Florin Andrei
New Member
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Long time ago, in a galaxy far far away (or rather 25 years ago in the Eastern Bloc) I did some arc welding. It was fun.
I want to start welding again, for some low-volume personal projects, like building telescopes and such. There are some larger, load-bearing items that need welding, and then there are smaller items.
E.g. take a look at this telescope:
It's about as tall as a person. In terms of weight, it probably weighs less than an average person, and the vast majority of the weight is down at the bottom, where the big mirror is. Some load-bearing parts down there may need welding. I want to use stainless steel tubes and profiles.
As an example of a small item that needs welding, take a look at this so-called "spider" holding a small diagonal oval mirror:
http://www.astrosystems.biz/spiders.htm
Those 4 fins they say are TIG welded to the central hub. The round tube holding the oval mirror is about the size of a can of Coke. The fins are attached on the outside with screws to a ring (at the top of the scope in the picture above, but you can't see them very well in that particular image, it's not clear, sorry), and are under tension to stay very straight and very stiff. They need to be made of thin steel.
So...
Do I need TIG welding for stuff like this? Or can all this stuff be pretty much accomplished by MIG?
Also, what are my chances of figuring out TIG on my own? I hear it's pretty hard to learn.
Finally, since I don't have unlimited funds for these projects, I'll probably go with one of the cheaper welders - which is fine, since the volume is very low and I don't have deadlines to meet. But I hear the TIG gear is expensive.
I guess I'm confused by all these new fancy welding techniques. I understand that arc welding is easy, cheap and rough, but I'm not sure about the differences between the other two.
I want to start welding again, for some low-volume personal projects, like building telescopes and such. There are some larger, load-bearing items that need welding, and then there are smaller items.
E.g. take a look at this telescope:
It's about as tall as a person. In terms of weight, it probably weighs less than an average person, and the vast majority of the weight is down at the bottom, where the big mirror is. Some load-bearing parts down there may need welding. I want to use stainless steel tubes and profiles.
As an example of a small item that needs welding, take a look at this so-called "spider" holding a small diagonal oval mirror:
http://www.astrosystems.biz/spiders.htm
Those 4 fins they say are TIG welded to the central hub. The round tube holding the oval mirror is about the size of a can of Coke. The fins are attached on the outside with screws to a ring (at the top of the scope in the picture above, but you can't see them very well in that particular image, it's not clear, sorry), and are under tension to stay very straight and very stiff. They need to be made of thin steel.
So...
Do I need TIG welding for stuff like this? Or can all this stuff be pretty much accomplished by MIG?
Also, what are my chances of figuring out TIG on my own? I hear it's pretty hard to learn.
Finally, since I don't have unlimited funds for these projects, I'll probably go with one of the cheaper welders - which is fine, since the volume is very low and I don't have deadlines to meet. But I hear the TIG gear is expensive.
I guess I'm confused by all these new fancy welding techniques. I understand that arc welding is easy, cheap and rough, but I'm not sure about the differences between the other two.