But the day I brought home my current machine, I welded two razor blades together (nice bead if I say do so myself, IIRC about 12v/ 2A) cuz that's what one does, and that was before I figured out you could use pulse on steel)
Stickin two pieces of steel together is "easier" with a MIG, learning how to weld them together is much steeper curve, no matter what process. TIG has a gas pedal, MIG doesn't (gas pedal like in your car, to make it faster or slower, not an argon gas pedal)

And there's no el'cheapo MIGs with a 30% duty cycle, more like 5 -10%, so no more than 6 minutes an hour, with lots of time to cool, or you blow fuses... glorified spot welders. A 30% welder is not going to be cheap.
Click to expand...
Hard to say what’s more useful. I’d sharpen up my TIG if I was doing metal finish work, building tanks or repairing cases, but for fabricating or repairing steel stuff, I like the ease, versatility, speed of MIG (TIG is sloooow).

As for duty cycle, unless you’re fabricating really big stuff at full power the 140a cheapies won’t blow thru their duty cycle. It should run 1’ of continuous bead a minute on 3/16 material and non stop 1/8. Remember mig moves way faster than TIG, so your on the trigger much less.
Forum Sponsor
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top Bottom