Inexperienced welder

[docraymund]

Good day, I am new to this forum and was thinking about purchasing a portable electric arc welder. I am 48 yrs. old and have no experience in handling a welding machine. I am planning on using it for minor home repairs. I have a little experience in handling oxyacetylene torches since my father often had his cars body repaired at home. They use torches here to weld car body panels. My question is : is it safe for a person of my age to use an electric arc welder? What type should I buy? Also I still have a boair of oxyacetylene tanks inherited from my father but I think the gauges are already broken. Thank you very much.

 

[jinjahbiscuit]

There's no reason why you shouldn't have a go at 48. I'm over 50 and only started last year!

The machine you choose will be dependant on what work you want to do. More experienced members can advise you better than me. But for what it's worth, I have a 150 amp MIG welder (I brought it in from the UK) that I have used to build a work bench, repair a motorcycle frame and various other small / medium jobs. It could be used for car body repairs, although my particular interests are not there.
MIG welders are not common in the Philippines, which is why I brought my own in. But there is plenty of choice with arc welders, both transformer types and inverter, albeit Chinese made.
Welcome anyway, mabuhay!

 

[Jan]

You're about the same age as I was when I bought my first stick welder. Still got it as I can't break it no matter how hard I try. Despite only using it very rarely nowadays I have since 'upgraded' to a MIG machine early this year at the tender age of 63.
Now the question turns to 'what kind of welding should I be considering?'. That depends strongly on what kind of kit you can buy in the Philipines - about which I know nothing. Investigate this thoroughly before buying anything. Availability of replacement/service components or parts is vital, as is the costs of them. If you find that every last little item has to be imported for any of the welding alternatives what first appears to be a cheap introduction to welding could easily end up being too expensive before you've done much more than a few practice runs.
Above all don't be afraid to try something new while you have the chance. You cold easily end up kicking yourself if you later realise that you missed the opportunity!

 

[Kent]

Home repairs? Heavy stuff like structural steel or medium weight stuff like feed troughs, small parts etc. Lot of bases there to cover.
In my opinion a mig of 150-180 amp max is easiest to learn to use moderately well but is out of its depth on structural stuff and a MMA (stick) sat of around the same at max is capable of doing a bit more at the top end, though harder to use on thinner stuff without a higher skill set.
48 is not old, two guys I learned a lot from as an apprentice nearly 30 years ago now were both in the eighties and still turning up for work every day monday-friday

 

[premmington]

I am 48... I do not concider that to be old to be welding! My 79 year old Father came up my workshop last week. Gas cut himself a small bit of plate and arc welded it together (some sort of bracket???).

To be honest his welding looked very neat concidering it may have been over ten years since he had done any.

But he was the man who showed me how to arc weld 35 years ago!

 

[Richard.]

Yeah as Kent said you need to be more specific as to what you intend to weld if a machine is to be advised. If it's thin plate and cars then head down the root of a mig with nice stable dip transfer arc at low(20amps) if it's general fab gates, brackets, rails 3-5 mm then a 150-180 amp mig or mma machine will suffice. 5mm plus from your home 240v socket. I'd say mma is your best bet other wise your looking a 200 amp mig which is one expensive and two right on or over the limit of a 13amp socket.

 

[docraymund]

Thank you very much for your replies, yes only minor home repairs like fixing a broken steel gat and making a steel cabinet with shelves.

 

[norlander]

Age has nothing to do with it -except in the minds of people younger than yourself or the minds of people the same age as yourself who allow the number of their years to restrict what they do and how they live their life!.
A MIG welder would be a better choice if you can get one-and more importantly-the wire and gas for it-if you are going to be doing car body repairs, but for thicker materials, say 3mm and thicker, an arc welder should be ok.
An inverter set might be good for you as they sometimes have beginner friendly features like anti stick and easier arc starting.

 

[docraymund]

Thank you very much I am going to buy a stick welder this christmas as a present for myself. I might upgrade later on to a mig welder since my late father left me with oxyacetylene cylinders which i can use in exchange for mig gas. I think I watch too much discovery turbo and american chopper episodeswhere they use mig welders to repair auto body panels and build motorcycle frames! Thank you very much.

 

[Jan]

The odds are that those cylinders weren't actually his to pass on to you. Both BOC and Air Products' cylinders remain the property of the supplier and he/you only rent them on an annual basis which is not transferable. By all means you can use up any gas remaining in them, but only the supplier can lawfully refill them, but only after you've arranged your own lease agreement. Some hooky places might refill them, but if the merde hits the air conditioning you have no legal cover! Only rent free (cash deposit) cylinders can be refilled/swapped. Even then the rental runs out when the cylinder test life runs out after a period of years. The test date should be stamped on the cylinder's shoulder or on a metal collar attached to it.

 

[jinjahbiscuit]

Jan, he's talking about the Philippines. Different ball game. When I got my argon / CO2 mix from a supplier in South Manila I bought the bottle secondhand. Now I just pay for the refill.
Yes, there are safety issues about hydrotesting and so on, it doesn't happen for the DIYer.

 

[docraymund]

Thank you for your comments and concern. I am eyeing a particular brand of stick welder. The brand is DEREK? I don't know the manufacturers name but the welder who put a steel roof on our patio says it's a good brand since it has copper windings instead of aluminum.