Welding Advice Needed

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Bill_Rittner

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I would like to be able to do some welding of mild steel. Sizes of parts in the quarter scale size. Is it possible to learn to weld and produce clean, neat welds with a flux wire welder under $500? If so are there any machines that stand out, or you might recommend?
 
I would like to be able to do some welding of mild steel. Sizes of parts in the quarter scale size. Is it possible to learn to weld and produce clean, neat welds with a flux wire welder under $500? If so are there any machines that stand out, or you might recommend?

Yes and no:wall:
YES you can get a small Lincoln mig welder that would work perfect for this
in a 140 amp max Thm:Thm:

NO:fan:
because flux wire is better to use with old dirty metal. It splatters like no tomorrow. _wtf1th_wtf1

But a small mig with a shield gas does miracle...... and only 80.00 more for the regulator woohoo1woohoo1
 
Save your money! Clean neat welds????ha,ha!
What are you calling quarter scale size? 1/4 inch, 1/2 inch?
What exactly are you looking for? Are you looking for tig quality welds?
Have you ever seen a flux core weld? Just trying to clarify what you are wanting or expecting.
 
Thanks for your input. My intention is to move from flux to mig, but in the meantime flux will have to do.,
 
Quarter scale is 1"=4". I would like to weld car chassis and steering and suspension components in this scale. Tiger is not in my budget. But, I can afford to start with a flux core machine and move up to mig. I don't expect tight quality welds, but can I get close?
 
I've gone though a couple of cheap welders. First a $200 A/C stick welder, then a cheap ($200) flux core wire welder.

THEY BOTH SUCKED!!!!

About two years ago, after saving some money I purchased some real equipment (about $1800 in total) and the difference was night and day. I could strike an arc and keep it. The arc didn't wander. The MIG gun actually pushed wire. Replacement parts are available.

I'm terrible at TIG welding, but this machine is capable of it. Anyways, for small, intricate parts, you want to TIG.

My suggestion is if you're just building one or two things, take it to a professional. Otherwise wait until you can afford equipment that's not bottom of the barrel. Check out Ebay or Craigslist for some discounted/used machinery.

...Ved.
 
Eastwood.com

No affiliation and never used one but they seem like a possibility.

I've heard they started by someone who working for one of the bigger companies decided he could do just as good or better and sell it for less. Not sure if that is true or heresay.

Paul
 
OK welded for forty years using all the methods discussed. have made 9 engines and am working on the 9 cylinder radial now. Mostly I dont weld on the engines because the heat causes to much distortion. I have made two boilers and welded them with a 250 amp stick welder. Anything real small you will have to use a tig to keep the heat at a minimum. The 110 volt migs are good for very thin sheet metal only i.e. car body work. I would find an expert in your area and show him what you want to do and take his advice on process and machine.
 
Thank you all for the great information. This looks like one of those instances where if I try to get in cheap I will end up spending more in the long run than if I just did it right from the start.

My next question would be what is the least I can spend to get a good tig welder? Not including the tank, the safety gear and the helmet. I can't afford a Miller.

I would like to make 1/4 scale car chassis to fit my 1/4 scale ic engines.
 
Hi,

Go to weld.com and see the review on a 110V Everlast Welder or Welding tips and Tricks. Both post great tips and reviews weekly on YouTube.
Mr.Tig on weld.com gives honest reviews, the good & bad.

Brian
 
Check out the Eastwood 120VAC welders. I've got the MIG and the TIG, the MIG works well for thinner materials. I haven't tried the TIG yet, but many moons ago I learned to weld on Oxy-Acetylene and I learned TIG shortly after that. Since you're planning on building 1/4 scale parts to match your engines I doubt that you'll be welding anything over 1/8" thick so the 120VAC equipment should work just fine for you.

If these parts are for display, like I thing they are, then the welds won't have to survive much stress. You probably are more concerned about the welds looking good than you are about the weld penetration and the strength of the weld.

I haven't used the MIG enough to need consumables yet and I've heard bad things about Eastwood's customer service, but you also can get the consumables from Welding Direct and others.

No affiliation with Eastwood, but in my opinion their 120VAC welders would be well suited to what I think are your light duty welding needs.

Don
 
Thank you all for the great information. This looks like one of those instances where if I try to get in cheap I will end up spending more in the long run than if I just did it right from the start.

My next question would be what is the least I can spend to get a good tig welder? Not including the tank, the safety gear and the helmet. I can't afford a Miller.

I would like to make 1/4 scale car chassis to fit my 1/4 scale ic engines.

See my post about Eastwood.com Eastwood welders are cheaper and MAY be just as good. Friend of mine did some research and was impressed. At least give them a chance. I would be more afraid of Horror Fright equipment or other "economy" units. Not affiliated with Eastwood but was impressed by what little research I've done and my friend did.
 
I have a $100 130 amp formerly crap MIG which has now a decent bottle with an argon CO2 mixture. None of these ersatz things.
After all, most of us are not going to build Liberty ships for Henry Kaiser- are we? I'm going to melt nothing more serious than 0.8mm or worse 0.6mm wire and I'm not wanting to stand up in a hammock or paint then Mona Lisa in the Sistine Chapel. With a little bit of creative thinking, MIG welding with something like bell wire is no great thing but to see what one is doing, one has to see. See in the same way as when doing a gas weld with slightly tinted green goggles. Regardless if you have a million dollar welder which will stick the tail back on an unfortunate donkey or not, you have to see.

For that, I would forget this give away No13 lens on the mask. OK if you have 12" to the foot battleship but not a model. Me, I got a self dimming lens in my mask which gives pretty well something like an oxy set.

I'll leave it at that.

See you- oh, and the work in hand- which is where I came in.

Norman
 
My next question would be what is the least I can spend to get a good tig welder?
You should be able to get a decent DC Tig pretty cheap."a DC Tig is an arc welder with a pedal"

But on the other hand you can't weld aluminum and some stainless steel.:wall:

Your in my situation to poor to buy something cheap Rof}Rof}Rof}

I would go with a good small AC tig that would cover every angle.

BTW since I purchace my tig the mig has been sitting in the corner not being

used.
 
The responses here are all over the place and they all have valid points! One bit of confusion is your scale, I'm taking 1" = 4" to mean that you have some fairly heavy weldments ahead of you. Some of these might be safety critical as such you need to at least consider a professional welder. Correct me if I'm wrong but these would be scale models large enough to ride on, sort of like 7.5" scale railroad sized machinery.


Thank you all for the great information. This looks like one of those instances where if I try to get in cheap I will end up spending more in the long run than if I just did it right from the start.
If what I understand is correct I'd avoid the vast majority of 120 VAC welders as they simply aren't up to the task. There are a few welders that use inverters to allow 120 VAC operation but that usually implies a reduced capacity.

As for welders it took me a long time to get into a position of affording a good welder, in this case a Lincoln SP175. This is in fact a very low end welder but it does do flux core and MIG well. This particular welder is common in fab shops where something very portable is desired, you can actually carry it with one hand.

Now don't be fooled it is still a small welder and does not perform at all like the push around welder (two men by the way) I use to use when I worked in a foundry. You get what you pay for.
My next question would be what is the least I can spend to get a good tig welder? Not including the tank, the safety gear and the helmet. I can't afford a Miller.
You should look into the various welding forums out there. There are Chinese inverter based welders out there that are passable for TIG but there are also many that are crap. You can find people that will comment on specific models. I would urge you to avoid the Chinese route though, in the end it is problematic if you don't have a welding shop already. It is far easier for a professional welder to make use of an imported welder than somebody developing skills. Plus welders have consumables outside of the electrodes, you will want easy access to parts.

Interestingly Lincoln has a new welder out that is multi process and frankly designed for the types of usage you describe. It does MIG, Stick and I believe DC TIG. It is sort of a replacement for the SP175. It is above budget but might be worth a few months of Raman noodles.
I would like to make 1/4 scale car chassis to fit my 1/4 scale ic engines.


Actually I'm thinking a welder might be the cheapest component of this project. Assuming mostly heavy gage sheet metal for the chassis you can get buy with a light weight welder. However you may find yourself wanting to build tools and fixtures to build the care with. An English wheel comes to mind here. I'd feel far more comfortable with a 220 VAC welder than one of the little 120 VAC ones.

If you go to the web site of any welder manufacture you can find the recommended single pass welding capabilities for their welders. That is how thick can the metal be for a decent single pass weld to be performed. In my experience the ratings are a bit optimistic. This is even more so with the imported welders.

By the way one of the reasons I held off so long and went with a US made MIG/flux core solution is the bad vibes I got from people with respect to the wire feeds on the cheap imported welders. Many of them have very bad reputations. This contrasts significantly with the imported inverter based stick and TIG welders.

Now a bit of background, I bought my MIG years ago now and like all things what was accepted back then may have changed. My gut feeling is that most imported MIG or flux core welders are still crap. So even though some of my data points have expired I still have to suggest a US made Wire welder if that is your desire.

Also I learned to weld mostly due to working in a foundry many years ago. They had some very good welders and some really crappy ones. It is truly amazing how much easier it is to weld with a good welder as opposed to a piece of crap. This is why a agree with the suggestions above to get a pro or somebody locally to do the welding for you until you can invest in a decent welder. That doesn't mean extremely expensive but you do need to up the budget by at least 2X to cover both wire welding and TIG.

By the way used is great if you can find a decent bargain. I went to many auctions and so forth and frankly was shocked at the prices some really old equipment went for. Maybe you will get lucky, I eventually gave up!!
 
The one thing that I haven't seen suggested here yet is that, if at all possible, you should try to establish a relationship with someone who has the experience and is willing to help you.

I was lucky to get started with advice from the owner of a welding-supply shop who was willing to spend time with me to truly help me make informed decisions about what to do, and the possible upgrades that could follow. It was a small supplier, so he also had knowledgable people working for him who would also help me with my questions, once he "got me in" as a customer they should encourage.

If not for that man, and for other people in the trade who were willing to talk straight to me, I would have probably gone the route of taking classes from my local community college: Every term they offer gas, Stick, MIG, and TIG classes as part of their ordinary curriculum and in adult education classes using local High Schools at night.

--ShopShoe
 
Thank you for taking the time to post such a detailed reply obviously based on your experience. It looks like the Lincoln SP175 has been replaced by the SP180. I'm checking that now.

My plans are to build 1/4 scale rc cars powered by home built engines. A 1932 Ford coupe looks like my first project. The frame rails for this car would be 1/2" x 1" x 37" to give you an idea of size.

You have given me great information and a lot to research. Thank you so much.
 
Bill--I weld with stick, gas shielded mig, and oxy acetylene. I have close to 50 years experience with all of the above, and I can tell you with 100% certainty that none of these are going to give you the kind of welds you are after. The only welder out there that will give clean, zero spatter, cosmetic grade welds with deep penetration is a tig welding set-up.----Brian
 
Bill--I weld with stick, gas shielded mig, and oxy acetylene. I have close to 50 years experience with all of the above, and I can tell you with 100% certainty that none of these are going to give you the kind of welds you are after. The only welder out there that will give clean, zero spatter, cosmetic grade welds with deep penetration is a tig welding set-up.----Brian

I know you are right Brian, but there are other factors here. Since I will be looking for show quality finishes I expect that I will have to dress the welds and maybe even use some filler before painting. Also, I would like to have only one welder, if possible, and would like to be able to weld aluminum and some stainless. I don't know if the above is possible. What do you think?
 
Bill--Tig is like magic, once you get the hang of it. You can tig weld aluminum, steel, and stainless with tig. Since you add the filler metal to the arc but independent of the arc, you can build up the contours to whatever you need. Tig has the smallest heat affected zone and the deepest penetration---and can weld the thinnest of steel without burn-thru. If I had to choose one welder to cover all situations, especially where the pieces were small and the cosmetic appearance was important, I would go with TIG.
 

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