Bob Le Sponge
New Member
- Messages
- 3
- Location
- Hamsphire Coast, UK
Derekmc, I'm in a similar position, though I have the benefit of a detached work space so I should be able to stop the fire before the house burns down!
I did some gas welding at college, not wanting to kick the age thing off again but it was a while ago and really enjoyed the precision and detail of it. I could lay a 'herringbone' (I believe its called?!) on the back of a 90° butt joint with full penetration, but like I said that was a while ago.
I like the idea of being able to weld aluminium but I'm not sure why, I think I'm more inclined towards a DC Tig rig to get to grips with then go full on next time around. I know the general consensus is to buy right buy once, which does make a lot of sense, I'm just not convinced I can justify the cost (though I'm easily swayed).
I also get that quality tools make a job easier, if you are experienced you can pick up anything and get good results, so I don't want to be put off by mistakenly buying a shoddy piece of kit that is making things un-necessarily difficult/complex or just not possible. I'm only going to be working with thin sections, likely stainless and mild steel.... dare I say it (*brace for impact*) but I'd quite like to fabricate a motorcycle exhaust. I know pipe welding is difficult but with practice its possible, as is everything else.
From the little I have gleaned so far, (I think) I'm looking for; a good amp range (10-150) would seem to cover my needs and a good duty cycle as I don't want to be stopping every 2 minutes to let the thing cool down and reset itself. The foot pedal is a 'throttle' for the amperage, therefore arc control, so you start off light and feed in as you build the pool? Please correct me if its all tosh. I've read about 'soft start' features, but again the general consensus is that they don't seem to work on hobby machines, is it that useful or even relevant to new amateurs, it sounds like a good feature for thin sections? How does soft start compare/relate to use of a foot pedal, have I even understood the foot pedal correctly?
Lots of questions, sorry if I hijacked your thread Derek but we seem to be after a similar thing.
I did some gas welding at college, not wanting to kick the age thing off again but it was a while ago and really enjoyed the precision and detail of it. I could lay a 'herringbone' (I believe its called?!) on the back of a 90° butt joint with full penetration, but like I said that was a while ago.
I like the idea of being able to weld aluminium but I'm not sure why, I think I'm more inclined towards a DC Tig rig to get to grips with then go full on next time around. I know the general consensus is to buy right buy once, which does make a lot of sense, I'm just not convinced I can justify the cost (though I'm easily swayed).
I also get that quality tools make a job easier, if you are experienced you can pick up anything and get good results, so I don't want to be put off by mistakenly buying a shoddy piece of kit that is making things un-necessarily difficult/complex or just not possible. I'm only going to be working with thin sections, likely stainless and mild steel.... dare I say it (*brace for impact*) but I'd quite like to fabricate a motorcycle exhaust. I know pipe welding is difficult but with practice its possible, as is everything else.
From the little I have gleaned so far, (I think) I'm looking for; a good amp range (10-150) would seem to cover my needs and a good duty cycle as I don't want to be stopping every 2 minutes to let the thing cool down and reset itself. The foot pedal is a 'throttle' for the amperage, therefore arc control, so you start off light and feed in as you build the pool? Please correct me if its all tosh. I've read about 'soft start' features, but again the general consensus is that they don't seem to work on hobby machines, is it that useful or even relevant to new amateurs, it sounds like a good feature for thin sections? How does soft start compare/relate to use of a foot pedal, have I even understood the foot pedal correctly?
Lots of questions, sorry if I hijacked your thread Derek but we seem to be after a similar thing.
