tig welding - advice needed

[cts_casemod]

Hi everyone,

I am looking for a bit of advice here.

I will be fabricating a stainless steel enclosure and I have been quoted about £150 to do the welding.

I was thinking, for a bit more, I could get myself a welder as I need it very often. I don't feel very comfortable using a stick welder, however I used to have an oxy acetylene torch and have good experience welding with it (steel, copper, etc).

I know a lot of people advise mig for beginners, but since I have experience with oxy acetylene, I thought tig would make more sense as a start point. Am I right believing this is a similar experience? Would it be a good investment to get myself one? I mostly only do bench works, quite often in new, clean parts, and the use of both hand would be just fine.

Or should I get myself a mig welder and learn with that (no experience)?

Any advice greatly appreciated.

 

[ben8vgte]

I have been learning tig since around January this year, it's a lot of fun and much more interesting than mig. I too had done a fair bit of gas welding so it's not been to bad to pick up, you wont regret a tig

 

[cts_casemod]

I have been learning tig since around January this year, it's a lot of fun and much more interesting than mig. I too had done a fair bit of gas welding so it's not been to bad to pick up, you wont regret a tig

So do you feel it is similar to gas welding? Easy to pick up from that point?

 

[ben8vgte]

Similar in technique, harder in some ways easier in other's. Much less burnt fingers! But I'd say you need to be more steady, it's very precise but when it all goes well looks fantastic. Bad days though can be quite off putting, I find having lots of tungsten's all ready ground and changing straight away after a touch down helps.

With gas when it gets a little too hot you just flick the torch up for sec, with tig you cant I can see a foot pedal would be handy but alas I don't have one for my machine. But even so I manage to get by so far on my DC set, it's more needed with Aluminium when you have a AC/DC set I think.

 

[cts_casemod]

Similar in technique, harder in some ways easier in other's. Much less burnt fingers! But I'd say you need to be more steady, it's very precise but when it all goes well looks fantastic. Bad days though can be quite off putting, I find having lots of tungsten's all ready ground and changing straight away after a touch down helps.

With gas when it gets a little too hot you just flick the torch up for sec, with tig you cant I can see a foot pedal would be handy but alas I don't have one for my machine. But even so I manage to get by so far on my DC set, it's more needed with Aluminium when you have a AC/DC set I think.

I see, so what you have is like a MMA/stick/tig hybrid: ie no foot control (only manual). Ive seen a few on ebay and I was thinking to myself if the price difference would justify buying one with the foot control.

What exactly happens with the tungstens to make you have to replace them?Do they get damaged by touching the metal? If so isn't this an issue with the scratch start models?

Thanks!

 

[ben8vgte]

Nope I have a big tig, I just don't have a foot pedal for it. I have been tracing out the circuits inside to work out what pins for what on the remote connection, just been to busy using it to spend much time on that. All the tig's I have seen can do stick as well at the flick of a switch.

When the Tungsten is hot if you touch down it sucks up a load of metal, on the bench I don't touch down much at all. I just snap the blob off and regrind it. But I'm welding a lot of bits on my car with it, inexperience with tig and upside down or tucked under the dash does not help!

 

[cts_casemod]

Nope I have a big tig, I just don't have a foot pedal for it. I have been tracing out the circuits inside to work out what pins for what on the remote connection, just been to busy using it to spend much time on that. All the tig's I have seen can do stick as well at the flick of a switch.

When the Tungsten is hot if you touch down it sucks up a load of metal, on the bench I don't touch down much at all. I just snap the blob off and regrind it. But I'm welding a lot of bits on my car with it, inexperience with tig and upside down or tucked under the dash does not help!

That looks nice!
Any chance you could post some photos of the work done?
I am thinking in a small inverter, I don't have 3 phase available and space is quite an issue.

I am looking to solder 2 and 3mm (mixed) stainless steel sheet grade 304L. I ever hardly go above 3mm (usually steel) Do you have any idea if 150Amp would be enough for this? What gas should I use? Pure argon? Tri mix?

Thank you

 

[ben8vgte]

It's always pure Argon, 150A would be plenty for that. Though personally I'd not want a welder with less as you'd be up near the top all the while, nice to have some head room and a decent duty cycle by not maxing it out all the while.

Just make sure you get one that has HF start and a gas valve, I'd not wanting to be scratch starting either or manually turning the Argon on the torch either.

Pulse is a handy feature, but not essential. I've only played with the pulse setting a little bit on mine, but does seem good for thin stuff (1mm).

Edit..

Lots of pics here http://www.flickr.com/photos/wherearethedoors/, some ok beads some not so good..

 

[cts_casemod]

It's always pure Argon, 150A would be plenty for that. Though personally I'd not want a welder with less as you'd be up near the top all the while, nice to have some head room and a decent duty cycle by not maxing it out all the while.

Just make sure you get one that has HF start and a gas valve, I'd not wanting to be scratch starting either or manually turning the Argon on the torch either.

Pulse is a handy feature, but not essential. I've only played with the pulse setting a little bit on mine, but does seem good for thin stuff (1mm).

Edit..

Lots of pics here http://www.flickr.com/photos/wherearethedoors/, some ok beads some not so good..

That looks great! Thanks a lot
Two years ago I paid £250 to get one of my cars welded. Nothing compared to that in quality. I think it is really time to start looking for a machine. Ill open a new topic, but do you think HF start is really a must?

Thanks

 

[ben8vgte]

When my HF stopped working due to a loose fuse holder a while back, well I don't think those words are allowed here

 

[langy]

That looks great! Thanks a lot
Two years ago I paid £250 to get one of my cars welded. Nothing compared to that in quality. I think it is really time to start looking for a machine. Ill open a new topic, but do you think HF start is really a must?

Thanks

In my opinion HF is a must have, so much easier, I also like a foot pedal.
I was also experienced in gas welding when i got my Tig many years ago, my mate gave me a few pointers and said I should have it mastered in a few hours, after an hour i was well away, but it may take you longer as there is definitly an art to it and not everyone can master it.
I know of people that have tried Tig for years and still can't do it

 

[cts_casemod]

In my opinion HF is a must have, so much easier, I also like a foot pedal.
I was also experienced in gas welding when i got my Tig many years ago, my mate gave me a few pointers and said I should have it mastered in a few hours, after an hour i was well away, but it may take you longer as there is definitly an art to it and not everyone can master it.
I know of people that have tried Tig for years and still can't do it

I know a few years back, in college when I leaned to weld, I used an older stick machine, and I know how much of a difference it was when I first tried that with an inverter model. No comparison. I would guess the same should be valid for a tig machine nowadays?
I also noticed some difference from single to 3 phase machines. Single phase seems to pulse, while a 3 phase seems to be more continuous, a bit like a DC machine, but not quite the same. Never used mig or tig before.

The reason I don't quite like to use a stick is how hard it is to properly adjust if anything doesn't go as planed. I am by no means an expert on that. Oxy acetylene is easier in the way that weld can be corrected to suit, ie I have full control and I can visualize and change if required. Many people I know have a mig machine but they are by no means experts, they just use a given setting and have it done. But the fact that it is welded doesn't mean it is welded the way I meant it to be (if this is making any sense )

Of course I can be all wrong here and maybe someone says that I would be better off by mastering mig welding. Supplies are a bit cheaper and it can be used in any position. It would be particulary interesting to hear a comparison between both. To be fair the reason I asked about tig is because I am a bit more confident in the method as its something more familiar to me.

 

[J_K]

Each process has it's pros and cons.
Each process is more suited to different applications.

For instance.
If I was welding some thick plate to an RSJ, I'd use stick.
If I was repairing bodywork, I'd use MIG.
If I was welding gussets onto a cage, I'd use Tig.