First of all I'd like to say that I have NO clue about welding and I'd like to learn. I think a good start would be to know the difference between Mig, Tig and Stick welding? My dad owns what I thought to be the only kind of welding machine available...ya know the electrical one (no gas) that you put a stick on it (iron rod with flux around it?) ....is that what you guys call Stick welding? Is that good? bad? What about the others? What are the pros and cons of each process?

I learnt a bit about this kind of welding by asking my dad...but it seems to be hard to learn. Is it the same for the other methods?

 

I've been welding about 5 yrs now in a non-professional manner. It's my experience that no matter what kind of wellding you do, practice is the best teacher once you understand the basics. I think a stick is one of the simplest to learn. Making a pretty bead is a talent all to itself.

 

That is Arc or Stick welding, Good /easy for steel. I have never seen it available for anyother metal.

MIG, Metal inert gas, uses a wire feed system and uses a inert gas to shield the weld until it solidifies. Used for steel and Aluminum welding and possibly others. Good welding, easy to use, no flux to chip off the weld when complete.

TIG, Tungsten Inert Gas, alot like brazing. You have your torch(creates the arc and melts the metal and sheilds it with the gas, if filler is required you add the filler rod by hand. This is the hardest type of welding to do but creates the best, strongest welds. This process will weld just about anything together, I believe.

Hope this helps.

Oh yeah there is also Flux Cored arc welding which is just like MIG but has a wire with a flux inside it that shields the weld. A cross between MIG and ARC/ Stick welding.


P.S. Welding just takes a little bit of reading and a lot of practice. The help of a good welder to teach you is a great help.


[Modified by MikeC, 12:03 PM 3/14/2002]

 

Yeah, what your dad has is a stick welder. It's the oldest form of welding and still usable! You can typically find old Lincoln welders for cheap (like $50!) so it's a great way to start out. The downside to these is that it has a learning curve and may take you a bit to get good at putting down a bead (weld).

MIG welders are a whole different ball game. These are typically fed by wire instead of sticks. The wire is fed into a special nozzle so that all you need to do is point and click to weld. It makes welding a simple task but the machines are fairly expensive (especially if you want one for frame work) and you'll need to supply a gas (such as Trigon) to make sure that the welds form correctly.

TIG welders are high-end welding machines. I don't know much about them at all so I'll defer to someone else more knowledgeable about them.

Since you have a stick welder at your disposal, I would go ahead and learn how to use it. Then you'll appreciate a MIG welder when you get to use one!

Tony

 

humm...thats interesting! Anymore details would be appreciated. And yes I might be interested in some frame welding...I had an idea that involved cutting the frame and rewelding it....it was my intention to let my dad do it as he's really good with his stick welder. I can add to the info by saying that stick can weld steel and stainless...and I think aluminium too but ain't sure.

 

Stick welding creates a lot of heat, becareful, your frame will warp if too much heat is put into it.

MIG is more body panel/light sheet steel happy as less heat is put into the steel(3/16" rod versus .035" wire)

 

I hear you Mike...I know about the heat problem. I guess the best for this kind of job would be a tig welder but from what you guys said, it seems hard to learn.

 

Lohkay,
I think the majority of your question has been answered sufficiently. To add further detail to what TIG is, let me have you envision welding with an oxy acetylene torch (flame). A TIG is an electrical version of this where current is passed from a stick of tungsen either to or from your work piece. This positive and negative polarity determines the penetration of the heat into the item being welded. If you were to weld a pop can, which by the way can be done using a TIG, you would want the current flowing from the pop can back to your tungsten. This keeps the heat from being directed to the can which is super thin. I believe that TIG is more of an art than any of the welding processes. It works excellent on stainless steels and aluminum, where the typical acetylene torch wouldn't work. It is also exceptional on very thin materials since most every other traditional process would either burn through or warp the panel. A foot pedal allows you to govern the electrical input while you are welding. If you see it burning too hot or too cold you can readily adjust it while you continue to weld. Sorry about being so lengthy with a reply. I just want to give you the best knowledge possible without reading a book. Hope this helped. :cool: :cool:

 

Sure did. Thanx!

 

I just bought a Lincoln Squarewave 175 Pro TIG last week, replacing a Miller MIG. This is my first TIG welder and prior to owning one, everyone kept telling me how TIG is the hardest process to learn. I actually, think it's easier than MIG because you have more control. With a TIG, you can literally work at your own pace, and change pace as you work, rather than rely on the speed of the wire. MIG allows you to weld more distance than TIG in the same amount of time, but the TIG weld is a thing of beauty. When I first got the TIG, I started practicing on some bar stock aluminum, and you can literally hold the puddle in place without burning through for as long as you like. Once you get the amperage right, it's pretyt much just a matter of moving the torch in very small figure 8's and it will produce a very nice, very clean weld. The Squarewave technology makes you a better welder than you really are.

 

HP makes a pretty good book on welding. It's a basic guide book. But as the others said, experience is the best teacher. Good welding is an art. And don't start with a frame. It's far too complex for a beginner, especially if it's still on the car.

 

You dident hit a curd and rip the lower control arm bracket off the crossmember. :D Because that was the last time I had to weld on my'77 :eek:
MIG welding is th easy way to go for you ,point and burn, it will weld almost any steel.TIG thansfers less heat so the joint dosent become as weak as MIG thats why race teams usualy use TIG. Good luck Mark

 

monty you cheated your tig machine is a super piece of equipment. Try tig welding out of an old ac-dc buzz box with no foot controll.

 

Hehehe, if I did that then my lack of welding skills would be evident. I have to rely on technology to make my welds look half-way decent ;).